Column for 1st January 2012
A good myth has power, power which is eternal and everlasting. ‘Pandora’s Box’ is one such myth. In it all the woes and worries of the world escape from opening a “Do Not Open” box and inflict multiple injuries. When At the very end Hope emerges to caress smooth and ease the wounds and make the wounded whole again.
Hope is what sustains mankind through its trials and travails — the major emotion of all beginnings. It is like a lamp lit to dispel gloom and darkness.
In the words of he poet
उंमीद और वो भी
हवादिस की गोद में
एक शमा अांधिअों में
जलाता रहा हूं मैं
Ummeed awr woa bhee hawaadis kee goad meiyn
Eik shamma aandhiyoan meiyn jalaataa rahaa houn meiyn
Hope -and that too in the very lap of calamity–
I have been lighting a candle in the middle of tempestuous storms
2012 starts with renewed hopes for a better world.
‘Occupy Wall Street’ , the Arab Spring and Anna Hazare’s movement all have common ground in hope. Men and women who are in power in the political or financial areas are under threat from the hopes that inspire those who agitate against them.
Human history shows that when agitators succeed in toppling an existing order they often degenerate and start using the power for their own personal gains and the masses continue to suffer exploitation.
In 1947 India we saw the British quit after they had made sure that their successors, the Indian National Congress in India and the Muslim League in Pakistan would keep those who had been loyal to the British Raj in their sinecures and positions. The Indian National Army who had fought for freedom were ignored and those who had helped put them down became free India’s Army.
The departure of British officers from the seniormost positions in the armed forces and the civilian ranks helped Indian officers in getting accelerated promotions. They were the immediate beneficiaries from independence.
All was, however, not lost. The idealistic Indian National Congress who came to power in India immediately set about formulating a Constitution for the new Republic. This was soon ready and was new in so far as it provided for universal suffrage and ‘reservations’ for the communities which had suffered from discrimination earlier.
The most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh has a Chief Minister from a community which was described as ‘Dalit’ or downtrodden. In spite of many charges of misuse of power including corruption it appears that she has not lost her power base and is confident of being reelected.
We can only hope that the agitations and movements will result in some betterment of the lot of the masses.
What we would like to see in India is a return to Swadeshi mindset and the Swaabhimaan it helped renew.
A beginning can be made in focusing on the mother tongue. All studies by education experts show that foisting a foreign language on a child at a tender age is a handicap. This stress can be avoided by having initial education in the mother tongue and introducing the foreign language at a later state.
Energy is another area where rugged self reliance was exercised in the early years when India opted for hydro-electric power and development of coal mines. Today there is a slavish imitation of the West in trying to go nuclear. The emphasis should be on solar in research as there lies the future.
In appearance the 21st Century Indian appears desperate to lose his own identity and assume a bogus white European persona. Multinationals like Hndustan Lever cash in on this by providing ‘whitening’ creams. We now are separate and distinct products for males and females.
It is time to remember Mir Taqi ‘Mir’
खूबरूअब नहीॅ है’ गॅदुमगूॅ
मीर हिनदोसताॅ मेॅ काल पडा
there are no wheat colored beauties left anywhere–
‘Mir’ a famine stalks Hindustaan .
Dress is also western with the Christianity emphasized by the wearing of neckties.
The calendar used is Gregorian which gives us the date 2012. It has no provision for marking out festivals of Hindus and Muslims.
The Anna movement is single point. Aimed at corruption it leaves out the many splendoured culture that was India before 1857. It is time to address this most important issue.
Published as “Demand much of the Government, but be wary” in the Sunday Guardian.