Official blog of Chetan Thaker

This post is going to be dead straight to the point.

The Indian Constitution states that:
All citizens shall have the right —
to freedom of speech and expression; – You publish a book, you’re banished. You express your views about something and there are 10 people waiting to pounce on you for that political upper-hand
to assemble peaceably and without arms; – Not a lot of Indians resolve to assemble peacefully – We HAVE TO raid public places and beat up helpless women and men. We HAVE to resolve to using the military’s help in one particular part of India – which ALWAYS belonged to India.
to form associations or unions; – You form associations and just look how we have divided ourselves based on caste, religion, region, etc
to move freely throughout the territory of India; – There is intense fear of moving to various parts in India – Kashmir, the North-East, the South
to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India; and – You are not welcome in any other part of India. You get beaten up for no reason if you are a North Indian and come down to Mumbai seeking a job on MERITS
to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business – A certain group of people want a “quota” just so they can get a job regardless of merit. If they don’t get it, they resolve to violence

I just want to start off with something REALLY absurd and illogical.

1. Common Sense - The Maharashtra government is almost on the verge of approving a Rs. 300 crore monument to commemorate Shivaji’s contribution to Maharashtra (and ofcourse to compete with the Statue of Liberty in the United States). Do we not have enough of the millions of Chhatrapati Shivaji landmarks across Mumbai alone ? Are the drought-hit parts of Maharashtra benefiting ? Are the hungry folk being taken care of when they promised the same during the elections? Farmers in the Vidharbha region are suddenly insignificant? Even if you do erect that monument, will it help the tourism industry in any way?

2. The right to free speech – one of the basic ideologies in the Indian constitution – does not work. You publish a book, you get thrown out or get beaten up. You dont get an opportunity to “gel in” if you are not from that particular part of India and of course you get beaten up to a pulp for no fault of yours. The politicians somehow have this right to free hate speech for the wrong reason, and they get let out with a mere warning and a bail of Rs. 2000. RIDICULOUS !

3. Sports is not just about Kho-Kho, Kabbadi, Cricket and Hockey. The sports ministry says that Formula 1 is not sports since all you do is watch and cheer on to a specific group of people. Isn’t that ALL you do with Cricket, Football, Hockey, The Olympics, etc ? Dont you just sit and cheer on to your favorite team hoping they win ? Sports is supposed to be a recreational activity, not only just for self-development.

4. Fear – It took them more than 15 years to sentence the Mumbai 1993 blast suspects. Ajmal Kasab is still not sentenced. The D-Gang is still on the loose. Death threats to lawyers from within India itself. Goondas roaming free (most of which have turned politicians) with a crisp salute from the highest police official if he/she passed them by. If India has the proof, why not invade the responsible country like how the United States did in Iraq and Afghanistan (though they did not have a firm reason to go to war)

5. Literacy – About 60% of India is educated up to the 4th grade or less. You say if you are bought to power, you will erect schools in villages, etc. But are you enforcing it ? The people who are unfortunate enough not to be educated are still under the impression that a girl is supposed to be married off anyways, so why educate ? Are you doing something to change their thinking ? Child marriage still exists and that shit is glamorized and shown on TV with the educated folk just sticking to the serials like super glue thinking it is entertainment. If you want to show the current situation of rural India, DO NOT glamorize it.

6. Religion is the very root of violence and the discrimination in this world. Brutal killing, senseless banishment of certain folk, etc. I have heard so many people say ‘There is a supernatural power beyond the clouds looking over you’ and you feel nice that someone is ‘looking out’ for you. BLIND FAITH and HOPE rules our sanity. To some extent it is acceptable, then it just crosses the line (you are free to interpret this line with your experiences). Certain people take unfair advantage of you just because he is of the same ‘kind’ as you are, just to be in power. Did you forget about the Mumbai riots, Godhra riots, plight of the Kashmiris, etc ? Even the local discrimination in your own neighborhood should be enough to prove to you that religion SURELY is the root of all this nonsense.

7. Racism – We say Australia is racist just because there were a handful of incidents against Indians studying or working there ? Have we ever thought how racist we are ourselves ? We pass by a tourist and we call him a ‘Gora’ or a ‘Kaaliya’. A Gujrati, Sindhi, Marathi, Bengali also have their own stereotypically racist words. Heck, we are SO racist, that even if we are of the same cast, we go beyond that, just for our satisfaction.

8. Economy – We say that the inflation is negative, yet we feel the pinch of the cost of general food items rise to no limit ? Do you know why ? A recent study in the Times of India newspaper has revealed that the inflation is still being calculated on Vanaspati Ghee, Cibaca tooth paste, Keo Karpin hair oil, Sansar detergent powder. If you are born after the year 1985, you might have this blank look on your face that you’ve never heard of such ‘BRANDS’. Right ?

9. Technology – The world has gone so far ahead in the world of Technology and Science. What are we waiting for ? All we see is the 3G auctions getting pushed for no apparent reason. And now the government says that India is looking for 4G. RIDICULOUS ! The average internet connection in India is just over dial-up speeds. We are still 25 years behind in the world of healthcare technology.

10. Corruption – Another sad issue that rules the entire country is Corruption. If a person gets pulled over and has his driving license confiscated, I DOUBT there would be hardly a fraction of a percentage of people who would go to court, pay a fine and get on with their lives. We encourage it for our own convenience, to get an unfair advantage over someone, or just to get our work done

In short, a LOT has changed over the past 20 years (half of which I dont even remember) and India surely has moved on. But the nation still ends up to the dogs. The mentality of the new-age India has changed. So should the ‘political veterans‘.

If you have seen these issues, you should be able to relate to what I am saying. Feel free to drop in comments.