For those for whom the hooters hoot

People die all the time, and with appalling neglect. The case that comes in prominence now is the two dozen college students wiped out in a horrendous case of apathy. You may wonder how this is possible. Well anything is possible in this part of the world, and what is quite common is people dying for no fault of theirs. Dying is a final act of closure, much before is cheating, abuse, neglect, injury, almost got killed…  The reason why standard procedures are not in place or is not taken seriously is that lives of common people are never in scheme of things. This is legacy of temple squatter’s framework that never see anything amiss, as people face tremendous challenges. 

The ‘temple of modern India’ has all the hall mark of how Indian temples are run, deviance as tradition, apathy as culture. Hooter (that is safety) is an entitlement that is meant only for few. Even if the hooters are in place, even if it is working, even if somebody bothers to switch it on…is it heard all the way down to where the impact is felt? Why would they think about this? It is none of their concern. The hooter never did hoot for common people, and it never will. The reasons will take centuries of journey towards where it all began as our tradition.  I am quite sure people are dying on regular basis, they are classified as missing. Surely if you release such a large amount of water at one instance, it is no doubt a criminal act meant to put lives of hapless people at risk. Its only when lots of people die in one go, that it becomes an incident, much later it is classified as accident, reluctantly neglect, rarely anyone is responsible (except some lower end scapegoats), very soon pushed into some myth and stories of fate. Meanwhile the people who are responsible will manipulate their way through. That is why we have fixers, traditionally they had taken up the role of being closer to the god, therefore are ready with solution for whatever problems, now they pupate wherever there is opportunity. They have theories, counter theories, speculation and grand ideas except the lethargy to even accept or acknowledge that they are the cause of the problem. Indian traditionally ordained framework, is devoid of any scrutiny, scoundrels have built grandness of previous birth claims (in a civilized world even such uttering should be seen as racism) and next birth lottery. Absolute crap from the fertile mind of amazingly mediocre people, that cannot even provide basic sanitation for majority of its people (forget land reforms), despite ablution related purity (not necessarily cleanliness) that has been the major concern, indeed the only concern, for the elites for thousands of years in this land of entitlement driven claims. In the meanwhile pure vegetarians thrive in some twisted claim on pecking, in almost every street of this malnutritioned nation. Clearly, the kids who got swept away in manali were at the wrong place at the wrong time. It is just their fate. Nobody is responsible and never will be. It is a society where nobody ever takes any responsibility, because for thousands of years those who were supposed to be responsible were busy in exploitation and cannibalizing. They were climbing stairs of monumental absurdity stamping people, crushing potential of society and sucking the soul of the civilization. It is that framework that is society is stuck with.     

The Gandhian appointed trustees are the extension of this muck that seek to lick the benefits, they are nibbling at whatever fat is left of increasingly emaciated people. Don’t expect anything to change. So when you are travelling be very careful, this blogger eats less or sometimes don’t eat at all during daytime while travelling as it tends to keep the senses at peak. Even a small mistake can cascade into major problem. I have travelled whatever whichever place, and yes made some horrible mistakes that could have easily been detrimental but somehow scrapped through, even flash flood. River beds in hilly regions as also high altitude places are crossed from my list many years back. On a recent river trek I followed the fellow who was experienced and was aware of the terrain (but in an amazing callousness, his colleague who also conducted river trek, sometimes alone, didn’t know swimming). Another issue is that, people have become much arrogantly self assured, particularly those from cities (semi literate techie types), they undermine the force of nature and pay very heavy price. Add to it the unique contemporary obsession of taking pictures (what they miss they capture and what they capture they don’t see), and selfies, as if the whole world is waiting to see this (I am a recent but reluctant entrant to FB, I realize getting ‘likes’ is a major concern). This blogger is extremely judicious except of course when there is a bird on the horizon, then it goes crazy. But even then you cannot really take a wrong step, tragedy is very much on the next corner, waiting, hatching, frolicking the beautiful sights, innocently inviting for some fun, bravado mistaken for bravery, caution negated by surge of unknown…the calamity gleefully augmented and the run of providence sealed in final act by traditional apathy of those who are supposed to be responsible. It’s when you see youngsters die, that you are heartbroken, maybe they deserved a warning, another shot at life. It is just not right.