On... Political Responsibility 2

The premise of this whole musing depends upon a person A. Since I usually use a first person narrative, let A=I. I was born in Kerala, India and grew up during the IT boom. Most of my friends pursued engineering and are working for MNCs. So, suppose I was one of them. I am not talking about the IT sector strictly, but the service sector which is growing at a fast rate and generates more and more jobs for youth every year. Since I grew up in an age of ‘controlled liberalism’ and globalisation, I began to see the world like most of my peers. (Remember, it is all a supposition.)It was fun. Living in a city, having all comforts. So I chose what my friends did. I did my graduation and went into the service sector. Life is extremely good here. I have so much money on my hands that I really don’t know how to spend it. Of course, I have to work as per my company’s needs and dictums. But why bother when I get all this money?

I believe that I should make more money and that is how I serve the nation. But, what nation? Isn’t it just a geo – political demarcation? I am a true global citizen. I can show you photos of my visits to various countries. You should see the highways there. My car has lost its spirit running on our pothole filled roads. We need more development. But, home is always the best. I want to come home to rice, aviyal and fish curry once in a while. I shop from the finest of super markets. I have fine taste in the latest music. I enjoy art that I can understand.  I am hip and I am hopping all over the carefree world that I see. Yes, of course poverty, caste, corruption, everything exists. I know I should do my part. That is why I always roll down the window and give alms to the child beggar on the road. That is why I believe in Corporate Social Responsibility. I believe that these politicians are ruining everything. Why are there so many poor people? They are a disgrace to Incredible India. They spoil everything with their crass behaviour. Did you see that movie on racism? It was wonderful. Better than that movie on human scavengers. My lord, how can they be so insensitive as to put the audience through such agony? My work is going fine. I am being promoted next week. There is a puja next month at our apartment building. We are also invited. I have to buy matching accessories for my dress, which itself has gone out of fashion. Maybe I should just buy another one. I have children. I will raise them the best I could and inculcate my value system in them. Or at least try to. Then I die.

What is wrong with this picture? I don’t wish to go into a detailed analysis of each and every sentence. But somehow I find a large section today fits at least a part of the description. They hardly understand or care about a protest against price rise. Not because it doesn’t affect them. It does. They are acutely aware of the situation. But it is not their head ache. Sixty three years back, our forefathers emerged victorious after a century of freedom struggle. The ‘tryst with destiny’ is one of the most quoted and celebrated speeches of all time. We all know that the population in its entirety came out and fought the British. But post independence, due to several reasons, people has lost their will to fight for their lives. The last couple of decades have brought on tremendous changes in how we look, think and perceive reality. Media has become an engorged, sensationalizing conglomerate, which though brings to the fore many burning issues, embeds an idea of what the modern youth should be in capitalistic terms. They stay away from nation building, are mostly glad to dismiss politics as something that does not affect them, hide behind their Ray bans and are happy with seeing what they want to see.

What do they teach their children? That this world is not theirs to care for? Or that they should wait till someone else takes some action for them? In the end, what remains? If they don’t realize that country is a geo-political boundary and that nation is essentially the culture, the people and the roots that bind them to their existence, what good comes out of their procreation? What good comes out of holding fast to certain traditions that promotes oppression but doesn’t understand the true meaning of globalisation? Ultimately, isn’t it a waste – breeding like monkeys just to increase the population?

I don’t know who else to plagiarise other than the one who spoke of our tryst with destiny.

‘That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means, the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

And so we have to labour and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace is said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.’

Where do we stand when millions do not understand the gravity these words carry? We are capable. But only if we stand up straight and look around us.