My new year eve's musings...
The Alien-nation..
The familiar sights fill up the Television screen. The US President wiping his tears away after a tribute to the victims of yet another shooting incident. No it is not for Aurora or Oak Creek, but for Newtown, sickeningly all in the very same year. People in power continue to kill their own people in the hope of staying in power. No I am not talking about Libya, but Syria. More people have become poorer in Southern Europe from a “no end in sight” recession as Berlusconi scrambles to settle a deal at EUR 36 million annually (EUR 100,000 a day) with his estranged wife for having a fling with a 17 year old. No I am not talking about 2010 year ending, but as recent as last week. People assemble in Tahrir square as the President of Egypt finally withdraws the proposal for absolute power; no this is not about Hosni Mubarak. Candle light vigil being held in every nook and corner of our country, not for Jessica Lall, but for an unknown 23 year old girl who was brutally raped and who eventually got killed. Protesters in the streets clamouring for a new legislation, no it is not for Lokpal. And we can’t even see an Anna Hazare or Arvind Kejariwal among them, who are now busy fighting each other than what they were fighting together for a year back. Everyone still keeps wondering if the PM did say anything after all or what is meant by “Theek Hai”, as Arnab Goswami keeps pounding the politicians with even more questions, as much as his eminent panellists keep doling out more platitudes. By the way, Vladimir Putin is the President of Russia, and this is not the beginning of a new millennium.
As more psephologists keep analysing on how finer the social strata can be divided, the more minority focussed the leaders become to enhance their chances for victory. The common cause is given up for a particular lobby. Common voice is heard through coteries and common sense gets lost in the commotion. What is right gets missed in the fights for many rights. Purposeful debates happen in virtual media than in Parliament. Whether one serves my interests better, even by inaction, is the decisive benchmark for ascending the heights of power than the ability to deliver results for common good. That I can oppose a bill vehemently, but would abstain from voting to help it pass is an accepted norm, and even considered morally right. That I can tear up a woman’s reservation bill, but would shed tears for a woman battling for her life and her insecurity in this country is not double standards. That I will promise stringent action against rapists, even as I promote those who face rape charges for candidature in elections because of their ability to win, is pragmatism. Strangely, the angrier the common man’s voice becomes, the more alienated he gets in terms of the cold response from the leadership.
So what indeed is the change that we are harping about to see? Or is it that the Mayans correctly forethought that, it isn’t worth counting for anymore beyond this December? Is there anything that I could do to change and see something different, hear something refreshing and believe it can even exist? Or do I resign myself to the clichéd “so Life moves on..” and carry on regardless thinking that as long as nothing untoward happens to me and my dear ones, the world is a safe place to live in? Or is it that we the powerless are the real aliens on this planet? I had even more questions than Arnab who was feeling all vented after his verbal mauling of Abhijeet Mukherjee who looked all dented if not painted. As despondency was catching up faster than the sleep, I was about to switch-off the TV when I saw a news ticker that made me stop. It said, “Keenan Santos’s (the man who bravely fought the eve teasers and died last year in Mumbai) father says, he is more pained by the death of the 23 year old girl than the death of his own son”.
….and there is still some hope left. Happy new year.
