It was business as usual today in the morning. After a quick jog and with a cup of green tea (A newly acquired taste!) I settled down to read the newspaper. Scanning the front page, I could not but be struck by the irony of the entire presentation. The entire efforts of the advertisement that boldly rests at the top are laid waste by the news item on the bottom right. The advert proclaims that there exists no crime or corruption in the state. To blow all such claims aside, the news item narrates the gruesome burning of a 'lower caste' family by members of the upper caste wherein two children succumbed to the burns. This horrific tale belongs to a village quite close to Faridabad, a satellite township of the National Capital Region. I'll leave the details out of this post but clearly there exists a big problem which the incumbent fails to realize. A few months have passed, but the memory of a communal clash in the very same region still remain. The evils that mark the old age divisions that we seek to abolish are visibly prevalent in the state - be it caste based discrimination or communalism.
Not only Haryana (I hope the PR team will have realized its blunder by now), but the entire country is currently under siege from radical elements. The right to freedom of expression seems more precariously balanced than ever before. Being a majority/minority doesn't matter as pressure and interest groups are lobbying to wrest power to serve their narrow goals. While the media reports, it fails to rise above the bias and is increasingly falling into controversies that it can best avoid. Enough ink and blood has been spilled (literally!) on this in recent times for me to make any significant contribution.
But, I look for hope. I search for change and believe me that it exists. I do not brag about big government schemes or multimillion dollar investments pledged from the PM's foreign forays. Look around you as I do around me. The boy who comes and cleans our car at 4 a.m. finances his school education with the money. The maid who works in three houses is sending her children to school and spending time on their studies. While people leave their parents on the doorsteps of old-age homes, we have a friend who is taking all pains to shift his parents with him abroad. On my daily runs, I come across young kids who will pick up trash and throw it in the bins even as several adults just remain indifferent. There are illiterate workers going to night classes to learn the alphabet. Religious and caste differences lose all meaning during a football match on the basketball court each evening as kids jostle with each other to score goals. Many don't care about Indo-Pak tensions but would love to see an Ind-Pak cricket match once again. It is these little things that make you believe that hope exists, that the society is resilient and will never succumb to the twisted needs and beliefs of a few. It is this quality of being human that unites us not only as a nation but as a species. It is this that the policymakers of today must take lessons from and contribute more to 'Make India' rather than ' Make In India' (yes I borrowed a line from the Delhi CM's recent rants!)
To end, each time I see the negatives bearing me down, I watch this ad from Coca - Cola Umeedon Wali Dhoop! and smile for there is still hope!
Cheers!
