Numb

Mumbai - 26th November 2008

I feel Numb.

I feel angry.

I feel frustrated.

Most of all I feel let down, by myself and my society.

We in India live between two poles, one of idealism and the other of crass opportunism. Very seldom if ever do those two poles ever cross each other's paths. It is as if we dream of an ideal india but have settled comfortably in this opportunistic version without much qualms (have I read that somewhere, maybe).

We accept loose standards as we expect others to accept our loose standards. We object to corruption and inefficiency till the same corruption and inefficiency is needed to get us out of trouble.

The change we want, we expect others to deliver, maybe our politicians, maybe our media, maybe our police or judiciary without realising that these are people are but reflections of our collective souls, they are us. Change if anything needs to come from within and if we ever inventory the things that need change, it is indeed a very long and depressing list.

Only in moments of anger or sadness do we voice our idealism yet we willingly shelve the idealism along with the changing winds of the media stories.

In time, we will forget the security lapses, the huge delays to get the NSG in action, the snipers who didn't even have telescopic lenses and the absolute leadership vacuum this country went through the last few days.

I would daresay we would forget even those who lost their lives and also the bravery of heroes like Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, ATS Chief Hemant Karkare and many others. As horrible and callous as that thought sounds now, history suggests that we will do just that.

I feel angry with us the society, individually and collectively for this ability to easily forget and move on. We may be eloquant in our words, for awhile and even be moved by our own belief of what is right but let a few weeks pass and we WILL forget.

We will go back to our coccoon of our daily lives, living in the false impression that we and our near and dear are and will always be safe, not knowing that our very acceptance of the inefficiency that surrounds us and is fed by us is putting everything we cherish in danger.

If we crave change let us change ourselves first and let us for heavens sake never ever forget.

Money Money Money...

I'm not against Reality TV per se, I happen to like a few of the shows the Amazing Race, The Weakest Link etc. But it's wierd that almost most of these shows are now about bagging some big chunk of change (when they are not about some dysfunctional celeb that is). I remember the days when the ole quiz shows run in India (Quiz Time by Siddharth Bannerjee comes to mind) etc used to be really nail biting and highly interesting but the winners didn't get a lot of money just a memento or something like that. The point was to compete for the sake of competition.

Take a show like the Amazing Race for instance there are millions of folks who would just give their left arm to take part in an across the world competition like that (yours truly included). So why the million bucks?

With more and more money involved shows that have started lowering their standards substantially, why else would you have a show like 'Are you smarter than a fifth grader?'You may say that this kind of a show is more about pressure and stuff like that but thats just for the contestants, what about the viewing audience, are these guys promoting the quiz or someone walking away with a pot load of money. Think about it.

Money used to be a ways and means of obtaining some of the things you want in life but isn't it becoming our central quest? Are we really ok with that?

Something to think about

We are a dirty & disorderly country, right? So how come our Airport terminals are so clean? How come the new corporate offices are so spic and span? What about those shiny clean malls? How come people don't drop things on the floor, spit on the stairways or urinate on the side of the building there? How come people queue up politely in Airports, Offices & Malls (and rush into trains & busses) The argument that the kind of people who use Airports, Malls and work out of swanky offices are different doesn't really hold much water anymore. Since the very same people also use trains, busses and the roads as well.

In one of the schools that I had spent time in, (I say spent time in, since to say that I studied in any of those would be stretching reality to it's limits), the Principal tested out a new way of vending out packets of sweet at the school canteen. He left a big vessel of sweets and a bowl to collect 25 paise coins (one per every packet of sweet) and there was no one to supervise the students. Sure there were some students who found this a great opportunity but there were lots of others who actually took a packet of sweets and left a 25 paise coin in the bowl. This initiative was a resounding success in the school.

While I know that the analogy is a lil sketchy my point is that people are pretty much the same anywhere in the world, it's how they are treated and the quality of amenities & service that they get, that determines how they behave in an environment. I'm sick of stupid radio & tv shows that talk about 'educating' people and creating 'awareness' about keeping their city clean. Bullshit! The problem doesn't lie with someone throwing garbage & stuff on the road, the problem lies in the fact that there is no other place to throw it in.

Give people better roads, better public utlities, better sidewalks and I firmly believe that people will be responsible in their use. Our collective responsibility is in holding our goverment & the local administration accountable for delivering the same, now how in the hell do we start doing that?

Sour Grapes

Both my stories didn't make it to the Quick Tales finals (134 chosen out of some 1100 stories). Normally I wouldn't have minded it so much but then I read a story that revolved around a urinal made the cut.

Pissed me off!