Has the dust settled? Or is that huge cloud of anger and misplaced emotions the entire nation has been going through these last few weeks about to kick up again with the next truckload of countrywide chaos! The Game is being played out between the opposing powers-that-be and us. To win we need to use every intellectual ounce of muscle and maalum that we have to turn the tide of public anguish around and make it to confront its own face of evil. We are being pounded on all sides by blatant lies, deceit, misinformation, fake and misplaced nationalism, unacceptable ideologies and threats that only help in disrupting the very fabric of an organised and civil society. That’s just the kind of existence we don’t want.
If we only sit back like armchair pundits, spewing strands of home-cooked wisdom to everyone around, and of course, no one is listening, we will soon be struggling to climb out of a bottomless pit that we never saw coming. It’s up to us, and only us, the citizens who have the power, an unmatched and unstoppable force, that can bring sense and stability to the most vibrant and dynamic democracy on this planet.
Nurtured and guided by the unshakeable wisdom of the ancient Sages, the Nation has matured into becoming the largest group of citizens to be governed by the highest form of democracy in the history of civilised man. It’s time for us to collectively stand up, be counted, and turn the Game around. No other result but a win-win situation is the Goal. Or else we are staring decades of unrest and disorder to follow, for us and the next generation; and the next.
Sounds dire, like doomsday stuff? Not really, not if we train and set up for the big match. It’s time for India to step on to the maidan and flex its economic muscles and sheer weight of human power spread across the globe. It’s time to demonstrate to the whole world that we have imbibed the teachings and testaments of our ancestors who have been laid down as unflinching guidelines for us and all of mankind, on how to live life to the fullest. And as a bonus, they also explained in deep detail the true meaning of life, on why we are here, and from where we have come, and to where we will be going once we have done with this mortal coil.
We have all been imbued with complete instructions, a User Manual scripted by the Supreme Coach, and it’s all within us. The Coach, in total concern for all his players, every creature in the Universe, sends the entire team out to play every game with unhindered freedom, using the skills and tactics already in place in each of us. The power of our mind, our perception, our memory, our imagination, our intuition, our life energy, leaves nothing wanting by way of knowing how we should play this Big Match.
You know the Game. The Coach has been setting you up from that first yell you let out, announcing your arrival to the world. Then how you labored through and scribbled your first “A”. Yipes! Then another “a”. Finally you are ready for the Match. Your colours are Courage, Perseverance, Unyielding Enthusiasm and the Will to win, all this bubbling within your heart. So you’re Set, primed and ready to trundle thru the tunnel that blindsided you from all the turmoil around you and onto the field of Battle.
The Match. First task, know the Opponent. This helps plan your counter strategy. Who are these guys? What obstacles do we have to overcome?
The Opposition is an imposing tower of Hate, Caste, Greed, a Cauldron of Corruption, Misleading Rhetoric, Lies, Crushing and false Criticism of others, Blatant Abuse of the Power and Trust that the people, the silent and suppressed Electorate, has bestowed upon their “Leaders”, Total Disregard of Public welfare, Murderers and Rapists going unpunished. You know the others too, all substitutes on the bench, Brutality, open Contempt of the Courts, Ill-treatment of Women and the Downtrodden, Dividing societies on the basis of whether they prostrate to the moon or pranam to the sun.
Need some more? Better not, this must not weaken you will to wage a war against what has to be stopped. We only hope that your answer to join the Team and win the fight will be the same as when the next Legislative Assembly Session comes up, and the question arises “Whether our farm and forest animals, stray dogs and cattle, should be allowed to continue to practice ODF”.
What are our Counter Tactics? The most traumatic events in the life of our nation, and the most entertaining, are the year-round sequential series of State elections that come up every few months. The thrill, the adrenaline, nail-biting suspense waiting for the Vote count, even Exit Poll numbers, far exceeds the mundane dozes of excitement dished out by the movie channels. V-Virus, widespread, contagious and incurable. The day after the polling closes, an entire Nation goes “cold turkey” up to the moment the official numbers come out.
Behind this National frenzy of frequent and periodic elections lurks a serious disease. Campaigning, it brings out the worst in the people who have “managed” to become eligible to contest. Listening to the lies and filth being dished out, how is it even possible that any of these men, and oftentimes women, one wonders how any of them can be trusted with running and administering a Country, or a State, the just way?
To clean up this filth, to rid the country of this debilitating disease, it’s only up to us to vote with discretion. Pick only the real guys.
Perhaps the better way to win this match is to be loving and kind and know that everyone is equal, no matter what. The Supreme Coach also dwells within him, and her.
(The author is a permanent resident of Goa after many years abroad)
