The middle finger saga

This is a topic that has been hugely discussed over the last few days on the internet; it seems that Indra Nooyi, the President and the CFO of Pepsico addressed the graduating class of Columbia business school a few days ago (in her own words it was a ‘snooze before booze’ speech) on the 15th of May. In her speech, she had also likened the North America to the middle finger to illustrate a point on how one part of the world affects the other. She started by likening each finger to a continent, with the exception of Australia and Antarctica. To quote, she says "Africa, you see, is the little finger, because while it has yet to catch up with her sister continents when it hurts, 'it affects the whole hand.' OK", then she goes on to liken North America to the middle finger by saying that it anchors every other function, that it was the key for all the fingers working efficiently and effectively and she goes on to conclude that if this middle finger was used inappropriately, it could convey a negative message and get into trouble. In the last few hours I’ve seen quite a few blogs, websites and columns written by very upset folks wanting her to do a multitude of things, among which the printable ones were either to apologize or to quit or my personal favourite, get back to India and rear cows (I'd love to this sometime by the way, c'mon babies, say MOOOOOO).

In my opinion the speech was unimaginative and lacked a sense of occasion, the analogy in question was down right stupid. Don't get me wrong Ms. Nooyi; if someone had likened India to his or her middle finger I would have been upset too. I though would have walked away after a few shakes of my head and not start a campaign against Pepsi (I don't really use any of Pepsi's products in the first place) further accusing it of leaning towards other parts of the world like Asia and Europe, neglecting its parent country the US. If protests were about the harmful effects of aerated drinks, I am all for it, this sadly wasn't the case. I found the patriotic comebacks against this rather forgettable statement pretty stunning, how could these words belittle the many achievements of a large nation? Now modern patriotism is an incredible thing, doesn't take much to stoke and once evoked, it can cause a lot more damage than it can create. I'm sure you would agree with me that being proud of one’s country is one thing but to rub that in everyone’s face at every opportunity is whole different kettle of fish, would the keepers of national pride across the world take note? If you are wondering, we in India do have more than our share of such keepers and so do most countries.

There seems to be a lot of wounded aggression waiting to pounce around this world these days and it takes horrifying proportions at mere words. Its almost like we have become word warriors, people who only talk about things or react only to words. In any case, this issue would not have been as big this if Ms. Nooyi weren’t of Indian origin. If you read the transcript of the speech, Ms. Nooyi says, “Although I'm a daughter of India, I'm an American businesswoman. My family and I are citizens of this great country. This land we call home is a most loving and ever-giving nation -- a Promised Land that we love dearly in return. And it represents a true force that, if used for good, can steady the hand -- along with global economies and cultures.” Why wasn’t it viewed as an American citizen expressing her views one wonders.

Flag waving and righteous indignation would always continue but I urge you reader, to look beyond these petty arguments and moral high grounds and worry more about the important issues that need worrying. God knows that there are enough things to worry about, global warming, economics, poverty, reduction in educational standards, nuclear (pronounced Nu-kiler) weapons, corruption, drugs, teen pregnancies, split families etc, the list is endless. Otherwise we would be forever caught up with these mindless arguments over some silly words that take our time and our energies and leave us nothing but bitterness in return. Please remember that true patriotism reveals itself not in words but in deeds. It draws appreciation universally and not scorn or fear.