In a Modern Land, Essay Example

Bomma, a Hindu who had spent most of his life in 12^th century Egypt as a slave of Ben Yiju, appeared in the 21^st century to become a globe-trotter by power of a time vortex and, naturally, of our imagination. It is my privilege to imagine myself in the role of Bomma’s guide who will interpret to the baffled man some of the phenomena he is startled by.

Bomma, you want to travel to your native India – it is now surprise to me. But it has changed a lot since the 12^th century. It is no longer the Delhi Sultanate or the Mughal Empire. You won’t find the cultural and religious unity of your time their any more. Today it presents a vivid diversity of languages, customs and nationalities. A dream land of spices, India used to be an object of longing for generations of Europeans – the longing both greedy (because they wanted India’s lands and resources) and romantic (because it made them discover the earth!). The Europeans finally found ways to reach your country – although they made a remarkable mistake in the process, which is to be discussed later. The British, the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French established colonies which were later (in the 19^th century) brought under the unified British rule.

Today your India is a democratic republic. Of course, you can’t know what it means. It might remind you of Ancient Greece. For example, Athens of the 5^th century BC, if you know what  I’m talking about. The main idea is: one person cannot rule till the end of his / her life under no control and be succeeded by his / her immediate relative. The people of the country must elect the government by voting (the practice which was already known in Ancient Greece). Other ideas are expressed in declarations of human rights and encompass the right to live and be free for every person (you won’t be a slave in a democratic state any more), the freedom of expression, equality before the law etc. A great number of countries are democratic today since this is believed to be the most humane approach to state organization. It is not faultless, however, so do not you be too fascinated by it. Winston Churchill, an outstanding British politician, said that democracy was “the worst form of state government except all the others that have been tried.”

You might be pleased (or not?) to find that India has kept its caste system – in practice rather than theory since democracy would never favor castes.

Speaking of the mistake in the process of discovering India: it was made by Christopher Columbus and his crew. He thought it was India that he found in 1492 but the land turned out to be a completely different continent which you, Bomma, could not have heard about. It was North America, the home to modern Canada, the United States of America, and Mexica. The United States are highly influential in the modern world and I can’t but say a couple of words about this amazing country. It mainly speaks English (by the way, English is likely to help you out wherever you find yourself – it has really become the language of international communication due to the political and cultural power of the United Kingdom and its expansion in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and especially due to its influence on the United States which made them English-speaking before they shrugged it off). The United States is also a democracy. You might be interested to know, however, that the country passed through years of slavery which was put an end to by the Civil War of 1861-1865. Although you will find that some people are still very poor, there cannot be slaves here any more. The national idea and the greatest strength of the United States is the notion of equal opportunities for everyone. Everyone is in charge of his / her own life and can choose to put in efforts and succeed or not. The role of the state is to create and maintain equal rights for everyone. It goes without saying that an American is sure to meet with inequality in his / her life but the idea is most empowering.

You are sure to be startled by technology level of modern countries like the United States. Since it is impossible to go into detail about technology progress over the last nine centuries within the limits of this work, I will just say for you to believe me: it has been formidable. We are living in the highly digitized and automated world and in what is called the information society. The very approach to communication and information has changed dramatically. First of all, literacy is no longer a privilege but rather a must today. Second, you will be amazed to hear that the Internet alongside with modern communication methods can give you a chance to talk easily to any person at any place of the world provided you are both properly equipped. You can also access tons of information – whole libraries or archives –without even leaving your home if you have a computer and Internet connection.

Still, it is not that we have only gained in the process of technology development – we have also lost a lot. For example, chats have rendered the ancient art of writing letters almost obsolete and we often find ourselves unable to put our feeling into words as beautifully and exactly as our ancestors used to do it. In addition, technological progress has brought about serious ecological problems – we seem to have learned to conquer nature (a statement that regularly gets overturned by earthquakes, tornadoes, volcano eruptions and other natural phenomena that we cannot handle and that remind us of our role of guest on planet Earth), but we turned out to be cruel conquerors and have to face the grave consequences: there are now much less species of animals and plants than at your time (despite the fact that we have bred some new ones), the air, water and soil are fatally polluted, and the climate changes which happen worldwide will lead to God knows what results.

I should also say that we live much faster and more stressful lives than you and your contemporaries did. What used to take months may now take hours (for example, covering distance). However, the person remained the same – a fragile creature who seeks security and does not always adapt easily – and we sometimes find it increasingly hard to keep pace with our technological achievements. We also seem to have less time to think or contemplate.

I thought it might be interested for you to look at your master Ben Yiju’s nation today. I should say that the story of Jews is one of the most remarkable in human history. In fact, it is a story of centuries-long survival of a people deprived of its own land who amazingly managed to keep its identity in Diaspora and recreate their country (1948) on the land of their forefathers. Through years of repressions, hostility, and killings, the Jews have pertained their religion and their love for their land to breathe a new life into it later. If you travel to Israel, you are unlikely to see a peaceful picture, however, for the country still has to struggle fiercely for its survival. Still, you will find that many Jews today believe in and worship the same things as your master Ben Yiju did.

You will also be amazed to see the rise of Europe from what it was in the 12^th century. Of course, you won’t find the feudal system here. After a series of revolutions and wars Europe was made democratic by its people. In fact, it remains the cradle of democracy. You will also be startled by the high standard of life of Europe compared to its anti-sanitary image of the early Middle Ages. Europe presents a powerful civilization with rich heritage today.

Of course, it is impossible to paint a comprehensive picture of all the changes that took place over these years. Moreover, it is rather hard to imagine your reaction, Bomma. You might not be interested in democracy and might instead be willing to know more about electric light, for example. Still, I hope I managed to give you at least some explanation that you will certainly need in your meeting with the 21^st century.

Works Cited

Ghosh, Amitav. In an Antique Land. Vintage, 2004.

History of Civilization. 28 July 2009. <http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab25>

Tignor, Robert; Adelman, Jeremy, et al. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the Modern World. 1 ed. W.W. Norton & Company, 2002.

Wolpert, Stanley. A New History of India. 6 ed. USA: Oxford University Press, 1999.