Plagued By Diversities

Sizeable populations of some 7 religions; 1600 dialects besides 22 official languages; several regions each with distinct culture and traditions ; and numerous castes and sub-castes. All of these huddled together form the tottering nation that India is. Quoting such statistics with aplomb might win an Indian candidate a world beauty pageant title. But are these a source of pride or the cause of a myriad grave problems that plague India ? What have we gained out of such diversities except that impression of a giant surviving despite having a million bleeding wounds? Would the absence of literature in a dozen languages and half-a-dozen mini-film industries have hurt too much when there would have been peace instead?

I have often wondered, how different a place would India have been had their been just one language, one culture, one religion, no castes and sensible people. Perhaps just like any other nation? There would not have been so many easy methods for us to divide and get divided, to exploit and get exploited. Corrupt politicians or terrorists (whoever you perceive as major threats to the country's well-being) flourish only because it is possible to take advantage of the bigoted attitude we have when it comes to these social variables. Fortunately the differences of castes and languages have not resulted in sanguinary riots. This is because unfortunately only religion gives us the drive and purpose to commit such offences.

Groupism is an abhorrent case when people cease to think or desire like individuals and instead try to assume the assumed qualities or responsibilities of a particular group they think they belong to. It is either some people thinking they are superior to some others and despising or competing with them. Or it is some people feeling despised, deprived and oppressed by some others and therefore, happy to have company amongst themselves. One would think it is the poor literacy rate that is responsible for the absence of goals of individual excellence and for the groupism to prevail. But I have sensed such feelings even amongst those called "the cream of the nation". If the highest education can't kill such narrow-mindedness , what can? And for governing such people, politicians who are supposed to encourage excellence at an individual level naturally resort to tactics that will help one group feel superior or not inferior to another. The stress here is on pulling back those in front rather than pushing the laggers ahead.

Recently there has been much hue and cry over the proposed reservations for the OBCs in IITs and IIMs increasing the seat reservation to 49% (some idiots on TV have talked about reservation infact being decreased to 51% for upper castes!!). Having finished my degree a couple of years before this disaster has been planned, I am not going to be directly affected. But my heart bleeds for that struggling student who would be the sufferer. The anti-reservation protests have made me happy about the youth of India willing to fight injustice. But I also wonder how many of these protestors would have refused to reap the benefits themselves had they been amongst the beneficiaries of this poisonous scheme intended to divide the society further. Most of them would not have complained. In that event, how just or unjust can any such act by politicians be called if the people themselves are clueless and blinded. The setup and our refusal to shrug it off are just as unjust.

Our claims to opportunities for individual advancement ought to be combined with a pledge of indifference to all these shackles and barriers. We have proved in recent history that we can do nothing constructive with them. If castes were for division of labour we have used them as a tool for despisal and abuse. If religions were to show us the path of God, we have used them as motives for violence and bloodshed. The coming August, we shall proudly celebrate yet another anniversary of Indian independence. Let us also be aware that the struggle of excellence for freedom from these shameful fetters paralysing the country is far from over.

Meter Down..Pleease

Human life involves a lot many inter-dependences and dependences several of which one would love to do without. My dependence on these auto-rickshaw drivers falls pretty much in this category. Normally I would ask a person I grudge to go to hell. But it doesn't happen so with this exalted class of people whom I curse more when they are not there than when they are there. Surprising as it may seem, but working for a company where automated incriminating mails are sent to managers if one arrives a moment later than 10 a.m., I have found myself gazing wistfully at even lorries passing by in the morning. It is almost an interview that I am subjected to every morning when I endeavor to seize an opportunity to get an auto-ride to my office. I have to explain in detail to the interviewer (whilst other prospective interviewers carrying prospective opportunities slip by) the destination, that i know the way to the destination, that there is a preferred path to the destination, that I everyday go to this destination, that there is a certain tolerable maximum fare that I would like to part with, etc etc. But unlike most interviews, rejection here is almost a cinch (so I recommend travelling on autos when you are going for some grisly interview..sort of prepares your for rejection ).About three hundred days spent in Bangalore and interactions with as many members of this esteemed class of the society (the ones entitled to rebuke their own customers) have given me great insight into the different sub-classes existent in this class.

There are a few auto-drivers who seem to be going somewhere and yet nowhere because they say no to any destination name that you propose to them. I have been inclined to ask them where actually they want to go instead of being asked where I want to go. Amongst them, there are some who add a personalized grimace and twitch to the 'no' as if to say "What a pauper! wants to go this close when I am ready to go to Chennai". But I will be unfair if I don't admit that I have had the fortune of polite refusals as well and even acceptance from one amongst say twenty.

There are some drivers who get genuinely offended if you know the way and you acting smart try to make them follow it. On such occasions ( for example if I ask the driver to take a left turn and not a right turn because the left leads to where I want to go), I have even been asked to get down and look for some other means. But then if saving time is what you want , it is better to close your eyes and be seated rather than getting down and starting the interview process all over again. But then there are also some who reluctantly follow my dictated directions while either complaining brazenly about what he would extract out of this deal if he doesn't take roundabout routes or rebuffing me in Kannada (some prefer Hindi too, the language I understand).

But the best part of the entire affair is the discussion over the fare (I guess somebody fixed a fare-meter into auto-rickshaws just to avoid the same). But the poeple of this class have a serious dislike for the fare-meter and your liking for it. I have always seen something written in bold letters inside autos about your calling the police if the driver demands extra fare. But I suppose, you can only intimidate kids using the police threats. The drivers are too grown up for that. So after showing the displeasure over the place you want to go to, the driver pretends to be making a sacrifice. Only that he would need anything between one and a half times to five times the actual fare. There are some who don't like this multiplication business and simply shock you with round figures like Rs.50 /Rs.100 for small distances. This figure goes up unimaginably in the event of rainfall, strikes or if you appear to be in a great need of transport.

The story doesn't end if you have persuaded an auto-driver to use the fare-meter (without multiplications). Triumphant as you might feel, but the meters can get as crooked as the drivers themselves. Despite following the same route everyday, I have noticed differences in the fare that are more significant than what can be introduced by just taking wider turns. So you never know if the fixed price deal or the meter deal would be inappropriate.

Yet even with all the follies and fuss, I cannot downplay the importance of the auto-rickshaw in my life. If I do not see many of the familiar black and yellow objects passing by, I get to know it is either me or my job that is not safe.

Do We Need Obsessive Factions Governing Us?

An unnamed individual recently succumbed to the burns he suffered when he attempted self-immolation to voice his protest against screening of the movie Fanaa in Gujarat. I wonder why he considered his life worthless enough to be ended in this manner. There is little sympathy he arouses in me. Being the stooge of some obsessive political factions (that I suspect he is), he would have ended his life anyway in a similar manner in the event of the next Aamir Khan film screening or the next M.F. Hussain exhibition or the next time India decides to host some beauty contest or practically anything under the Sun that will sound agreeable to most human beings.
Burning effigies, books or even themselves is the most common form of protest that such cliques employ (They never get lathi-charged the way students got while protesting against reservation with genuine concern about their own and the country's future.) Most of the times, the event that instigates the protest bears no relevance whatsoever to the reason they state. What is really appalling is the fact that these days we so often find people by their crazy acts, attempting to determine what the normal layman should see, say, believe or do.

My respect for Aamir Khan has grown manifold after he took a stand in favour of NBA and stood by it. And it is irrespective of whether he did it for promoting his movie Rang De Basanti (which had already become a huge huge hit by then!! ) or for paving his path to becoming a politician. If expressing one's harmless views on a social issue is such a heinous crime in India ,I don't think there is a bigger irony than India calling itself a democracy. The political groups did whatever they are good at..viz. burning effigies, making disparaging remarks. As if that were not enough, they threatened to ban the screening of his new film Fanaa if he did not apologize. What a mockery!

Equally shameful were the protests against the Valentine's day celebrations. Times Of India Link . The groups assuming the role of culture police went about carrying placards that had extremly obscene slogans alluding to MMS scandals and what not. They went about sabotaging the special preparations shopping malls had for the day. They threatened to "take action" against couples who try to celebrate the day.

And then quite recently, we had incidents of police action against couples in parks. There are people who feel religion can get endanered by the release of a movie like Da Vinci code ( that too after the book has become a bestseller already) and therefore, decide to protest against it (by burning books of course). There seems to be no end to all the foolery. And amidst all this, one wonders whether governance is all about ensuring rights or depriving people of the same. Perhaps anything you do in India other than kissing cobras or marrying cobra idols is going to displease one or more of such obsessive groups.