Through one of such trends I got to interact with Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Rajya Sabha MP from Bangalore. He hosted a discussion about the upcoming elections in Karnataka and posed questions we would and should ask the leaders who come calling for our votes. I saw a vibrant side of the society where young and old people alike, poured their hearts out on what they want to see Bangalore as. One typical observation I had was that while most of them brought questions to the table and not many were ready to take the pains to find a solution. I wonder where does that leave us. Is it okay for us to only crib and cringe about existing problems and blame everyone and anyone who is in power.
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| Election times are here
It is true that the BJP Govt did not deliver in Karnataka, but should I blame Ravi Subramanian for the BBMP guys not collecting garbage from the houses in my area on a regular basis. Does that solve the problem? The answer is No. The only thing that solves my house's garbage problem is that I pick it up and dump it in the huge can in the vicinity. But as humans we are not programmed for that. Most of us believe in the dictum, what is not my job will not be done by me. Even animals live for their own selves, if we do the same what is the difference between humans and animals. All of us want a Shining India but no one wants to get down and dirty. Everyone wants results but no one wants ownership / responsibility of issues.
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This morning too the politics heavy atmosphere hung heavy on twitter air. #PappuinKar was still trending and on top was #WhatIndiaWants. I saw a tweet from a kid in Bangalore which said, "#WhatIndiawants is for the illegal muslim immigrantion to stop". I asked him why pick on some one, when the larger issue is about illegal immigrants living on our country. Whosoever it is. The debate began and he gave me a lecture in Indian History as to how Mughals started abusing Indians since 700 AD. Hindus apparently have been suffering ever since. When I pointed out that Mughals set foot in India only in the 16th century, he bossed me to not go deep into the details. :'(
He asked me to think what will happen if Muslims become a majority population in India and so we Hindus should protect ourselves against such people. Every Hindu, regardless of what he did, if he put Hindu interests ahead of anything else is a Protector according to him. The debate went down to such details that he said No sane Indian would ever support Pakistani cricket team. When I told him that our own greats waxed enough eloquence about that team last Christmas he chose to not look at that point and said I am making up stuff. He cited examples of Asaduddin Owaisi (when it was his brother Akbar) threatening to radicalize India. When I argued, Akbar Owaisi is now behind bars, so by the same logic should Varun Gandhi and Praveen Togadia also be behind bars? He called me a pseudo secular. When I reprimanded him to not be judgmental about my beliefs he did not heed. Me questioning anything against Hindutva was not okay with him.
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| Make your vote count. Please baba. |
That dialog with him made me wonder what are kids seeing and learning these days? This kid was 20 years old but spoke like a brainwashed child. When I said I know of friends who supported Pakistani cricket team from my school days, he called such people insane. :-)
In calling me pseudo-secular just because I objected to his tweet on 'muslim' illegal immigrants, he showed where his thinking lies. Just 20 years of age and so much malice is not right.
Neither am I a secularist nor am I communally oriented. All I want to see is people performing their duties by voting for the right candidates and leaders repaying the people who voted for him/her by working for them. Am I asking for too much?
