Amongst India’s many diverse people, there is a class of refined people that disproportionately dominate our societal discourse, particularly in the English language. For this article, let’s call them the IIDEs (India’s Intellectual and Discerning Elites). Since English has long been a symbol of superiority, IIDEs have an advantage right away in terms of their words being taken more seriously. IIDEs usually have had an intellectually privileged upbringing, even if not a financially privileged one. They grow up consuming newspapers, magazines, books and films in English. IIDEs know the classics and they know the prestigious awards. Hence, when they opine on something, whether it is politics or entertainment or literature, it carries more weight than any other normal Indian person.
After all, who doesn’t want praise and validation in English, written in the most eloquent manner by refined people? Politicians do, filmmakers do, authors do. You and I do too. All of us, to a certain degree, crave IIDE validation.
However, let this article serve as a warning to those craving IIDE love. In India at least, to get love from IIDEs is a near certain kiss of death. The IIDEs are seductive, but if you are here to do business or reach the masses in India (which companies, politicians and entertainers all seek to do), do not fall into the IIDE trap.
The IIDEs know English well and have refined taste. However, the IIDEs do not know India, Indians or how Indians think. Their aim is not to reach out to Indians. Their aim is to show themselves as different and superior to ordinary Indians, in terms of taste, morals and intellectual thought. IIDEs only seek preserve their IIDE status, which doesn’t come from approval of other Indians, but from other IIDEs. IIDEs seek validation only from their own community. It’s a pristine, refined echo chamber, a sophisticated circlejerk, quite disconnected from India.
Hence, if you fall into the IIDE trap, you will destroy your venture and goals.
Here are three examples from contemporary India to illustrate the IIDE’s kiss of death. See these examples as warnings on how being seduced into dancing to IIDE tunes could mean destroying yourself.
First, the English language publishing industry. IIDEs take to English publishing like moths to LED lights at a cricket stadium (IIDEs would express it with a far more aesthetic metaphor, but that’s them). In publishing, IIDEs love something called ‘literary fiction,’ and hate everything else. Literary fiction is hard to define, went out of date in the 1990s and barring a few rare examples, usually nothing but a self-indulgent expression of IIDE gibberish, only expressed in eloquent language. Of course, nobody wants to buy or read it. However, IIDEs lavished praise on literary fiction that sold less than a hundred copies, and bashed popular fiction writers (yours truly included). Rather than encourage popular fiction that was making people pick up books despite smartphones, they mocked and shamed popular books and the readers who read them. IIDEs lavishly praised high-brow rubbish and publishers fell for it. Staff at Indian publishers is now full of IIDEs. The industry is loss making as a whole. Recently, a large publisher shut down, telling you the sign of things to come. IIDEs, the self-proclaimed lovers of literature, shamed the readers for their choices, the readers moved to youtube (yours truly did too!). The publishing industry was dealt the IIDE kiss of death.
Two, the Congress party. For some reason, the IIDEs love the Congress party. A lot of it is driven by the hate for Modi, who as anti-IIDE as they come. Hence, IIDEs pour their love out for the Congress, praising Rahul Gandhi to the moon for every decent speech and not missing a chance to attack Modi. The unfortunate part is the Congress is falling for it. The Congress now loves IIDE praise, and even allows IIDEs to set theor agenda. For instance, IIDEs feel there is massive bigotry on in India, India is becoming a Hindu Rashtra, no Muslim is safe and the regime at the top is helping only two industrialists. IIDEs literally spend the day on social media, finding incidents that support these theories to show India is now completely polarized. In a land of 1.4 billion people and tens of thousands of leaders, someone somewhere will say or do something stupid. IIDEs present this as the omnipresent reality. Worst, the Congress believes it (because they are in IIDE spell). The reality of India is quite different. Most Indians do not even think of Hindu and Muslim on a day-to-day basis. If you sniff in gutters for random incidents, present a new one everyday and try to string them together as the only reality, it won’t be the truth. The Congress is in the IIDE trap and hope it gets out soon.
The third example of the IIDE trap is Netflix India. When Netlfix arrived, the IIDEs swarmed around it like students outside a pani puri stall (again, a very non-IIDE analogy). The IIDEs saw Netflix as their own, perhaps because they saw esoteric Western shows on it. Netflix to them, reflected refined taste, and that’s what IIDEs are all about. They threw the IIDE praise trap and Netflix India fell for it. IIDE validation became the sole purpose of Netflix India, rather than their real mandate, to reach every Indian. Netflix India made original shows that were to IIDE tastes, not Indian tastes. The net result – Netflix India is today far behind other OTT platforms. At a recent earnings call, the Netflix CEO Reed Hastings expressed frustration about their progress in India. Simple answer Mr Reed: The IIDE trap.
The IIDEs are seductive, but if you are here to do business or reach the masses in India (which businesses, politicians and entertainers all seek to do), be wary of the IIDEs and their love. Even as an individual, take this lesson in life – stop seeking validation from others. Do your own thing, follow your own path and don’t fall into the trap of those who claim to know better but don’t.