Mera Bharat Mahaan

The last two weeks has been a roller-coaster ride for "the world's largest democracy".

You might have caught glimpses of the 'debate', which had all the makings of a prime-time soap opera series; with friends turning foes, men going hysterical with rage, a grand old man trying to maintain peace and women enthusiastically beating down on the desks (instead of their chests as portrayed in serials being churned out by the dozen by the Ekta Kapoor production house).

One could easily focus primarily on the negative aspect of our democracy that was brought to light during the course of the show. I would much rather choose to dwell on the positive aspects that I took from the experience. Somewhere in the middle of all the chaos, I felt that all hope was not lost and that the future of Indian politics may not be as bleak as I had earlier thought it to be. There were a few 'leaders' who stood out based on the content of their respective speeches.

I have to admit I did not understand Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav's speech entirely at first. It was simply amazing to watch the entire house listening to his every word and laughing along with him instead of interrupting his every word. A glance at the newspapers the next morning showed me that even though his speech was quite humorous, he managed to counter-attack every single point that had been brought up by the Opposition. For an Opposition who seems extremely eager to oppose a motion for the sake of opposing it, it was a pleasure to see them actually listening to someone else's point of view for a change!

The Prime Minister showed that he was a man of his word. He seems to have proved yet again why I have always thought of him as a politician with a difference. He isn't getting any younger but he sure is getting bolder with his speeches! I don't think that the Opposition realized it at the time but they were only making it easier for the man to make a much bigger impact on the nation with his speech by not allowing him to speak.

However I think the highlight of the proceedings were the speeches of Omar Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi. They both seemed extremely sincere, passionate about the issue at hand and the choice of words in both cases was almost impeccable. Some people likened Mr.Gandhi's speech to that of a school head-boy. I think his point about it being "time for India to start thinking like an emerging super-power by taking into consideration how we may impact the world and now how the world may impact us" may be slightly premature but definitely the attitude for the future. But if he hoped for the speech to be inspiring and thought-provoking, I have to say he did a pretty good job out of it :D

And after all this drama had unfolded, terrorists decided to strike in both Bangalore and Ahmedabad. As if we needed any more excitement in our lives. These people have sick minds. It shakes you up especially when they strike close to home. But life goes on. The Indian spirit has proved that it can take a lot of beating time and time again, only to spring back with renewed vigour. We've seen it with Mumbai and Udaipur. Life goes back to normal eventually because you can't really put your life on hold just because of these trouble-makers. You can only hope that the next time they strike, not many innocent lives are lost in the process.

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

Watching news these days can prove to be quite a trying exercise. There are a vast variety of 24/7 news channels and they seem as confused as everyone else is about the role they have to play in society. They seem to be caught up in a dilemma; to cover cases that need to addressed in a public forum or to cover the sensational news items which are bound to result in a rise in the TRPs.

The handling of the Aarushi Talwar murder case has only made matters worse. Within hours of the body being removed from the crime scene, there were reporters crawling all over the place. Vital information essential to the crime investigation would have been lost. You had news reporters hounding the family, re-enacting the crime and attempting to take the role of a detective. In the last month and a half, police insinuations complicated by the media's interpretations have lead to a classic case of mismanagement. The distraught father has been languishing in jail for over a month, only to be released today on bail because the CBI claims that they have not been able to find any evidence against him.

The whole episode has brought several issues to the forefront. If Aarushi must be answerable in death about her character, the policemen need to be answerable to theirs. They are supposed to be responsible for the security of the general public. Does that give them the right to judge a victim's character? Why have they taken on the role of the moral police? Transferring of these wayward policemen isn't going to do much to solve the issue at hand. Doesn't this kind of behaviour call for a public apology to the Talwar family? Nothing will be able to make up for the child that they have lost, the total disregard for their privacy and the harrowing experience of a father being thrown in jail at the time of a family crisis.

This is not one of those stories which has a happily-ever-after ending. One can just hope that this serves as a lesson to the people watching the news. It could be you or me on TV next.

Stop

The issue of patriotism seems to crop up every once in a while when the government looks like it is on its last legs or during the course of campaigning. On the surface, defining patriotism appears to be simple. It is love and devotion to one's country. The questions are why people love it and how they express their devotion. That's where the arguments begin.

Conservatives generally want to conserve and that requires a reverence for the past. They are allergic to change. If it was entirely left to them, being born into a nation would be similar to being born into a religion or family. It's like your family : it doesn't matter whether it's objectively better than someone else's. You love it because it's yours.You may be called to reaffirm the commitment as you reach adulthood - but it is impressed upon you early on, by those who have come before.

On inspection, both liberal and conservative brands of patriotism have their defects. Yet both sides need each other because love of country requires both affirmation and criticism.

Democracy seems to be the worst form of government at times when there is a conflict of opinion. The opposition doesn't seem to think twice before staging protests, imposing 'bandhs' and promising that they will undo all wrong carried out by the ruling party if they are elected to power. I'm not quite sure what point people are trying to prove by staging such riots and enforcing such bandhs. The people who they are protesting against (the government and various political leaders) get away scot-free. Their security personnel ensure that nothing untoward happens to them. And it's only the general public that suffers. Those are the people that these groups are supposed to be trying to 'help' in the first place. Ironic, isn't it?

Imagine

In the rubble of the Sichuan earthquake, came hoards of horrific pictures; one piled up upon the another, until they nearly numbed the viewer. Children were buried in their collapsed schools and many others orphaned. But no other images affected me as deeply as those of grieving parents who because of China's one-child policy, would have lost their only children.

In the wake of the quake, Beijing says that couples who have lost their only child will be permitted to have another one. But the relaxation of this policy should extend further beyond the recent disaster. True, the one-child policy has succeeded in it's original aims. It has slashed China's birth rate drastically, multiplied the country's economic growth and brought more women into the workforce.

But as you dig a little deeper, the severe side effects become more obvious. China faces a demographic nightmare. Its rapidly aging population could suffer a major labor shortage in the next few decades. It will have millions of elderly people with few kids and an ill equipped social and medical infrastructure to care for them.

I somehow can't imagine a government telling me that I can't have more than one kid or forcing me to get rid of a new, additional baby. I guess that's one side effect of growing up in India - anything goes and to be more precise..the more the merrier :D And as each year goes by, I take greater comfort from having a sibling.

I think the time has come for the one-child policy to be phased out. The Sichuan quake and its grieving families could just be the catalyst. If appropriate steps are taken now, at a time when the state has a vast reserve of wealth, the future of China may not be as catastrophic as the Sichuan quake.