Jai Ho..

thank for the link on NYTIMES about the "great election". So true. Also, it must be pointed out, that having a demographically young country is very stupid to live in if you are a thinking person.

All movies are teeny bopper dandy dating oriented. All "news" is hype. There is no national "dialogue" at all. Period. Just a dinner at McD! This is the electorate. And their doting parents obsessed with their offspring are too tired to do anything.

In short, India is brain dead. Except where passing stodgy exams to get "great" 12 hour jobs at crunching spreadsheets at an MNC with a chance to go abroad.

This was an anonymous comment at one of the other blogs I came across.

Yes, I know that a post in a blog is usually followed by comments. Not begun with one. Specially not some comment which is almost incomprehensible on reading it.

Being one of these teeny brain dead guys, the comment seemed inflammatory to me. I wanted to go all guns blazing at the grumbling fellow. But then I committed the mistake of actually taking the time to read the NY Times article, Big Election, Teeny, Tiny (if Any) Ideas which was being talked about.

As I read through the aforementioned article, I could actually physically feel the anger giving way to frustration because what was said was painfully true. With the month long elections going on in different parts of the country. Billions of rupee spent in facilitating these elections and several times over spent by the various political candidates and parties. I could not recall one party of accusing other, of not having a far-sighted manifesto. There never were any discussions about how do they see India's role in the new world economic order. There are parts of the country where the local civilian authorities do not dare to venture because of the Naxal presence. Yet, no one bothered to outline whether they were going to take an aggressive stand or negotiate with them. There are a million other more substantial problems facing India and it's citizens, like corruption, absolute poverty, food shortage, high prices, global warming, our geographical neighbourhood. But not one of these became the topics of discussion for our would be representatives. Only thing which some parties could come up with was, communal equations and others went hoarse warning everyone else to vote for them because others were communal.

The role which the news media (both print and visual) is playing is not much better either. How many of us can recall a piece of news which covered some political leader talking about actual development? I know, I cannot. I know how many multi millionaires are contesting the elections, all party-wise, state-wise and individually but no one told me what is that with respect to the actual average earning of a regular Indian. I can also count how many times did Varun Gandhi make communal remarks. When one of the leaders actually challenged the other to some real debate. News experts started dissecting why should it not be? They talk about Parliamentary debates. Where are those famed parliamentary debates? As soon as someone starts to speak someone else has to start shouting, banging up the desks or simply walk out. Could not media have raised these uneasy questions, so that the candidates and specially Prime Ministers in waiting will have to take a stand on these actual issues. The most far-sighted of media moguls were busy rearranging the pre-poll alliances to look what the post poll alliances will have to be to allow the new government to take seat. Instead of asking, "What changes happen to all the principles of these political parties which are so opposed to each other, once the elections are over. So that they can so easily form an alliance."

The worst part is knowing that even when we know all this. We do not speak up. Many of us say that what will our opinions do. It is the opinion of each one of us that starts a discussions, meaningful debates. And the questions arising from these debates are the ones which someone will have to take the pains to answer. We have to unlearn our ability to be mute spectators with the things which effect our own lives. Everyone of us need to take a firm stand on things, have opinions because once we have opinions we will have to come out defend those while in discussion with others differing with us. And it is only this interplay of ideas which can distill better approaches to solution from every approach to a solution. 

Be restless, have opinions.

Take care everyone. *peace*