All the states in my country ( sometimes I fail to count them because BJP added one new state every year to the list) seem to have loads of mega pride which is attributed with cancerous growth in recent years. In 1983 NTR miraculously assumed power on "Telugu Pride" plank. As Indira Gandhi popularised the term " Conscience" he popularised the term "Atmagauravam". Since then every shrewed politician is toying with the idea of coining a catchy slogan to capture the imagination of the public like "Ram", "Atankavad" " Under Development".
MNS went a step ahead to show pride of Maratha Manoos. Karuna Nidhi demands Tamil an official status.Narendra Modi often wears his "Bhai" badge along with saffron flag . Imagine what Mamta Didi is up to ! Kashmir is felt to be part of India only on maps. It sails on a seperate plank corresponding to ethnic sensibility. Punjabi Thadka sometimes suspiciously moves pointing to forgotten "Khalistan"". The whole of North Eastern councils feel closer to Burma and China than to India. ULFA is a thorn in the bed. No wonder all Adivasis want a state of their own. If materialised, all adivasis from various hills have to move to one chunk of land, probably reminding us partition days. Mini Taliban growing within Kerala has specific Malayali brand. Amazingly few youngsters from southern most tip of the subcontinent drown and float in Kashmir or Pakistan. There are no boundaries for loyalties ! BIMARU states are only hesitant to declare their own waiting for their day. Nitish Kumar with his eleven plus growth rate is not far away from Bihari pride.
Mr. Naidu once equated with Tony Blair and Clinton (equally for achievements and mistakes) is struggling to survive in his own state, forget about his global image. While crossing boundaries evincing new interest in doubtful projects on other side of the border,he was battling with self doubt until stupendous succeess favoured him in creating ruckus among the neighbours. His gainful past time has produced good amount of venom in hearts, heads and bellies of people on both sides.. People on both sides of the border die death of fear. His followers, admirers and few afflicted by anxiety syndrome die out of shock and tension. India is not Australia to engage few helicopters to rescue a puppy trapped in wild. Here life comes cheap. We live and die in swarms. Isn't it? Petrol, pesticides, are handy for anxiety prone and heart attacks are ready for the weak . Tens of them die for simple reason that Naidu has been jailed for a day eating his breakfast and reading his news paper. Either for a good or bad leader we die in equal numbers, as if we are there only to die.
In a place where life with a pride is a rare sight , perhaps death for an ambiguous pride is the most perceivable way.
Hundreds, may be thousands are up to proving why Mahatma is not Mahatma, for the reasons quite ambiguous quoting partition, nonviolence, palling with British, civil disobedience, Gram Swaraj, even for his costly simplicity. Yet none could convince me for his smallness. Every thing he did look very expedient and thoughtful for the times he lived in. His Ideological intensity appeal more to my intellect than to my earthen bearing. His life was an example. When the whole world started looking towards Mahatma why we Indians elude great son of India? The only reason I find is that the entire West is becoming more inwardly while we Indians are into turning more profane.
People of India see more of distorted personalities in public life than they were doing decades ago. With few babies born out of every second, and growing every year, we are adding millions to the mainstream. We are also adding millions of improperly groomed and greed grunt thought streams to the national thought process. Often we stumble in our judgement with "Good" and "Bad". Rarely we find a chance to adjudicate what we are up to. Offenders flee. Conscious suffer. Strait is never a way of life. People are forced to pass through crooked lanes than Howard but not certainly as clean as it is. Our Gods have been treated as mere vehicles to transport us good luck than being moral inducers. There is hardly any effort to set the things right. No wonder millions grow in the sordid environ with " Go, Grab what ever you can, no body is watching you" learning.
Millions gather to cheer even a jerk. Bad memories easily fade from our minds. A rapist, a grabber,a drug addict, or even a murderer can be overwhelmed with admiration. What he needs is a convoy of SVUs, few psychophants, bundle of garlands, two folded hands , a modern version of "Bhasmasurahasta". Easily people can be bought. There no dearth for curious onlookers. All put together we get to see a stream of people waving, and cheering to an obvious manipulator, as he is the lone saviour of these 1.2 billion people. Their road shows disrupt traffic. Common man's life turns hell with this kind of over doings. Who cares these dare devil acts of transgression ? Scores of uniformed men struggle to control these mobs as if they have no other useful issue to attend to. What a waste of public money !
Some one's (alive or dead) birth day should be celebrated as a state function not on the strength of his nobility, but to avoid nuisance from few. Sarees and dhotis are distributed free and we find many hands stretched in anticipation. Many who go to collect these cheap clothing forgot how to claim their right. They have been deliberately turned into beggars. No wonder few die in stampede.
A person with multiple land rows and treacherous politicking, nepotism, vendetta is present day Mahatma.We get to see hundreds of statues erected with a fortune big enough to eradicate fluorosis at one go. We do not fail to garland him/ her. We don't fail to celebrate his/her birth or death day. We do not hesitate to pass on the power to his/her siblings as property of inheritance. Millions of lives can be transferred into unworthy hands without their consent or willingness. But we can afford to ignore true Mahatmas or their birth days. We are in a hurry to disown them. We needed some one under "TADA" to define Gandhigiri. Till such time young ones are in a fix whether Gandhi is father of Indira Gandhi or or Jawahar Lal Nehru and what he lived upto. Cinemas remain the sole source of our inspiration. People are queuing up to make their children choreographers or singers with no hint of making a good citizen. What are we teaching to our posterior generations? Do parents need coaching ?
