Mockeracy

What a mockery of Democracy we have made it in India.

The largest democracy turns a blind eye to the attrocities of the Burmese junta.

Inside India we have Nandigram. The Congress stands as a mute spectator when the marxists use their gun totting goons to terrorise innocent villagers so that they can have a few more days on the hot seat. And the Marxists blame their own government and say they had to use violence because the government didn't do anything.

As if that is not enough, when the whole world strives to move forward, we Indians want to be classified as Backwards. Oh mere backward is not enough, we want to be the most backward class. We agitate mostly violently to be classified as such.

In the name of affirmative action, the political class is using the divide and rule policy, effectively breaking the main pillar of democracy, equality.

And We also deport foreigners who participate in peaceful marches on the pretext of them participating in religious activity. And it doesn't matter that we sell ourselves in the tourism circuit on the basis on "Spiritual India" and we also have a full blown "Buddhist Religious Circuit".

For me this is not Democracy. Should we then coin a new term for this kind of Mockeracy?

Originally posted on 5/30/08 @ Mumbai

Sare Jahan Se Achcha

59 years of freedom from British rule and India has made some rapid progress. From the mystical and mythical, India today is electronic and spiritual in its own right.
In the last 10 years India has seen development like never before. For the last two consecutive years, the number of unemployed in absolute terms has come down. The fruits of development is slowly but steadily percolating to the lower classes. True India has come a long way but we are still not there.
For all its electronic and It superpower tag, India has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world and it will be better if we don't talk about Internet and PC accessibility. India still has a large vulnerable underbelly which needs to be taken out of the rut.
India has historically been a land of spirituality and dharma. But today the same spirituality and sense of dharma is lost on us. Now it is left for the foreigners to tell us about the greatness of Indian spirituality. We cannot blame the western influence for this situation, for it is we deviated from our core principles. Indian spirituality has always been open to new ideas and influences which strengthen it. But today we are rigid and believe in dogmas rather than the essence of dharma.
We are free from the British rule but we have a long way to go to free ourselves of our weaknesses, free of the divisiveness in the society to become truly secular and free of dogmas that the priests, pandits or ulemmas tell us to follow. Free of corruption, of dowry and other social evils. Free of the barbarian mindset we witnessed a few days ago when a couple was beaten for falling in love.
Only this freedom from fundamentalism coupled with respect for all and economic progress will make us truly Independent. Till such time we don't free ourselves from such evils we will be largely dependent, if not physically then mentally. Much like a society with mirror personality disorder or reverse narcissism.
As Robert Frost said 'The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep'.
Only then will we be able to sing 'Sare Jahan Se Achcha, Hindustan Hamara'.

Originally published on 8/15/06

For the Corrupt, Of the Corrupt and By the Corrupt

This is how I define democracy in the largest democracy of the world. India is a corrupt nation and no-one denies that. A large portion of the Indian upper class is innovative (a pseudonym for being corrupt) and that is why they are there. The upwardly mobile Indian middle class is not yet that innovative but still not very far behind.
The reason that India is one of the corrupt nations in the world is that there is no social stigma attached to being corrupt. It has today become an accepted way of earning or getting what u desire.
There are people who say the Indian middle class largely working in private organisations is not corrupt. But I would beg to differ, these are the people who facilitate corruption. One small example to substantiate my claim. Most of us when fined for not obeying traffic rules will try and bribe the policeman so as to avoid paying the actual fine. And since we don't mind giving bribes we don't mind taking it either.
And this the middle class from which politicians and businessmen arise, the only difference being that they bribe the officials for anything and everything. The politicians bribes whoever is ready to get bribed for votes and others do it for money, convenience or escaping from law.
It serves all and that is why I define the thriving Indian democracy as 'For the Corrupt, Of the Corrupt and By the Corrupt.

Originally published on 8/15/06 @ Bangalore

The Taliban within

A young boy and girl were brutally beaten up, paraded on the street and had their faces blackened by the 'society', just because they dared to fall in love. The news correspondent said that this was nothing unusual and had they not been juvenile, they could have been hanged.
No this is not Taliban, this happened in a western UP city. The families here are affluent and educated or should I say uneducated literates. This act is nothing but barbarian. The society commands boys and girls should refrain from such activities but the same society worships the courtship of Radha and Krishna.
The moral brigade in our country is another form of Taliban in the heart of the country. They claim to be protectors of our culture but they haven't read any of the sacred texts. The Indian culture has been free flowing without compromising on the core principals.
The most dangerous person is the one with only half the knowledge, the fundamentalists are no different. These self-proclaimed righteous people with their half backed ideas and understanding of culture are the Taliban within our society.
We can fight the Taliban with guns but how do we fight the Taliban within?

Originally published on 8/13/06 in Bangalore.