This is neither the first nor the last, 62 hrs of constant bombardment of news channels was probably what was needed to push us Indians to raise up and say “Enough is enough”! A great feat I should admit, neither could Kalam’s “Ignited minds” nor Nandan Nilakeni’s “Imagining India” could achieve the awakening effect this disruptive incident brought about.
My heart goes out to all those who lost their lives for nothing. Yes, nothing! If you have observed, in the human , we always have no reason to create anything, but definitely have one for destroying, at the least we destroy things and then come up with a cause. In the history of mankind, for every life that was lost for a cause, we ended up creating something worthwhile.
However, in the recent past any incident where lives are lost on either side (good and evil) there is no cause – The perpetrators want to create a sense of fear. Even the cause for retaliation has transformed into just creating “Shock and awe” instead of arriving at a closure or creating something worthwhile.
Few things crossed my mind as I witnessed the carnage… First and foremost, this incident ignited a sense of responsibility amongst us commoners, we became more vigilant, we have become bold enough to show our angst against the system and people whom we were always agnostic about, it did not matter if you are a coffee vending boy or the CEO, all of us witnessed what happened and have more or less the same information, we all voiced our opinions in any which way we could, we are now more polarized, we are OK being looked up as someone with strong opinion which might not be populist and finally we don’t want to play into the “resilient mumbaikar” gimmicks of establishment (politicians and beaurocrats) which has been lackadaisical in delivering their duties.
After this incident Kiran Mazumdar Shah (CEO of an Indian bio-medical company) clarified with a security guard if he knew what he was checking / looking out for in the car whilst entering a 5 star hotel. The security guard in my office, while leaving for the day, ensured that he got his bag checked just to set a precedence of non-exclusivity. Both were gestures that proved that we at all levels have grown a little more vigilant.
During these 62 hours, the perspectives that emerged from the media across the border were also interesting. They said, “We in Pakistan, were told that Indian intelligence was behind every bomb that ever went up, we have been brought up with the notion that anything evil that happens is because of India, so it is quite natural that you are also reacting in a similar way”.
This statement, as outrageously outlandish it might sound, is in fact true. Earlier, it was always easy for the establishments on either side to blame the “forces across the border” as it helped assuage public anger against their incapacity. Same thing is happening with regards to world economic crisis where developed nations are blaming the developing ones for being consumerist and raising oil/food prices.
Now that we commoners are armed with advanced communications and knowledge sharing mechanisms are gaining rich perspectives and are able to make appropriate choices and informed decisions. We are demanding action, non-partisan approach, economic growth plans, and justice irrespective of which colour, cast or creed or ideology an establishment belongs to. Barrack Obama being elected to the white house is a substantial indicator in this direction from a nation of 305 million people who are leading the planet today. We the people of India moved from elitist politics to common man politics by electing the “Jan Sangh” to power in the 70’s – and made a difference to thousands of villages in this country. Proved that, we could get someone like Laloo a commoner elected to the parliament not once but every time since then.
I believe this the start of a new era in political activism from the common man in India and am sure, that we will change the course of Indian politics from a divisive one to constructive one which is focused on results!
- Jai Hind
I leave the interpretation of the sign off to the reader.
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