Those flying buttresses

Haresh forwarded "Notre dame Paris is burning!!!" on his Radio Haresh WhatsApp group (let me know if you want to join it, becoming a member is easy). It was a Forward. Another friend wrote "What did you do?" Haresh responded by saying " I put it on my bucket list and it burnt down! Tell me what do you want destroyed and I shall put it on my bucket list." The friend responded by saying "Any Trump Hotel." 

There might be some truth to that. If a Trump Hotel or Golf Resort went up in flames, there might be a fair amount of celebration.

The Parisians were of course shocked and bereaved that evening. I watched minute-to-minute coverage of the burning of Notre Dame all evening on BBC (unfortunately, we don't get Al Jazeera on cable here in our sector in Islamabad so I wouldn't know if Al Jazeera also covered it back to back). 

We are so used to the Western point of view that I hardly gave much thought to how much covering the burning of a cathedral was receiving and how much air time was being given to how the Parisians felt about it all. 

"Terrible."

"Part of my life."

"Symbol of French culture and history."

"An inextricable part of Paris. Much older than the iconic Eiffel Tower." 

"Universal iconic structure."

On and on the coverage went. One is so used to how much Western grief and news gets centre stage that one hardly thinks about it anymore. 

The Parisians of course get even more special coverage, it seems. They are a very very special part of Europe. 

But hang on, how is the Notre Dame cathedral a universal symbol? There are ancient structures way older and, much more fascinating that represent the world: the ancient Pyramids of Giza, Machu Pichu, Angor Watt, Lalibela, some ancient city in Zimbabwe, the libraries of Timbuktu, etc, etc. Proportionally, how does the small fake continent of Europe represent the world? And, morally, with its history of colonialism, how does Europe symbolise the world's heritage? I suppose we have to still keep up the pretence that Europe is a civilised and enlightened place. 

Last year visiting Ethiopia was a revelation for me - I was completely moved and blown away by the ancient rock churches of Lalibela and the Ethiopian Christian art. It was as old as any European medieval art. I was incensed that we weren't even taught Ethiopian Christianity in our fancy Humanities class in high school. In this class, we pored over these gothic depressing and ugly-ass structures like Notre Dame and, their tympanums, naves and flying buttresses. No mention of Lalibela. 

No sir, Notre Dame does not feel like a universal symbol of human history. It's ugly and scary. In my imagination, there are far more beautiful buildings and sites that I dream of visiting. 

I also laughed a little at the notion that Notre Dame has a central position in French history and culture. Didn't we study in school that medieval cathedrals were built by poor peasants, hoping to get a ticket to heaven? These structures and even those I dream of visiting were built by poor folks. That is the material history of our world. So, how exactly is poor labour part of one's culture? 

My best friend hit the ball out of the park in a WhatsApp conversation: 

"Yep, built by poor peasants. But I'm so tired of the centering of the grand importance of white, European culture. Especially when the destruction of my culture is complete at the hands of these masters. Of course I can see the beauty, the loss. But guess what, there are other important things happening and, last time I checked, the French are still wreaking havoc with cultures around the world....they'll tax their former colonies more so they can pay for the restoration of this grand symbol of French, white superiority."

So yes, we all have to mourn and grieve for the French and European suffering. Professional mourners are at least paid but the world has to fulfil this service for free. Talk about unpaid emotional labour.