Ah, a billion or more of us have our cheeks swollen again!
Not from a cricket ball hurled by a Pakistani fast bowler, but from the slap of Uncle Sam’s indifference. We lie bruised because the American administration—led by Trump, the dealmaker-in-chief—has not treated us with the reverence we’ve been demanding.
Now, what happens when an ego is bruised? Most of us know. At the office, when the boss forgets to complement our PowerPoint, we sulk. At home, when the spouse ignores our “Did you notice I lost weight?” we slam doors. And as a nation, when the U.S. pats China’s back while ignoring us, it hurts, even as we immediately puff out our chests and declare ourselves the “fourth largest growing economy in the world.”
But is that puff chest muscle or just hot air?
Trump, businessman that he is, doesn’t deal with illusions. He looks at ledgers, indexes, and bottom lines. And those tell him a different story—about poverty levels, education quality, health care, freedom rankings. Meanwhile, we’re busy mocking English, hiding our degrees, and congratulating ourselves for winning spelling bees abroad while our classrooms at home resemble crowded waiting rooms.
Reality check: while China buys Russian oil by the tanker load, Trump shrugs. But when we do our shopping spree with Moscow, sanctions glare at us. Why? Because China is a buyer with bargaining power, while we’re still the shabby shopper haggling for discounts at the kirana store but pretending to be Ambani.
The cameras flash, the optics dazzle—our PM and Presidents hugging like long-lost cousins—but behind those hugs lies the quiet reckoning: how much clout do we really have?
China didn’t need a Shashi Tharoor to eloquently tell the world it was powerful. It simply built ships, bridges, apps, and influence. We, meanwhile, keep sending Tharoor to Oxford Unions and think the Queen herself will rise from her grave and knight us again.
Maybe, just maybe, this bruising is good. Like a mirror that shows us the blemishes we’ve Photoshopped away.
A chance to face our terrible education policies.
Our one-sided laws against minorities.
Our obsession with producing engineers whose bridges keep falling down.
Our convenient habit of shouting “Vishwaguru!” while the world quietly downgrades us in democracy indexes.
So what do we do? We could run off to another superpower for sympathy pats on the back—China, Russia, maybe even North Korea if they’ll oblige. Or, we could stop the theatrics that our politicians are fooling us with, roll up our sleeves, and actually become a power worth respecting. One whose strength is not measured by chest size at political rallies, but by classrooms where children think, newspapers tell the truth, institutions are fair, leaders inspire rather than intimidate, and communal tensions not ignited to gain votes.
Rectifying a bruised ego isn’t about demanding applause. It’s about becoming so good, so real, that the applause comes unasked. Then we won’t need the U.S. to notice us. The world will…!
The Author conducts an online, eight session Writers and Speakers Course. If you’d like to join, do send a thumbs-up to WhatsApp number 9892572883 or send a message to bobsbanter@gmail.com
