Spiga

We, the inconvenience

Oh, I tell you. It's all down to the bloody politicians.


What is the Government doing for us? Where are they? Look at our corrupt public officials. The system is so dirty. Yuck!


Politics is single-handedly responsible for the decline of the concept of India as a nation.


While we should rightfully hold no inborn sympathy for the lack of leaders in the country today, it is high time we look at ourselves in the mirror before engaging in cliched rhetoric again and again. The above mentioned statements are one-liners you can pick up from many ongoing conversations across India, from ignorant youth to lecturing elders, from uninformed commoners to high society elites. Anyone and everyone talks, talks and talks.

The amount of complains, regarding the system, that we dish out everyday is becoming like a hoard of filthy, piled up vomit that nobody wants to assess and clean but everybody wants to squabble about and engage in unending chit-chats. People are forgetting the essence of democracy and are engaging in blatant generalization of the system of governance. It's high time we re-assess ourselves.

It is very convenient for people in this country to sit in their comfortable sofas, dine in multi-cuisine restaurants, engage in social gatherings, watch the latest Bollywood potboilers, go to sleep in cozy beds and then wake up the next morning to throw the "Ohs" and "Aahs" at reports of political delinquencies and national inadequacies in newspapers, while sipping a cup of tea.

It is very convenient for people in this country to rally behind a very opportunistic mass media(that shamed us with their woeful conduct during the horror days of Mumbai) and claim that everything in our system is rotten and it's best to stay out of the mess. In the process, the majority of us do not see active involvement in society and the nation as our job or cleaning up the system as our duty. If high-end ignorance is all we can offer to the country from a position of no self-sacrifice, then expect a return punch of the kind that the politicians throw at us today.

People do not bother with results of state assembly polls, but are gaping earnestly at the previews of MTV Roadies' new season. Discussions and debates are held across the country about deserving winners of TV reality shows, but no cause is taken up about what ails the system. People, who ordinarily do not give a fig to the state of affairs in the country, will egotistically jump at a chance to malign the men holding crucial posts of governance simply because it is way too convenient.

We squeal and screech at figures of India's abysmal position in the Corruption Index, but willfully offer bribes at public offices to get our work done. Bureaucracy is a pain, but WE are a part of the inherent cause of that pain. We forward nationalistic mails during days of tragedy and gloat "India should do something" and "Jai Hind" because that is ALL WE CAN DO. That is all that comes in our frequency of convenience.

At the end of the day, WE are the problem. We are the inconvenience in the system. It is very true that today's politicians are irresponsible leaders and are very responsible for the mess we are in today, but they are a part of us. They are there because we allowed them to reach there. And from a position of power, abuse is but the next thing on the list of a vehement pursuit for selfish and partisan interests.

If blame-game rhetoric is all we can engage in and personal convenience is all we can offer to the so-called "dirty system", then stop disparaging at the state of Indian politics and engage actively in our democracy to make it more accountable and rewarding. For a start, VOTE.

People ask me what ails this democracy. I wish I could hit back with a "It's me and you, my friend". I wish I could tell everyone that only WE can make this work. I wish I could create a sympathy for the broken system that is crying for our help. It's a matter of choice. It's a matter of causing that little inconvenience to ourselves to make the system work. We can revolutionize the system. Because the system is only a by-product of how actively involved we are today.

Because what actually ails this system, and this country, is ourselves. If we won't, who will?







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12 comments:

  Gopinath Mavinkurve

Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 8:35:00 AM PST

Absolutely I agree with you. We need to change considerably! Nice post, Trailblazer.

  Ashwin

Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 2:49:00 PM PST

I so agree!!

  How do we know

Friday, December 5, 2008 at 3:15:00 AM PST

HATS OFF AND A STANDING OVATION TO THIS POST!

  J P Joshi

Friday, December 5, 2008 at 7:30:00 AM PST

Agree with you 100%. May we have more introspecting Indians like you. Love your passion. Keep it going.

  Anonymous

Friday, December 5, 2008 at 11:08:00 AM PST

I agree. If we don't act to solve the problem, then we are a part of it.

  Anonymous

Friday, December 5, 2008 at 9:17:00 PM PST

Great take n the situation trailblazer. You wrote it well

  Jay

Friday, December 5, 2008 at 10:13:00 PM PST


@ALL
Thanks a lot.

  Anonymous

Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 3:29:00 AM PST

This was something I mentioned in my post too. We are inherently irresponsible and it starts with very small things. Its not only the politicians who have to change, we have to change too.

  Indian Home Maker

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 12:31:00 AM PST

Yes I agree :(
We just don't care.

'People do not bother with results of state assembly polls, but are gaping earnestly at the previews of MTV Roadies'... sums up our attitude.
This time I think we seem to have got a wake up call, and people do seem to be making resolutions too. Resolutions against paying bribes and registering themselves as voters :)

Trail blazer I hope this is a slow turning point in the History of our Democracy. If the educated classes start taking interest in Politics, it will create awareness across all classes. I remember reading about how IIM Allahabad students and Alumni had caused the fall of Joshi, (a BJP politician) in Allahabad. I hope we see such stories happening in the coming elections, maybe not suddenly but over a period of time.
I also think we were kind of ready for this change to happen -
1.We had all witnessed Obama winning and the huge participation of the American middle class,
2. We were all blogging about being really tropubled with the divisive and unsatisfactory politcal scene,
3. Then the most audacious of attacks happened. They didn't just plant bombs, they snatched a police jeep, they walked into restaurants, they killed the poor and they killed the rich ...

Do you think we will see a better, not just voter turn out, but also voter participation in the coming elections ?

  Jay

Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 4:28:00 AM PST


@Amit
Yes.

@IHM
Yes, the forever-sleepy middle class needs to wake up and start participating. The points you noted has all happened. But stuff like blogging doesn't reach out to the general public.

At the end of the day, a communal message from Narendra Modi will get across or a slur from Narayan Rane, but voices like us remain pretty much in the blogosphere.

2009 will definitely see more voter participation. Some part of India has shaken up and is awake.

  Unknown

Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 2:01:00 AM PST

I do seriously agree with you. It is the attitude of the citizen that makes country better place to live.

  Anonymous

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 1:31:00 PM PST

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