Saturday, December 27, 2008

Get-real.

Something that never ceases to upset me, in a State thriving passive for a lifetime to an absolute no-choice and the most upsetting outlook is the capriciousness of an average Indian mind that’d never refuse playing ball games to and with a sad political column, of a much general disinterest. The Mumbai attack, much of a stun only because of a simple surrogating scheme, having replaced a mundane site with two affluent hotels and regular lives with an equal count of moneyed ones, could have as easily been another bombing incident, minus an angry State and faltering politicians. Only this time, it was not. It rounded up being something a lot more whimsical and quirky, on the lines of a despicable reality show, with a jokey chief minister complaining of news channels not being civil enough to mention most footages that aired being property of the Indian Government. So much for an immediate trial.,

The most noticeable howler committed by the political leaders as an immediate, was their apparent and most shocking surprise at the way the masses responded, which happily and obviously, was quite atypical of them. They stuttered, gaped, and fell right off the tight rope being winded at an upsetting rate by the average Indian. But that sadly, filtered as the only doable triumph from an aftermath of the most macabre day Mumbai has ever had to experience. The prime retardation that followed the day, in both an abrupt as well as what could have been an extremely pressing response, stemmed from the rapid deviation of attention from the severity of the present situation to frivolous blame-games of much public interest and amusement. The political structure in all its glory and brilliance continues to make hasty attempts to prevent the straightforward and a much deserved collapse, trying to illustrate “what-could-have-been” and was saved than what already has been. The present Government, however, persists on standing tall and smart, frowning hard at the Indian voters, spinning the most rhetoric question of all- “Where else do you go?”

So, where does that leave us? Stranded between an ocean and a rainforest, deliberating on a less grisly fate? Choosing between parties with leaders that either dismiss Indian women from questioning unless they’d choose to make an appearance sans make-up or would craft a bombed site as a potential filming put? But that’s just when the infamous Indian optimism and unyielding-spirit comes to the rescue. The hyper-angered,incensed Indians, with minds hard-bent never to allow similar happenings ever again, still choose a more soft-core translation of their outrage. They’re still not equipped enough to be countering the tumult and are apparently more interested indulging in debates on whether the first ever terrorist born on the planet was an Indian/Paki/Afghani/African-American/Hispanic/Asian/Martian, or in drawing parallel theories and analogies with previous attacks. What’s the point in penciling a storyline to an occurrence of such palpable reason?

Another interesting member to this raucous party would be Mr. America. He’s like this huge elephant in a small room they say, a step in any random direction and it hits a wall. Why try moving around then? It’s hard not to picture U.S as a headmaster and other nations as chided schoolboys tale-tattering each other to it. It was amusing having to watch the Indian media going frenzy over Ms. Rice arriving in India the first opportunity she got; disconcerted and all fractured in opinion having lost the lives of half a dozen American nationals. India , as I know it, can totally do without Mr. America playing the peace-maker and attempting to maintain the much volatile peace via lending/withdrawing monetary aid, or otherwise. Mr. America, as we all know it, should really learn to keep his hands to his own crotch.

To venture out conferring deterrent measures as an abrupt solution to a happening of such alarming requirement would be plain convenient than heroic. Alternate estimations to include a younger mass in the political arrangement or to redo the entire judiciary even in the most promising manner or to manage another blame shifting round onto a rather dormant fragment of the Indian voters count, are appreciable, not applaudable. Such schemes, as I see them, are and have been in effective perpetual implementation for the longest time now; even before the Mumbai attack, the Gujarat riots or similar records, only to have proposers recognize the ineffectiveness of such precautionary arrangements after every single fiasco. The loophole lazes not in the mode of an approach, but in the fragile scaffold of every such precautionary measure.

The saddest part is that there exists no further extension of an opinion henceforth or of potential corrective solutions that anyone may have to bid. India may as easily be the drag now, crooning and boogying to a club of a million homosexual complainants, an annoying international critic and a pseudo-nationalist political structure. And even if it does manage to engineer a little someone with the nerve to undertake anything corrective, and that’s obviously against a general discontent, it’d only conclude with another round of criticism for possible closed-door talks or something even more preposterous.

I, the Indian that I am, do have a tendency to quarrel against a reaction of such callousness and failing, to an episode of such gravity.,

I, as an erudite individual, have also learnt to put-shut lest someone may smirk or tickle his neighbor’s testicle on hearing the slightest degree of sense.,

I’m not too sure if I yet have an answer,

But I do give you the correct question to ask.,

9 comments:

m y s t i c said...

very crisply written and a summary of the things that have happened over the last month.

However you mocked/criticized:
a: the politicians
b: the media
c: Mr.America/Ms.Rice
d: belief in precautionary measures

Solutions: none

So lets just wait for another set of bombs to explode so we can mock them again?

You as an Indian might have the right to quarrel against a reaction of such callousness and failing and to an episode of such gravity

but as an Indian, your also part of the largest democracy which must make sure that things like these stop happening.
And If you need to do that then you have to work over a long plan
because you cant stop terrorism in a day
and if you dont plug the existing holes before you prevent new holes from creation then I wonder how you can tackle this problem at all?

Whichever measures you believe in, I encourage you to come up with them.

the turncoat said...

one of those occasions when I choose to put-shut :)
and you might just wanna check what the word mock means :)

m y s t i c said...

According to Google,
Mock means to treat with contempt;"The new constitution mocks all democratic principles"

I don't know about you but the tone of the article does sound like that but then that's just me.

It's very easy to put-shut and very hard to run a country

the turncoat said...

^
calm down mr.president.,

mayank said...

See I'll be very honest...

a) Great rhetoric and very good terse writing style as always, in fact good enough to find its way into a leading editorial. But I've never really been in love with every editorial that ever was...

b) I'll agree with gagan on one count..very good summary of the last one month and in a little more scattered manner, that of an entire era really.
If the article was meant to be a summary, then well done, its one of the best I've read recently, but I would have liked it had you been a little more clear about your perspective which we keep repeating again and again

c) the article builds up so brilliantly that one expects a packing punch towards the end but

i. But I do give you the correct question to ask.,
where?
ii. Your suggestive measures are restricted to "these particular measures are not up to the mark"

I believe that this article can work as an excellent eye opener for a lay-person( carrying a pocket websters), but for people who have pondered over the entire issue, there might be a few links missing

the turncoat said...

hmm,yea;
reckon ill spend a bit more time on the research work than making facts sounds this tart.,
thanks for the critique man :)

Divya said...

A true picture of public outrage
but now we have reached the stage
where everyone is enraged
but ours is the right age
to free this land from this cage...

on a serious note,it is said that any action today is better than a good plan for tomorrow, it is imperative to stringently implement whatever measures have been suggested rather than wait for a fool proof solution

as for the 'soft core translations of outrage' let me remind u that acknowledgement is a very strong tool in itself.if a debate on tv inspires even one out of a hundred viewers 'to become a part of the system to change the system' it would not be a waste..this might sound like an idealistic optimism but then again how can u practically fight extremism with a moderate approach?

yes, it is a pity that we have administrators who love playing the blame game and think giving their resignation implies taking 'responsibilty'. they are wrong. taking responsibilty implies making sure the same incident does not occur again. but thanks to an unyielding opposition that pressurizes the govt, we have one inefficient minister replace another..yes it is a depressing scenario but lets not give up hope & underestimate our own capabilities as we so often do..

Magic Mukul said...

After reading this piece as well subsequent responses to this piece i have to agree that the only thing "erudite" individuals of our age can actually do is express.
But my fear is that once we get over with the writing stuff, we'll move on. The anniversary of Parliament attack of 2001 was just observed recently and that hardly registered. Even if we can stand steady on the resolve expressed through our writings, it would be a beginning

Specifically about the article, I could not help but wonder that if US wasn't on the scene the situation between India and Pak would have been a lot more tense. And we would have already fought a lot more wars. If the teacher is not there, bullies fight on.

US is not right every time, and in recent years their actions have been disastrous, but i feel that we have avoided war with Pak just due to US interests.

Liar Goodspeed said...

(i'll be a vague. mock me.)

whoa.