India in Contrast:

I am an Indian. A citizen of one of the world’s rapidly developing, and also world’s rapidly impoverishing country. The contrasts found in my country’s cultural, political, historical and moral themes will put any nation to shame. They are so vibrant with Contradictions packed in together, forcefully traveling with eachother all the time. Just behind the world’s pricey bunglow, you’ll find the world’s largest slums. A couple of streets away from the most informed Brahmins, you find the most uninformed of all. The most cunning of businessmen hire innocent and helpless labor, who let anyone exploit their work and life. One can find a far right-wing youth reading a liberalist’s views of raising hegemony: of course, the writer will face abuse and threat soon after, that’s a different thing. While one talks of Gandhi, there are people that sing of Godse, and while one Shloka of Upanishad preaches equality and presence of God in all, the next Shloka encourages to go for a war and slaughter anyone that’s harming Dharma. One history book talks of Muslim contribution to our cultural heritage, the next one doesn’t mention them at all. Ha! These Contradictions made us all clumsy people. Just like it’s geography, the moral map of my country’s citizens is baffling. Some enjoy all this, and some dissent. Yeah, and they’ll be fellow passengers.

One Problem:

Everyone has a right to hold opinions. Everyone has a right to information and can analyse, discuss and draw conclusions. Without causing any social disturbances one can live according to their beliefs. If something goes amiss, one can peacefully strike and resort to the law. (There are challenges, yes. But moving away from peaceful protest and law is nothing but defaming the system, and once disrespected, the system wouldn’t be good for anyone.) But these days, just like everyone else, I too am finding a change, a rather strange one: extremity in divisions.

While polarization and incitement towards hate have gained huge popularity in today’s political and cultural arena, the political, religious and cultural exodus’, the tendency towards ethnic cleansing and genocide is in the air? No? (Just meditate for a moment. Think of suppression and pseudo-Imperialism that’s gaining momentum these days) Am I being pessimistic? No. I don’t think so. There definetly is a momentum towards polarization and deepening of frontiers between common people. Muddling up into castes, communities or classes, and throwing mud towards the other’s have become a common social activity. Even killings of a person is not killing a HUMAN, but just a member of some or the other community/religion.

With the advancement of science and technology the liberals and humanists have hoped to eradicate the evils of religion. They hardly could dispel some stupid superstitions, and religion started using science to improve its evil activites.

(*le scientists/humanists/liberals – bangs heads)

A Little More Musing:

The world has become a democratic place and everyone were clapping, except socialists, communists, anarchists and monarchists. That was a glorious phase. At last, people were going to say what they want and what they don’t. Utopia!

Till then, it was polite. When leaders or dictators wanted something, they snatched it. People knew they were at a disadvantage. They understood they were being looted. Leaders told them that they don’t care about them. They freely went to conquests, killed thousands of soldiers and did not apologise. If there’s a revolt, they suppressed it, if not, they submitted. If there was a plague, they locked themselves inside, if not, they helped of they could. If there was a beautiful woman, they dragged her away, if they can’t, they bought her anyway. It was happening all over the world. Everyone knew. No one tried to hide anything. No one were covering anything up. (Except the Church tried of Science). It was well. People thought, “they are the rulers, we are the ruled, and this is our fate.” Quite polite. Don’t you think?

Now, you’ll think so:

Democracy needed a new weapon. A weapon which should be in the hands of people, but will kill people themselves. Till then leaders killed people in everyway possible. But now, no. It should be sleek. It should be subtle. People need to betray themselves and they shouldn’t blame the leaders. People should create problems for themselves, and leaders should pose like saviours. People need to depend on the leaders, and the leaders need to pamper them so much, it should feel like real love. Ha! Such a huge complication!

How to achieve all these?

How would I know? I’m just naive. They know it all. They have tried and found out a thousand ways to do all of them. Divide and rule policy, the most popular of all, is highly successful in India right now. Caste, religion, creed, class, color, language, region, and the list goes on. In how many ways can people be divided? They know it all. They divide us into two groups, and these two groups are further divided, and they are divided again, and they are so much divided till they are alienated individuals, or much more worse! And along with Divide and Rule, there seems to be many more successful practices.

Are people stupid to be played?

In Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, the protagonist accidentally visits a country where the new president has ordered to change the history in all textbooks, rewrite all historical accounts, reinterpret all monoliths, and burn all the old accounts. All the new writings should be rigorously promoted and anyone that talks of the old can be executed. Slowly, the new becomes the norm. In George Orwell’s 1984, the whole news account in all history would be manipulated every second to confuse the citizens, and anyone that questions the manipulation or the interest of the press, are alienated, punished and brainwashed.

Of course they are political dystopian novels but, just think of it: is changing a history text book’s narrative that hard? In a University, a whole library section regarding Adivasis and Dalits had vanished recently. In another University whole history was rewritten without a single mention of a Muslim ruler. In another University syllabus the “mahima” of ancient Hindu sciences were almost proven! And coming to the press, are no political parties holding press? And in the dystopian world of social media, who needs a press house? Ha! Vonnegut and Orwell were not idiots!

Wanted Teachers:

India is in dire need of teachers. People who teach what is right and what is not to the next generations. How to understand propaganda, how to analyse, understand and replicate properly. Indian students are being taught by biased parents, blaring party leaders, spiritual gurus, social-media influencers. They shouldn’t teach our children. Properly trained, knowledgeable, unbiased, compassionate and democratic teachers should mould the young brains of our children.

Governments have never shown enough interest in bringing out teachers out of us. I can dare say that they actually don’t want good citizens who can analyse and understand. They just need people that fall in the traps of hysteria and psychosis. They need people who are shallow, so they can outrage them, bend them, use them and ptovoke them to stay in power.

India, find teachers. Educate more and more children. Don’t give filtered information prescribed. Rather give the ability to think what’s right and what’s not. They need to decide what our country needs to be. Should it be in the hands of hesterics or in the hands of sane and sensible leaders?

Only a child properly taught can answer.