Silly M(a)id-on

there is something about india or indian psyche which is very difficult to define...

we can change goverment coz of high onion prices...

we can block roads...damage public property...coz the player we want does not gets selected in team...

and yet when it comes to far more serious issue we leave it to our deaf and blind netaas to do the needful...

its we who will have to change...refuse to take things lying down...govern by impotent peoples...

we should be the change...we must change...

or lets talk about why england lost 5-0....

On occasions like this, I really feel ashamed. Ranting and raving about something which is just a game and nothing more than that, an exercise that brings no qualitative change in the lifestyle of my neighbours, forget the nation, something that's essentially selfish in nature -- have I got my priority terribly wrong?

Updating death toll, making lead, liaisoning with guys in Mumbai -- it's chaotic around me. And me and my colleagues in the sports desk are frantically searching which other Champions League team is not coming, if Warne would return from Singapore where he is stranded, if the Champions League (now postponed) would actually take place and if Ponting should be heeded and the event should be shifted to another country.

These were not Indian nationals.

We call ourselves secular. We are not. Secularism is a tool of some political parties to win votes.

We call ourselves a democracy; democracy is being used by the pseudo-secular political parties to come into power. When I see congress joining hands with the eternal hypocrites - the communists - in the excuse of keeping India secular - I know true democracy has been betrayed.

Since our independance, we have been fooled by these politicians who, to keep their votebanks intact have given into the panderings of some minority groups to the point the majorities are politically the minorities.

We need individuals like this
http://littleindian.awmyth.net/?p=158 to teach us what true secularism is.

Until we can force our governments to abandon their policy of negationism, and pretend secularism we will have to suffer like the people of Mumbai today.

To note, the frequency and intensity of such acts are increasing, it proves the failure of our constitution / legislation / political systems. To claim the perpetrators were not Indian nationals - is being like the proverbial ostrich.

SP

Everyone will have to take responsibilty for this. If people go road-blocking for non-issues, it is the media's responibilty to not cover those stupid dharnas and go back to meaningful issues. If the netas are asking for our vote based on caste/creed/family/dynasty/oinion prices, it is our responsibilty to bring the real ones forward and question them on that. Thanks for getting me to ponder on this. I think I am able to answer the question I asked in the blog.

Som

I can safely say that at some level sports has given this country a lot to cheer about in times of hopelessness. People like me take a lot of inspiration from it. So you shouldn't feel ashamed about that :). It is just a sad reality that this event has had an impact on the field you work in and so you need to cover that aspect. I, on the other hand, need to carry on as normal, keep on working on the program code just like yesterday, sitting far away from my motherland and watching from the sidelines.

Anon

Maybe they weren't Indian nationals. But somehow, due to the negligence/inaction/silent agreement of a few Indian nationals, these people were able to come in to India and carry out such attacks. It is time for some introspection and demanding answers to a few hard questions.

Chinaman
The true meaning of secularism and democracy has been lost over the last few years. Why just point out those who pander to minorities? Talk about those people as well who stoke this very fear of minorities taking over, into the majority and justify their actions. It is always about forward castes vs backwards, majority vs minority, North India vs South India, or one state against the other. I live in hope for the day when it will be just about India as a whole. We have to rise above petty issues that divide us and think as Indians first. The notion of "India me aisa hi hota hai" has to end.

Whenever our army or any force for that matter try to do something we have people from Humar Rights and what not holding dharnas etc to stop them from doing anything. Is killing those terrorist really a human right issue? If u look at TV news, you can see the kind of arms and protective equipments that our forces carried. You think these are enof to combat these well equipped terrorists? What do you think will happen to the families of Karkare, Kamte or Salaskar? When we don't know how to worship our real heroes & not do anything about our hollow system we cannot expect the end of these kinds of attack.

@ Megha,
Hi,

What happened in Mumbai has nothing to do with forward castes vs backwards, majority vs minority, North India vs South India, or one state against the other - it was because of one religion against another; of Islam's intolerance of all other religions (non-believers).

You say, "Talk about those people as well who stoke this very fear of minorities taking over
- it does happen.
We forget India was not divided by the majority hindus, she was split into three by the minority muslims.

Kolkata was brought to a standstill on the Taslima Nasrin issue. It shames me that we did not stand up for an individual's basic Human-Rights - we let her be booted out of our state just to please a "minority group" - the left front governments votebank.

Without these people you mention, the balance has been tipping way over to one side.

For many of us it is politically correct/ cool to be seen to be secular - our 60 years of "secularism" has left us with events like yesterday.

You did ask in your post, "Why does India seem to lack the will to do something about this? -
you tell me
1. what do you want India to do? 2. who in India is capable of doing it and why they have not done anything for 60 years?

I like a good debate - but I apologise for this if it is hijacking your cricket blogspage. Just tell me to stop whenever - ok?

While curbing the menace is essentially a government duty, in a disintegrating world, I'm not sure if anyone can stop it. Can you really stop someone who is ready to die for? The roots are deep and I don't there is any quick-fix solution.

I just feel this is an occasion which should lead to some introspection in all of us. We blame the cops/babus/politicos but do we, ourselves, care enough for our neighbours, forget the nation? We are not ready to change and still expect changes. Outside our family, how much we really contribute to the society? And even within the family, what we teach the kids?
Rather unwittingly, we are teaching just the opposite of what we are preaching.
But we can make a start any time. Every little step would count and there are umpteen people, who are good citizens but just need someone to show them the way. Let's decide today, we'll be good to our neighbours and responsible to the society. Things have to change.

@ Som,

We are at each others throats so easily based on archaic "religions".

This is the 21st century; we should have a 21st century religion that acknowledges every human as equal. We have it in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

How many of us have read it?
How many of us believe in it?
What about the "religion(s)" that are in contradiction?

I agree we all have to change. We have to change from the core of our beliefs.

We can start by knowing, respecting and practicing the Declaration. Even if it means erasing forever those passages in our religious books that preach death of non-believers.

Chinaman

I mostly agree with you. Pseudo-secularism needs to be weeded out. It is perhaps the biggest ill of India's political system. These tough times call for tough measures. Care should be taken, no doubt, so that innocents don't get harassed. But we shouldnt back off on the first signs of protest by these so called secularists. We also need to remember that fundamentalists exist in every community. And they also have to be reigned in. Let us not bury our head in the sand if Hindu and terror are mentioned in the same sentence. And let us make humantity our religion.

The reason I bought up forward castes vs backwards, majority vs minority, North India vs South India in this discussion was because, even if at a smaller scale, these issues are also responsible for violence and riots. MNS's tirade against Northeners, Ranvir Sena and their bunch of goons who commit atrocities on dalits, Naxalites...To me these people are terrorists as well and these problems deserve our attention before they go out of control.

And lastly, I don't mind the debate. Discussions on cricket can resume in a few days once we calm down a little :)

Som

Taking individual action is definitely the first step. Getting rid of our own subconscious prejudices would be a start and not passing them on to the next generation would perhaps be our greatest gift to them. This menace will not go away overnight. Heck, getting Independence took a few generations worth of struggle. We should start the process and lay the foundation. Our future generations will thank us for it.

Hey Megha, good blog this...my first visit to your blog...

We are equally to blame for this carnage in Mumbai. Our intelligence, security, interception and leadership has collectively failed...i doubt if nebody wud take the responsibility for the same and syand down...

its high time we rejuvenate our intelligence, provide police with latest best of the art facilities and weapons and strengthen our anti terror framework and infrastructure....

Addind you up if you dont mind....
I too have a cricket blog...if you might like to see armball.blogspot.com

Hi Sam

Welcome and thanks for adding me to your blogroll.

We are to blame for electing incompetent people. The Home Minister has been forced to step down, but I doubt if that will make any difference. I hope this incident wakes us up and we realise our responsibility as citizens of India.