India unedited

It’s been so long I visited. Thought would drop by to say hello since the queen’s land seems more cheerful over the long weekend (and the Mrs is visiting desi land). The post today is on the back of a facebook comment I made after listening to NDTV and was a reflection of what I have been feeling for months (maybe years). I repeat it below for those of you who are not privy to my facebook friend list!

‘After all these years of not giving up my Indian nationality, the hope of light in that country is so dim that I am contemplating if it’s even worth being a citizen of such a nation. The systems are so broken and in the process, over 65 years since independence it’s made the whole society go corrupt and immoral. After hearing that the government has ordered that web pages of some of the biggest newspapers in the world be blocked in India as they were writing anti-ruling party articles, I bow down my head in shame. If this is Democracy, I would rather stay under the Raj.’

It had many comments from people from various walks of my life, interestingly as a person obsessed with trends I can see a correlation in these wall posts too, and it’s not data mining(I will come back to this point at the end of this post). I will first point out what I meant by my comment above and then get onto my observation and to some extent smile the reactions brought to myself.

I do believe that India is a broken state; I have said this for many years. The country has no judicial system (I have faced it personally losing a battle in court after 5 years which in any western country would have been closed within 5 days on the other side), there is a huge moral deficit and there is no tolerance for anything different. The last point is critical; India does not want to hear a point of view which differs from what it’s been taught as way of life, it is dismissive of any suggestion that differs from her. In the comment above when I say I bow down my head in shame, if read again, you will notice in no instance I say that I do it to be Indian, I say that as the very action of stifling a view makes me ashamed as being part of that system and responsible for the acts of these leaders that I have chosen to run my country.

I further said, ‘If this (referring to blocking views from Global media) is democracy, I would rather be under the Raj.’ I would say that again.  One of the comments said this is like inflicting insult on the martyrs’ which makes me chuckle as I am wondering if these martyrs had seen the India of today, they probably would have died again. I repeat that I would rather be under the Raj or any other rule if that’s what gives me and my loved ones the right to be free and heard. I don’t care who rules the country as long as it’s democratic, as the very definition of that term would equate to for the people, by the people. By suppressing a point of view you challenge the very fundamental base of that term and its identity. Secondly, I don’t want, expect or plead you to believe, follow or accept my view, it’s my personal understanding of the situation so please don’t preach me that I should not be thinking the way I do; I don’t mind you thinking otherwise.   Let’s agree to disagree.

Now coming back to the trend in the reactions I have seen whenever I put forth such views as mentioned above. The ones who are absolutely dismissive are mostly who are a few decades elder to me, they are probably set in their own ways, too proud about the nation to believe it needs a fundamental change or ready to accept that maybe the freedom fight was not as worth as they have been taught to believe. The same trend I have noticed in the ones who are a lot younger, who have not been exposed to other cultures as much, as yet. The ones who are more philosophical (read dismissive but more polite!) have travelled the world a bit more, they understand in their head and to some extent believe the view I have put forward but are too patriotic for their hearts to accept. Then there is a group who honestly don’t give a damn, it’s just trendy to be the devil’s advocate (I know how that feels myself!). There is also another group which loves to ‘like’ comments that sounds like a good argument irrespective of the fact if it resembles their point of view or not.

Lastly, I must add that, yes it is very easy to criticize but it’s also the most important action to get any institute(or country) functioning efficiently. India is a nation with immense potential but functioning very ineffectively. I think we should criticize where ever we feel it can improve as that is what makes a nation move forward. Finally, For the person quoting Abraham Lincoln on my facebook wall (I have read his too and find him extremely good) I will end with what one of our own said:

‘Freedom is not worth having, unless you have the freedom to fail and criticize.’ M. K. Gandhi.

Peace,

Me