An ode to the old(?) man @ 65
In India 65 years is the age of retirement for many , but
for the nation it might be just the beginning and No certainly we aint ‘retired
–hurt’ yet … the 65 year old young free nation is yearning to take a flight off
to realize a dream that was seen on a mid night 65 years back ,”when the whole
world slept and we made “a tryst with destiny “ and “ woke up to light and
freedom “ ….
light and freedom ….(sighs) the biggest
blackout in history , a midnight molestation , diktats on what to wear and not
to wear . maybe the light shone was just a flicker and the eternal gloom still
prevails or maybe I am just being cynical …. Well .. Am I ??
I have never believed in material progress as the only yardstick .. but why , in
misery it is that we realize the value of the little joys of life and maybe , I
don’t know for certain, too much affluence also breeds decadence
. But yet in our great nation it’s the double whammy of affluence-bred-decadence coexisting with an immaculate amity, the scourge of extreme poverty.
The rot is systemic , malignant and multivariate .
Yet as I said what ails me more is the despicable state in
which the polity functioning .. No , no .. I am not again one of those doing
the “neta-babu” bashing !( which is in fashion !)… let us look beyond that …
because a neta or a babu as an averaged model , not an individual , is
but a representative sample of a society in which he/she lives . He/she is more likely to be shaped by it rather than
he /she shaping it … it is a difficult task in a democracy and a pluralistic , complex society to bring any discernible , stable change anyway by a single
personality . My unease is over the quagmire a “APHILOSOPHY” in which our polity is stuck .. APHILOSOPHY
like AMORAL is the
lack of a stable coherent philosophy in dealing with matters . It is a state of
“learned helplessness” as Martin Seligman ,the psychologist would call it .
What is my point after all ?- the “JUGAAD CULTURE”
Let me start with Foreign policy , because that is what
triggered my thought process , we have
moved from the Non Aligned ideology to …. Well ..nothing or just everything as
the crisis or situation demands . It s a
situation of fire fighting , crisis to crisis management , with a distinct
absence of coherent philosophy. Instances galore , Iran , Syrian crisis , Maldives
, Nepal , relations with US and Israel ,our role in the BRICS . We are found dumbstruck at times at
the way things move in a fast changing world . As an emerging power we need
to be assertive but at the same time respect reality . We lack the confidence
of a nation with a plan .
Ad-hoc at times , stuck in age old practices and
prejudices in others , we falter to set new records -lows each time .Is NAM
dead and needs a decent burial ? Should we move close to the US in view of the
rising and threatening power of China ? then what about BRICS , should we sit together
with both China and Russia , both key antagonists of the US . If that is the
case with larger international scene , even with the smaller nations in the
neighbourhood ours is a policy ad-hoc at best and dangerous at its worst .
Nepal is in a state of “suspended animation” , Sri Lanka has thrown away all
calls of concern for Tamils and there is a resurgent Sinhala nationalism
raising its hood again and yet again our policy is directionless appeasement or
reprimand and worse sometimes it is neither ! With Bangladesh too, the country
we helped attain liberation , the Hon’ble
PM (in a faux –pass )says has a
third of of its population that is anti-India ! now who is responsible for that
.
Maldives is also in a state of unrest and uncertainty , even while the whole nation and
its leadership looks up to India for guidance .
To admit the least ,
we are in a state of shambles. The reason lies deeper , it lies in the absence
of vision . In the lack of a mission and essentially in the absence of
well-defined long term national interests, which I think traces to the lack of
cultivated rational ambition as a nation.
In an equally dismal state is the condition of our economy ,
we were gung-ho about neo-liberalism just a few years back and 2008 and since that bubble burst, we are again at sea with our policy, some terming it as 'policy paralysis' .
w.r.t economy the problem is peculiar because it is not the lack of potential
but the lack of direction that is doing us , unlike other developed nations who
have reached stages of stagnation. 'To reform or not to reform' seems to be the question.
And everybody from investor to entrepreneur is suspended upside down by this
frustrating anxiety of uncertainty.
Now this chain or disease extends to all sectors , all
societal structures & functions .. yet little as a nation do we ever think of coming together
to churn out solutions ? But as I take a even deeper and harder look it
stems from our own apathy, pathological disinterest towards our nation and
society… yet we were mistaken in the ANNA movement , disiilusioned as we
were , it s not the flashes of slogan-baazi
and show of “I too feel for the nation” that is needed .
It is the
undercurrent , a well formed consciousness developing within us about what it
means to extend our ‘self ‘ to encompass our society and our nation . It is a
crying need that we must develop this consciousness . An empathy towards your
own people . Nothing dramatic , but yet subtle and radically reflected in the
choices that we make in our own daily lives.
It begins with acknowledgment that it is essential that I
have something that I owe to my land , my people and humanity in general ,
beyond family ties , beyond caste affiliations and beyond our own self
–aggrandisement even if it involves the sham of philanthrophy
.Mind you! we are
very few in no. compared to the 120 billion population a large mass is
illiterate or ignorant and easily amenable to devious manipulations .Yet we are
the ones who can change the landscape .History is evidence for this , it
happened in England long back , it happened in the U.S and it is happening in Turkey .
Yet the point of departure ,( where the Anna movement actually failed) , we must throw
away all our prejudices and affiliations when it comes to nation building . It
is difficult , I know , but is essential .. we need not become politicians
but we must become proactive politically …
The Chinese people for instance have
been forcefully or otherwise being conditioned to keep in mind their state s presence in making their day to day life decisions , and
although it has curbed their personal freedom , it has led to an unprecedented improvement in their quality of life and as a
nation they are everywhere from Olympics
to Space travel !
But we are a democracy , a proud one at that . an ancient ,
stupendous , rich culture with a dizzying diversity and mind boggling human
resources. We must bring that consciousness of the state into our homes ,
voluntarily, with a zeal and exuberance to be the change we want to see . To goad ourselves into endless
questioning as to the public benefit of our actions at every step of our life !
Only then we can
dream of a better India .only then we can make 65 seem young and immature !!
;-)
