Hit and Stay...

If you are in India, though you might not be getting an idea about the title of this post, you definitely have got a hint about its meaning… ‘Hit and Stay’, well what can you make out? Very little, right? So let me be a bit more precise. Actually the term that is prevalent is ‘Hit and Run’, but in India is it really the case? I mean the last part. Do you really need to make the effort of running after you have ‘hit’ somebody by ramming your posh SUV into someone killing them in the process? Well, if you happen to be somebody as general as me, you have got to run (only if you do happen to go drunk and drive and then hit, of course, by mistake) because the police will be after you, like they should be because of the crime that you have committed. But if you do happen to be somebody from the so-called ‘elite’ class, you just don’t have to run. Why will you, when you don’t need to?

Well, you drive and mistakes do happen. But punishment? Oh no! You don’t deserve any. Why? Because you have a high profile; you are from the upper strata of the society; you are a VVIP! Hahaha! That is the exact situation of the nation, I am afraid! Since our childhood, such cases are really not uncommon, in fact quite regular. Many a time, such cases of a millionaire ramming his BMW into people on the roads of Delhi or a drunk actor doing the same to innocent street-dwellers on the pavements of Mumbai or a spoilt son of a wealthy industrialist killing innocent people, travelling on a motorcycle, by smashing them with his luxury car have been heard. Things happen, we accept. But so should the punishment that must always follow. But does it really? Statistics will go so against it. In those cases, I mentioned above, which I know you can relate to so well, can you recount what was the fate of the accused? Yes, please, anybody? All of them were made free to roam about and drive again, taking the steering on their dreaded hands. Well, these were just three incidents. We have countless more to recall and feel bad about. These people do just kill and by the might of their power and the muscle of their position they can just evade everything.

You might be from the Film industry. Whoa! You can run free. You might, at the most face charges. But that’s it. In no time you will be out with your fans cheering up for you and even shedding a tear or two for that emotional speech you just gave out after leaving the court-room.

You might be from the ruling political party and you happen to commit the same ‘mistake’. Oh, the entire ministry will start batting for you and at the end of it, you will start calling the victim responsible for getting killed in that ‘accident’, you had committed. You will run free, of course with the aid of your government and the funniest part is that you will again win in the next election. Huh!

You might be one spoilt brat of a rich dad. You have just got the license to do anything, including killing innocents on the road. After that ‘mishap’, your dad will use all his wealth muscle to save you and you will run free, rearing up to take the next drive and telling that those unfortunate victims of yours deserved to die, just because they were sleeping on the road, as they don’t have a shelter. Poor soul, what pain do you understand of crisis. Come out of that posh villa of your daddy and you will feel it.

So basically this is the situation of the present society. It reminds me of those days of the Vedic Age cast system, where those Brahmans had got the power to do anything. These ‘Brahmans’ of today’s world are just thinking in the same way, I guess. Human life is just at their mercy. They can take the wrong lane, they can get on the pavement and drive, but you, the real ‘aam-admi’ have to be careful. They ram the car into you; it’s your fault, because ultimately you are paying for it by giving your life and they? They are out, driving again in search of their next victim.

Does anybody even remember what had happened, roughly a month ago, on Red Road, Kolkata? Same case! Another spoilt brat of some ‘super-dad’ had just knocked down a young IAF personnel, killing him on the spot. My heart, really goes out to him and his family in Surat. Those tears, his mother was shedding that day, after the tragic incident, who is going to answer for that? I still can't forget that scene. And mind you, he wasn’t an ‘aam-admi’. He was in the Air Force, getting prepared for the 26^th January Parade. If he could have met such fate, can you really think of what is waiting for us? The next time, you go out of your house, are you sure that you are going to come back, with these ‘criminals on the loose’ around? A big interrogative that one should be!

Indian Politics – justified with its negative image? Sadly, I have to go with the affirmative…

Indian Politics, I presume, has perhaps reached its lowest level in history. Well with time, the downward slope has only got itself steeper and with the current trend, I can only see it going steeper and steeper. This is a gloomy phase. Oh, why am I am calling it a phase? This is nothing temporary. A sense of permanency has long set in and its sharp teeth are piercing more tightly with the passage of time. Surely, you can’t deny the youth from the lack of interest they have in the current scenario, as far as politics is concerned and this perhaps is significantly the most important cause behind the lack of good able leaders from the youth in the entire ecosystem of Indian politics.

All the great leaders of this nation who had won us freedom will be definitely disappointed by the current scenario that we are in. Well, disappointed seems a bit soft on them. They should be petrified. I mean really, where are we living! These people, whom we bring to the helm of things, do they really deserve to be there. Just consider this! They say they are in Politics, or in other words, they do ‘Rajneeti’ (Hindi for the word ‘Politics’), which literally means ‘King’s Principles’. But are they even close to it? Forget Kings, do they even follow any kind of principle? I fail to observe. For me, things are straight! See, if you are from a particular party, you must be adhering to a particular set of principles, morality, rules or whatever you call it. So these particular set of principles will definitely vary from party to party. So, just think once, every five years how do these basic sets of differences bridge themselves bringing two parties together? I mean they are not some kind of magic, for sure. People, who are members of two parties, with opposite notions, bring themselves together. That’s the fact. This is how Grand Alliances have formed and will always be formed. Don’t you think, it is a bit too much to ask for too parties to do so. At least, not with the elections around, it surely seems so. But when the bells of elections ring, they just forget their differences and jump on with each other, like nuclear fusion (only thing it radiates negative energy) to become the best of buddies! Two parties, again I repeat, who have opposed each other through out, do this, just looking at the mathematics of the vote-bank. If I don’t call this hypocrisy, then the definition of the word will have to be changed, I’m afraid!

In the past, India has had its fair share of good and noble politicians. Great strategists, who had formulated such grand plans enabling us to snatch independence and also post-independence, such figures who had united us into a single entity, amongst all the diversities. ‘Unity in Diversity’, as it is so fondly called today, was possible only because of them. But the sad part nowadays is, having such a glorious past, makes this current generation of politicians so very unbearable. They promise and speak so very much and in return what do we get? Five years of falsehood, five of getting misled, five years of walking back, five years of total corruption. It is my belief, those greats who had crafted India as a nation would be tremendously sad looking at their successors.

But people have belief, common mass have trust. That’s why the largest Democracy still exists. It is only that hope that yes, good days or in other words, ‘Achchhe Din…’ will surely come one day. That is why we still stand in queues and cast our vote. Only thing we don’t want is this hope to die down. Let them, in their AC chambers, at least have a look at this common lot, the real Indians, what we together can promise to do. Let them just feel it. Only then can they think one more time before taking that cheque, under the desk, or for that matter, shake hands with their opposites to just win votes. They should understand, they are only winning votes, they are not winning our hearts…

 P.S. – In the beginning of this post, I wanted to write only about the negativity of the politics, but you see, you can’t live in negativity. Thus, had to end it on a positive note. As I totally feel and will always continue to feel that the true power lies with us. Just imagine the total number of politicians, compared to the total number of common people. The ratio will indeed be so minute. So the power rests on us. We are the true Kingmakers. It is we who decide, who will rule us. If we change, the system will change. Though this seems pure daydreaming at present, I am sure we will do this and Indian Politics will again be heightened to all its glory and our Democracy will not only be the largest but the proudest one also. Jai Hind!