Thursday, July 1, 2010

Nobody cares about your Death- Indian


Somebody died….there was no cacophony which is accompanied by chest beating and buckets of tears. There won’t even be a funeral …burial, cremation nothing. No…. it’s not somebody I went to school or college or work with. It’s not anybody related to me, nor is it some kin of somebody I know.
But it was very dear to me, I grew up with it. Always got a lump in my throat, it was within me part of my identity. My patriotism…….love for nation, above all affections.
When I read that Voltaire said “patriotism and spirit of nation state, is singularly the biggest fraudulent measure used by the bourgeois to subjugate the proletariat. The appeal to the emotion of nationhood and the unconditional love for country is nothing but a way to mask all of the ruler’s shortcomings”, I cringed in fact I felt a sense despise towards the great French thinker. But that was past ……
What caused this change? Amongst many other things it was.
The photograph of that unfortunate baby’s who fell prey to Bhopal gas leak the biggest. Records will show that it was killed by industrial disaster of recent time. In truth it fell prey, to the collective greed and incompetence of the rulers of nation.
It will continue to haunt me forever. It looked like a child who must have barely completed a year of its life on this earth, maybe it was of my own age, guess I was that old at the time of this dastardly tragedy.
What did it do to deserve this death? What did the scores of people who died do to deserve that gruesome death? And what about people who still continue to suffer till this day do to suffer a life, ignominy and pain of which is much worse than the death others had?
Hearing arguments put up by politicians and bureaucrats of that day and today. Not just makes your blood boil, it makes you feel a sense of despair. Congress spokesperson was an advocate for Dow chemicals which bought the culprit Union Carbide, Warren Anderson was almost treated like state guest on his visit to India; BJP thinks it’s more important to concentrate on Rajya Sabha campaign of Tarun Vijay (crusader who fights the most important cases like Aishwarya’s on screen kiss) also they took 1 lac [haha] of donation from DOW which they gave back immediately. His Highness Arjun Singh has again been unceremoniously dragged in another controversy [he was MP CM at that time].
By the way the way one of the arguments which has been bandied around a lot is the PM had no idea about Anderson’s exit, all the blame for it lies with the foreign secretary…ha ha ha. The politicians and their sense of humour. Just for the record the captain is responsible for the conduct of all the team members’ right? Him not knowing, besides posing questions of credibility, isn’t it an indictment of his incapability?
Yet it’s not that, what we should think or do anything about. What we are supposed to read, think and talk however is, how we have recorded a historic growth in IIP numbers, how our GDP is the 2nd fastest for a big country, how vibrant our democracy is, how Naxalites are worse than Taliban and Khmer Rogue combined. How we are supposed to get a permanent seat on UN Security Council, or maybe we are supposed to limit ourselves to realty shows. If not that we are supposed to say Indian culture is the greatest ever, or how on screen exposure or talking freely about sex is the greatest threat to our existence. If not that we are supposed to talk about China’s aggressive posturing, and Pakistan having a nuclear bomb. But then we need to pat ourselves for being the only country to have such a comprehensive nuclear treaty with US.
Kudos! India Shining
Activists here want to highlight Obama’s statement that BP oil spill is the greatest industrial crime ever and has to be treated like a global calamity. They want him to take the moral responsibility for the actions of his countrymen. They want him to disown his compatriot and bring justice to people of India. Why???? Is what I want to ask isn’t he the president of US and elected by the people of US to serve them, isn’t his first duty towards his own countrymen.
And why should he fight for the people who are no more than a herd which is supposed to stand in a queue to participate in the greatest people empowerment exercise [general elections].
All this talk about your motherland is your mother, you should be proud of your country, lay down your life for it. Is just part of that propaganda which the rulers promote to keep us in their reins, glorious appeal to emotion. [Any wisecracks “ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" just remember it is a statement made by President a damn smart one at that. Bay of Pigs…..]
Well we can go on and on but it’s all going to be an exercise in futility.
At the end of it…the bottom line well all my friends’ who are in service will be able to associate with it “you want it, take it. If you got a better option the door is open for you”.
How many of us won’t like to stay in Switzerland and Luxembourg, if there is no racial discrimination and we are surrounded by all dear to us? But alas! If only it were possible….
P.S- My greatest dream and disappointment is not getting into NDA, and preferred mode death was to be martyr who lays down his life for the country.

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