Corrupt leaders and dirty politics: What else do we expect?

Forget cricket and Bollywood, politics is the new entertainment hub in this country. The repulsion has given way to disbelief and how long will such standard in public life continue to serve us, one wonders. But who is responsible for this? Political leaders and parties? No. It is the average, inefficient Indians like us who have invited trouble and now crying foul over the consequences.

We, Indians, have some inherent features. We love to keep our house interiors clean and dump all garbage outside without the slightest of concern. We get pride by kicking away a beggar seeking a coin but don't hesitate to pay huge sums for luxurious consumptions, even if that mean indulging in excesses. What is wrong with the politicians?

Our basics have gone completely wrong

We prefer ludicrous jobs abroad but never really care to impart some basic education to poor and needy children who are the future of this country and amid whom our successors will live one day. We have developed a deep and negative socio-cultural preference through the courses of history and still practice them with pride despite bragging about ourselves as the biggest democracy on earth.

We feel that we can only sustain by elbowing out the man in front from our path of progress. There are, in fact, several layers of India within one India today and each of these Indias has little connectivity and concern with the other. We are one in the maps and minds but in reality, this country has never learnt to behave like one.

We have still not learnt to value and respect our compatriots irrespective of their colour, caste, gender or religion and with such a huge uneven and underprepared structure under our feet, we believe just queueing up for voting and later proudly sporting the ink on the finger will make us distinct from a tribal society of Africa and similar to a prosperous western democracy.

India could also become a Somalia or a Iraq but did not (or still have not) become one because it had some advantages --- structural, economic and political but not social. In terms of social factors, this country has still to travel miles before it can really claim to enter a league of sobriety and transparency. We are still a highly fragmented and undemocratic society where the marginal sections including women are yet to be completely absorbed. We have not yet prioritised the only weapon that is available to mankind to fight social backwardness, i.e., basic education.

Without building the base, we dream of noble achievements!

Instead of promoting this so-very necessary tool, we decided to focus on secondary and non-useful (and even harmful) measures to lift ourselves. We thought just improving higher education will help our prospects, reservations will push us ahead, building urban centres will polish our lifestyle more. It was just wishful thought divorced from the reality. What has actually happened is that we have given birth to a class of populist leaders who pamper us and we also oblige them in the hope that it will save us a day. But did we think what will happen to our future?

Dream over suddenly?

Today, after 65 years of independence, we have suddenly found that our calculations have gone wrong. We find extremists threatening our lives, we see goons and criminals and utterly corrupt politicians acting as our leaders, we see almost all paths to advance in life have got clogged so badly. The big tragedy is: The democratic state in which we found solace all these years has turned into a 'demon'. We feel frustrated, being let down so badly, but what were we doing all these years when our socio-political journey was going downhill?

Why blame parties? Are we democratic individuals ourselves?

Political parties in India are undemocratic because we, ourselves, are undemocratic. Do we spare a seat in a crowded bus or train to a stranger when we see our own family members struggling for space? No. We don't. Then why point fingers at others?

Why did the Indians allow the Gandhis to return to power again and again if indeed they feel that the dynasty has done nothing for the country? Why Rajiv Gandhi was brought to power in 1984 by such an overwhelming number of Indians even after they found how the party leaders had retaliated against innocent Sikhs following the assassination of Indira Gandhi? Sympathy wave? If a subjective and fluid term like 'sympathy wave' and not objective understanding rules politics in this country, then why there is so much fuss today?

The political class of today is a reflection of our own judgement and identity. We vote these people as unaware masses and then judge them as knowledgeable pundits. No wonder the Indian electorate continues to be fooled time and again.

We can not grow our voice for we are self-obsessed

Congress, BJP, CPI(M), TMC... all these names today just signifies opportunist camps. They have encroached the entire civil space for we, Indians, are yet not mature enough to carve out a space between the corrupt state system and the unscrupulous political parties. We feel desperate as individuals after seeing all the bad things but can not do anything because we can not connect to another individual sharing similar thoughts. This is because we have not learnt to love the external world as much as we love our internal world.

If bad politics today is a monster that is devouring us, it is us who have allowed it to grow. Arvind Kejriwal is another politician, only time will tell if he is good or bad, whom we are nurturing as a 'neo-freedom fighter'. Is there a guarantee that he will not be another monster? Social reform and uplift is not done on TV screens and by well-dressed professionals. Nor do we understand the intricacies of political politics.

Tahrir Square? Are we able to even lead a maidan rally for a day?

Tahrir Square does not occur in a day. We, Indians, live a happy life and have never faced a suppressive tyrannical regime in the sense of Egypt. Who is really bothered about Rahul Gandhi or Nitin Gadkari apart from relishing the 'comic tragedy' that these mediocre leaders indulge in, just like we do while consuming a tasty dish or driving a swanky car? A Kejriwal is a media creation that we love to relish for it gives a great sense of satisfaction as alternative realities like films and cricket do.

Superficiality and vagueness have done us in

Socio-politics never really touch us, mainly the middle-class, and neither this class is bothered about the classes that are really affected. So, there is no point in saying strong anti-Congress slogans or cursing the BJP. We have developed a superb superficial understanding of the socio-politics in this country and we deserve to be fooled by our own Frankensteins for they have also emerged from the same society, the selfish and undemocratic one. If we are really bothered to get rid of the evil politicians, we should stop voting for them and boycott all elections till all evils are eradicated. But then again, even voting is a high social status that we love to flaunt across the world. All that glitter is gold for us.