बहुत हुआ सम्मान!
The most successful thing you can do in this country is to leave it.
This line was said in a stand-up by Punit Pania and rings in my head constantly like a pricking gong. While my upbringing and education has always taught me to take an a look at the larger picture and most importantly be self aware and empathetic to all those humans or animals who can’t speak out, most of our citizens clearly haven’t. Clapping and celebrating the misery of our fellow citizens because they chose to believe a different imaginary being that you. I feel no shame in admitting that because of being an upper caste Hindu man, I was able to ‘climb up the success ladder and leave the country to pursue my goals’, whatever that is. It had become suffocating to stay back at this time when most of my extended family and people around openly say, ‘Ya landya lokanna maraylach pahije’, (These uncircumcised people should be killed/sent out). Outside of India, the same people who seek to extinguish all means to get a citizenship, want people back home who do the same, to be banished and perhaps even killed. The govt. has already built what can only be visualized as concentration camps for people they deem as outcasts (Read: out-castes). It is only time that the Aryavarth is formed and rest are cordoned off citing impure blood. These bigoted, hypocritical thoughts laden with privilege is what is the fundamental foundation of this ‘New-Hindustan’ within the past few years. Being pro-constitution automatically makes you anti-Modi, or worse, anti-India. As I type each of these sentences, I remember videos and references of people who verbatim said these things. Wondering if I should link every sentence. Maybe I should. But not that the debaters would ever refute on point anyway.
The thing that arises from this, is that perhaps for the first time, politics has hit each and every being of us Indians. This divide that has been created is deep beneath. Almost impossible to come out of. ‘Sarkare aayengi jayengi, desh rehna chahiye, is desh ka loktantra amar rehna chahiye’, is not a reality anymore. But no one listens to that man anymore. The inherent hate that has garnered and finally gotten a voice is going to divide this wonderful land. Every day I see videos of frustrated people hitting each other, policemen hitting offenders, and people searching for policemen without helmets and bashing them over the increased fines. There is just so much hate. But they say this is for the best. College going women in Hyderabad not allowed entry since their kurta was above knee length. Sanskaar, they say is for the best. They say making a metro car shed inside of Aarey forest is for the best. While Mumbai sees the 3rd death due to potholes, they even say, potholes reduce accidents. Everytime I dare to open my SIP investment page, it has lost a couple of more thousands, they say Ola and Uber is to blame. Or perhaps, I — a millennial, am to blame. Ambani and I pay the same percentage of taxes, perhaps now he’s even got a corporate tax cut. They say its best for the country. Why has ONGC recorded losses for the first time, whats up with Jet Airways, Air India, MTNL, HAL, list goes on. Perhaps we use Ola and Uber, thats why. But then why has the automobile sector not seeing a rise of their sales? Don’t get into math, they say, math has never helped Einstein discover gravity. No wonder they don’t reveal the formula they use for GDP calculation, or how much black money was brought in by demonetization. This is also perhaps why, we do not have the data for the crime data, or farmers suicide data for the past few years. We do hear about BJP leaders raping young girls, but just then the girls are locked behind bars for calling it out. Anyone who voices out is sacked, or worse.
While NRIs chant our supreme leaders name as in his tenure they are now able to buy more for their buck. A dollar is at Rs.71 now. Without voting for him, without travelling in packed trains and pothole ridden roads, they can perhaps buy a house in Kashmir now. All this while we are reaching 2 months of communication shutdown, being denied their basic fundamental right, and then later question why is it that they retaliate. Do we even know there was an earthquake in that area this week? 3 million are declared stateless and detention camps being made for them in spite of UN’s explicit concern. No points for guessing the diversity in this 3mn people. All this while 200+ cities in the world are raising their voice against climate change, and our supreme leader says, well you know. And of course he’s yet to answer proper questions since 2014 and beyond.
Coming back to the initial point, while almost everyone I know and didn’t know, congratulated me on leaving the country, for me it was the unfathomably worst ever decision that I had to make. It was my last resort and an attempt to relieve of some of the stress of having been surrounded by bigoted and self-centered, two-faced people. Many strangers told me to go to Pakistan even. They deemed that would be a better home for me perhaps. It is somewhat like a duality, you can be either this or that, you can’t just be an egalitarian human being who happens to prefer peace.
Do try to open all the links before abusing.
