Let peace be upon you

Live. Love. Read. Write. Dream. Think in between your juggling acts but not too deep (Remember: The idea, at least for the foreseeable future, is to not let the mind rust), for serious thinking may lead to depression. Count your blessings if you are living in this land of milk and honey in times like these. Times, they seem to be a'changin' for worse before they get better around the world, with the coronavirus disease outbreak (COVID-19) already spreading in most countries and leaving behind a trail of death and economic devastation in times of a deepening recession.

Crucial junctures like this seek every ounce of your strength to remain optimistic about the future. So, the best idea is to switch to your inner energy saving mode by not thinking too long and hard, in anticipation of a future that may not be easy. 

Just a few passing thoughts: How about going for some meditation between your juggling acts? How about offering namaste instead of opting for some Narendra Modi-like vigorous handshake that shakes your very foundations?

You see, wherever you go these days, you get a lot of negative vibes, as if we all were not already living with a lot of negativity around us. These vibes are worse than all sorts of pollutions.   

Between conversations here, there, everywhere, these ears get to hear a lot of cursings, streams of tirade against this country. All this is sheer waste of energy, guys, because the country did not auto-generate this mess. Stopping this tirade will be good for your mental and emotional health. Rather, learn to be a bit more grateful and thankful to this amazingly wonderful country, this heaven on Earth. 

You see, in most of the sweatshops around the world, you won’t probably be able to make a living by talking more than actually working. In most of the countries, yours truly is sure, people won’t have time to hear all that crap from you as if you were some celebrated expert in fields other than your own!

As a free citizen, you of course have the liberty to criticise politicians. But bear one thing in mind: If these politicians are indeed some monsters, they are the monsters of our own making. After all, we were the ones who voted for them, didn’t we?

Yeah, we may have voted them to power for a number of reasons. Some of us may have sold our soul and voted for them. In cases, a bottle or two of hooch or imported alcoholic beverage may have done the trick. Promise of a job may have come as an irresistible offer to many. Wades of cash may have changed hands. You may even have gone out of the way and voted several times out of overwhelming loyalty towards your favourite parties. Many may have believed that these under-performers, these tried-tested-failed politicos will somehow rise above petty interests and ensure good governance by upholding ideals like human dignity, democracy, human rights, equality and social justice. Or who knows? Many among us may have chosen not to vote at all.  

This does not mean we should not seek good governance.

This is not to say that we deserve potholed roads even after queuing up for hours to pay all sorts of taxes. No, we surely do not deserve a non-functional public health system in a country that is gearing towards socialism, at least on paper.

We surely deserve an education system that is affordable to all, for this generation and generations to come. Sadly, however, this system has become too costly with education fees going upwards every year.

You see, any hike in tuition fees sparks protests in many countries. Here too, student unions burn tyres, call shutdowns and so do guardians' associations whenever there's a fee hike. But what happens in the end? The fee hike stays and the protest fizzles out, mysteriously.      

Even in countries, where capitalism prevails, private hospitals do not get such golden opportunities to fleece the public to the extent they do here.

Yes, big businesses have considerable clout in almost every country, but here, their influence seems to be several notches above. Such is the situation that the government has been spending quite a lot of energy defending a business group behind the not-so-transparent takeover of prime natural heritages with immense potential for tourism.

 

You want things to get better? Who doesn’t want that?

If you indeed want things to get better, strive harder. 

Ask the monsters of your making some tough questions. Take them to task over promises made during elections. Hold them accountable over irregularities and scams that are shaking the very foundations of a new system.

Ask the monsters of your making, who are sucking lifeblood out of this country and the people, some tough questions. Take them to task over promises made during elections. Hold them accountable over irregularities and scams that are shaking the very foundations of a new system that was supposed to be a panacea for all sorts of ills plaguing this country.

Other small-time bloodsuckers, you may choose to spare. Rather, there may come a point when you start heaping praise on them for their ability to suck lifeblood out of you without causing pain! All this is no less than suicidal but it's okay if you think it's okay.

You see, democracy is not some sacred ritual in which the presiding priest reads from some holy book and devotees close their eyes and fold their hands in reverence. This system does not demand you to shout on top of your lungs in rallies wishing for its longevity. And this definitely is not a system that calls you to have blind faith in politicians. Rather, it encourages you to take part in democratic exercises, ask the powers that be tough questions even if they happen to be from your favourite political party and make them accountable to the public.   

You see, democracy is not some sacred ritual in which the presiding priest reads from some holy book and devotees close their eyes and fold their hands in reverence. Rather, it encourages you to take part in democratic exercises, ask the powers that be tough questions even if they happen to be from your favourite political party and make them accountable to the public.   

It is a system that believes in the principles of separation of powers, of checks and balances.

Among the three organs of the state, the Executive, equipped with state powers and majority in the Parliament, shows the tendency to ride roughshod over two other state organs – the Legislative and the Judiciary. Apparently, the onus is on the Legislative, especially the opposition parties, and the Judiciary to curtail its authoritarian ambitions.

But the conscious citizenry, for whom democracy should be a way of life, cannot rest assured by leaving it all upon the three organs of the state plus one more – the Fourth Estate -- to protect democracy and this country. You see, these two things are too important to be left to these organs alone.

Brainwashed Bhaktas can pose one of the most serious threats to democracy and human rights.

So, stop whining and start acting for the sake of democracy and human rights. Ask these overlords some tough questions and make them accountable to the public, instead of letting them and their followers turn you into some brainwashed Bhakta.

Remember: Brainwashed Bhaktas can pose one of the most serious threats to democracy and human rights.

Enough of lecturing? For now, yours truly wishes to stop here and now. Thank you for bearing with me. Let peace be upon you.      

   

Text and pictures: Devendra Gautam

PS: Please bear in mind that this is a piece from the pre-lockdown period, so yours truly asks you to read it in its proper context.