From prehistoric times, India has always been an Agrarian Society, but now “the times they are a changing”. We will soon celebrate 71 years of “independence” from the tyranny of foreign invaders and to solemnly pay tribute to the soldiers and martyrs who won freedom for a nation of over a billion and a quarter million citizens. It’s time to measure the economic and social progress we have made and the position we hold as world power.
From an Agricultural and Horticultural race, after centuries of being “ruled”, and ruined, by foreign forces, we are now a nation “taken over” by our own people, and this ironically has been of our own doing. We have given people we don’t really know, the sole rights to create and enact laws that could repress or repair what needs to be done for the nation. We wrested freedom from the despotic East India Company, only to deliver ourselves into the clutches of a self-appointed Managing Agency, the The Haughtyculture Company Pvt Ltd, the Government we recently we voted into “Power”. A Government for the people? Hmm. A Government of the people? Hmmmm. A Government “buy the people”? (“buy”, yes, that’s not a typo). A Nation poured all its hopes into one ambitious event, the Elections.
It is always our collective hope that the candidates we have selected are of true and noble character, a lawmaker of intelligence and integrity. However, those qualifications are soon proved otherwise. Post-election what do we see? Horse Trading! A unique Indian phenomenon we have introduced to the democratic world, but instead the practice is an insult to the noble and dignified race of thoroughbreds.
What then is the quality and calibre of the people we so willingly offered our sacred vote to? We are still waking up from the hangover of the most vicious, violent and venomous electoral season the country has ever known. But in proper democratic fashion, we must respect and support the Party elected by us, whether we were for or against. We cannot go on expecting, and demanding, a re-poll scenario until it comes out right. Did we get it right or wrong?
This is where the true essence of our culture steps in. We are made to understand that “The World is as it wants it to be. That it is Divine Will, and all those now in a position of authority have been appointed by God. Everything is fine, perfect”. Utopia. “Utopia” was a word devised by Sir Thomas Moore over 350 years ago, to describe an idealistic world that we all wish to live in. It is a combination two words from the Greek language. But as Moore says, it is “No Place, Nowhere, Nothing, a non-existent universe that we find only in our imagination”. This is so much like the wisdom we gather from times immemorial, that the word “Shiva” means “Nothing”. That it is only when you attain a complete state of nothingness that one finds one’s true nature, the final goal of existence! That it is our thoughts, our imagination, our memories and perception of the Cosmos that hides the truth from us. So be that as it may, but are we where we want to be?
Should we sit back and witness a history unfolding before us in a way we don’t want it to be? Our best answer would be a resounding “NO”. We can, and we must take things under our control. We have the wisdom and will, the tools and technology, the sense and sensibility to create a world according to what we decide it should be.
Those of us who possess the intelligence and the gift of special abilities must step forward and turn it around. It is our duty to help those who need a better life. “Nobles oblige”, it’s the duty and obligation of those who can to serve and help those who cannot. A noble character is the greatest quality a human can achieve. All one’s wealth, learning, academic qualifications and status in Society, as compared to a generous and noble heart, ultimately amount to zero. From the beginning of time the Ancient Sages laid down these two most fundamental guidelines for a happy life on this planet. One: To live our life for other people; and Two: To beautify God’s world.
Corruption, the core of the problem: Most of our elected representatives take it upon themselves to become our rulers and NOT as people appointed by us to do our bidding. They believe running a Government is nothing but a gigantic business project for them to dip into the Treasury Coffers to enrich themselves beyond imagination. And they do it with absolute disdain and indignation for the people who have put those trillions at their disposal. Their greed blinds them from the fact that they are stealing from the poorest people on earth. Such rampant corruption can only degrade the nation and bring it to its knees by way of poverty, lack of healthcare, education, and the quality of life. They have created a Nation suffering beyond the bounds of redemption, a total loss of freedom and dignity.
But yet we wait in a spirit of remarkable tolerance and hope.
Yes, that’s us, waiting, watching patiently, will the new leaders bring about a paradigm change in our body politic, in the direction our country is headed? Will they control the outbreak of hate unleashed by the cruel devices called “Caste”, or “Religion”, or “Poverty”? Will we as a people free ourselves of the curse of dowry deaths, female feticide, and the widespread ill treatment of women?
Before the next voting season, we can, we must turn it around. We need to stop this downward spiral, or else it is our own future which is at stake.
(The author is now a permanent resident of Goa after many years of living abroad)
