India’s interest in China evoked many a responses from the commentators, businessmen or politicians but they have missed the ‘human face’ of China.
But, Pallavi Iyer, the Hindu Correspondent in Beijing who has lived in China for the past five years, says understanding the human face of China better is important for sustained successful Sino-Indian co-operation.
‘China attracts sharp judgments, but what temporary visitors see is not reality,’Ms.Iyer said at the launch of her book ‘Smoke and mirrors’ on China organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry on Wednesday.
‘Smoke and mirrors’attempts to explore broad themes that define modern China through the lives of ordinary citizens and her own experiences.
The dualities of tradition and modernity, socialism and capitalism, freedom and control, which Chinese people negotiate on a daily basis are at the heart of the book.
She describes how China’s rubbish pickers wear rubber protection gloves, its women are free to drive buses without remark, but its academic community is stifled. Innovation is the buzz word of science but the scourge of the arts.
The rural urban divide, often over emphasised by western media, is relative when compared with India, but Indian parliament looks inspiring compared with that of China.
Kleptocratic corruption was less common among political elites in China, because many Chinese believed they were working towards a better future for the country, but the Indian citizens have the right to make choices about who rules them.
Many Indians who set up business in China, do not see below the surface.But the problem begins with food and language. While Indians value vegetarianism and select vegetables at that, the Chinese value exotic diversity of meats and animal products.
Few. who speaks Mandarin, ever learn the language.