Once, I used to like ‘India Today’, not because it was great, just because I was a fanatic BJP supporter and it sounds so right. It claimed that Muslims burned Godhra train (which might be right) and post-Godhra is just, an reaction, mob killing, raping, burning people and then engraving ‘OM’ on their head. Recently, it turned itself in to a ‘semi porn magazine’ and of course, one of the biggest force in India which makes ‘music out of farts." I do not read this magazine anymore, leave alone reading I don’t even buy it but this week issue cached my eye.
Ironically, this story appears in the same week in which Binayak Sen was talking on television about hunger and famine on Devil’s Advocate and that lunatic Karan Thapar (who rose to prominence by interviewing another lunatic) was doing his best to put words into his mouth, hoping to get the response the way he likes, to prove that he is a Maoist sympathizer – the stuff his audience want to romaticise.
The ironical fact about this story was its cover picture in which some farmers were sitting in the car, wearing clothes so white as to surprise ‘tide’ detergent, handling mobile phones on the ears, grinning rather than talking, quit conscious about the fact that they are being snapped. Just like channel 4 reality shows which claims that no one is watching in the neighborhood in spite of all the camera-works. Interesting the cars which were in the field had no spot of dirt on them and strangely on which road it could travel to be there in those fields. I have never seen such a wonderful cleaned car even in cities like Mumbai and Delhi.
The opening sentence copied from their website goes, "Forget those images of ravaged villagers, kids with distended bellies and ragged clothes and a future as grim as the cracked, sun-baked earth. Islands of poverty still exist but most of rural India is transformed beyond imagination thanks to a host of factors which has put unprecedented wealth into the hands of farmers across the country and turned it into a huge consumer market." The only thing was missing was, ofcourse, in background, Rehman song ‘Jai Ho’!! But that kind of stuff is not possible in print, even in Hogwarts.
Strangely, lets believe, all of this has happened, despite of a farmer committing suicide in 30 minutes and 1000 farmers leaving farming a day for last 10 years (as per the government data, which in itself is fraud, but that’s a different and very boring story). Perhaps, its easy to believe since BBC reports that some well off Indian farmer bough a SIM card of his favorite number in 20 lacks. Indeed there are countable rich farmers in the state of Haryana, Punjab and western UP.
If this does not happen then why Media bother to report these ugly guys as if they are, largest consumer of fairness cream.
But it suits well to the people who likes to believe that ‘All izz well.." Perhaps that is why Nilekani sees slogan of ‘bizli, sadak and pani a passe‘. Mind you, it was a slogan.. Slogans are not context depended. Or I am being obtuse? Had he been a market champion, a CEO, perhaps we can understand him. But being the one, who is designing the way we will be identified, we have reasons to be alarmed, not of human rights or civil misuse but the way it can be a tool in the hands of unscrupulous Authority of this great nation who are notorious in robbing us. It not about whether it will be secure for we have no bank account to hold our wealth. And even if we have accountss, how much it would have. (Again reminding you the lame fact that 800 million people in this nation lives below Rs 20 a day.) Already they are denying admission to our children because they do not have birth-certificate. Getting a certificate is so easy. right? Well, this happens in your life also so you can understand. How much we can bribe into your already so fat belly? It can be used to disrobe us from our land for some corporates-house. They can easily say who you are to claim the land? Why don’t you have a UID? Why did not you apply online? or by post? (40% people are illiterate, 45% are only word-literate), But the chairman might not get it, there is no one in his team who understand the sociology of villages. But who cares? And you don’t want development, you bad ass socialist! Whose development it is? Is it ours. In which SEZ we are given jobs? Or which power plant erected on our land is giving us electricity? It all going into your bellies which is already so fat. You beautiful people! Oh look at your multiple cars parked on the roads, refusing to let people walk and look at you criticizing corruption!
Perhaps, it is interesting look at the cases of Murthy and Nilekani. One has started INFOSYS awards to promote science and education in India. His latest book in not known as well as of Nilekani. One sounds so right to capitalist and other is, ofcourse, is damning piece. Murthy consider himself as a ‘compassionate’ capitalist. Ha! Compassion in this ‘competitive Capitalism’. Compassion is the first victim of competition. Remember the anti-reservation drama. The guys who considered it ‘death of the merit’ innocently forgot that in 1940’s British included the 3rd division, just to pass the natives (who were at that time were Brahmins). Since then the 3rd division is there in India. Perhaps the temporary arrangement are the most permanent in this country. British never had concept of 3rd division. Have you seen it in their Railways (or in ours)? 3rd division is the ‘reservation’ for Brahmins those days. After that, of course, why would they support otherst. When once’s ass is on fire, one protest. Tamilnadu, which have a long history of reservation. Just look at their cut-off marks. In 2005, the difference was of 12 marks in general and ST category (279 and 267). See report on p 124. So we have a middle class who is ruthless when it comes to its own belly feeding.
Let me warn you, "I am a bad ass socialist" who are generally confronted with the argument that they want to make all fingers in the hand equal, and that is lame. True, that will be lame. But even if you believe in this ridiculous idea that society and human hand are same th
en consider a finger as large as to represent 1.12% who have 80% of the Nation’s GDP and more than 80% fingers are as small as Rs 20 a day. Is this hand now look ugly? A middle finger is so large and others are so small. Just try to do that, hide your other fingers and show your middle finger to some guy, its also offensive. Isn’t it? Natural Inequality has much more dimensions than a human-hand can have. But that would not edify the generation who thinks and speaks in tweets.
But what about the jobs Capitalism has created in India? Hehe.. For last 12 years economy is growing at the pace of 6-8% but the job creation was at the rate of 1.3%. At the same rate at it used to be before. We are not a manufacturing economy like China. Those figures are from your beloved HT, India TOday, TOI as the link states. Had I put the figures from EPW. Oh my god, you leftist! We have a growth without jobs. Thats why you have so many billionaire but 30 million more people going into poverty.
Back to India Today – who claims to speak about Connaught place rather than Old Delhi – why all these so-called journalists (stenographers) write about us in a way which we are not. May be because a corporate who have stakes in India Today also runs a irrigation-tools company which spends much on advertisement rather on research. Interesting?
We were so closed to wipe out malaria in 1990’s and then there was free market. Your beloved Manmohanics cut down rural budget. There was no new books in my village-school library. There was no DDT spray in my village anymore, nor were the injections of common diseases to cattle. But there was huge incentives to the citizen who are already so well off. But the Velligens are not to be listen to, unless they kill themselves in large number or some of them kill others who are by the way represents the ugly face of this system if not responsible for their undoing. Yes, I meant the Naxals.
In a vast country as in India, you can find enough sample to prove what you like. A few of the farmers must have registered for TATA NANO. A few in India can be a very large number. Could be in lacks. But what about those 80% of all rural population who are net food-buyers. Do you think rising food prices are good for rural-India??
Perhaps the way they have been educated says a lot about these beautiful people. Most of the prominent exams are of A, B, C, D kind. Choose one, you are not allowed to think! These are the only options available You are taught TINA (There Are No Alternatives). Dare you think anything out of ABCD… What a tweeting down.
So we have all these people, who consider themselves to intellect enough to figure out what is good for us and what is bad for us. Never mind if they have ever visited any village in their lifetime. But they have all the degrees from all the corners of the globe. And that give them rights to speaks about a land which they never visited. Once a LSE educated CEO of a prominent Newspaper in Hyderabad arguing that journalist do not have to read and blissfully boasting that he did not read a single book since He left LSE.. Padhe Likhe log!!
What say, you Homo hierarchicus, hell bent to make this nation a survival society. Survival of the fittest or the survival of the fattest. And why survive, when you can live? But this is not an option in your A, B, C, D life. What are you reading? GRE, CAT, GATE, JEE, …….. Reading to survive, thinking to survive, arguing to survive… writing to survive..
I can remain quiet, but its getting harder and harder. Speaking is also not fun but still, its for what we have developed language. First we realized that we can influence others so we build it, Human do politics and there is nothing wrong in it. Everyone do politics. Whether Bhagat Singh, Gandhi, Vivekananda… but of what kind? That is debatable! Primates can not realize that so they did not make a language despite of building all the tools. They have sounds, suffix, prefix etc but not the sentences.
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dilawar
