I had taken some wonderful
pictures but unfortunately lost it as I deleted it unknowingly. It was a costly
mistake as I lost hours and hours of effort. Before I post this blog, I have to
point out that I had taken some telling pictures of elephants being used for
begging inside Thiruchendur temple, also note that this temple (quite well
known) is located on the beach much away from any greenery in what is arguably one
of the driest terrain, further from elephant habitat, hence putting this hapless
magnificent animal to utmost discomfort. The place of elephants is not in temples.
It is an amazing level of animal abuse that no one seems to be bothered, indeed
not even aware and that put serious questions on what kind of mindset religion
perpetuates that it cannot make people see basic violations. Religion is clearly
about self-aggrandisement while people queue to get boon where god is seen as
distributor of favour that they stampede, and do whatever possible, to please
and attain their desire. Meanwhile cleverer section exploit the situation, some
as hereditary ordained priests with absolutely no moral bearings, while others
as greedy businessmen ready to fleece money wagging Trump like tongue. There is
no moment of contemplation or reflection, and this is served as aspects of
myriad forms of religion that sane people are to respect and tolerate as part
of humanity. Then there are holy book miracle driven bunch who instead of evolving
have steadfastly been scrapping the bottom so much so they find it difficult to
stay in any civilized setting constantly demanding and stretching what is to be
humanly possible to tolerate hence in perpetual state of angst as victims…
From Velankanni to Ramanathapuram
to Thoothukudi along the beach it’s the same plight for people, scampering for
precious water continues throughout, although places like Kilakarai there
doesn’t seem to be much problem but further ahead the situation is dire. Incidentally,
it is same place that find mention in Sainath’s iconic Everybody loves a Good Drought that was written more than two
decades back. The situation hasn’t changed
a bit. People have resigned to their fate, and finding innovative ways to carry
water, a kind of trolley is used with some modification, and you see people of
all ages, more of women, pushing these. And that is what occupies much of their
lives and thoughts in here. There are small tankers with loud speakers hawking
water, the kind I haven’t seen anywhere else. The situation is always been dire
here, and a morally corrupt traditional ways riding on modern ideas of
democracy through bureaucracy and elected representatives definitely has no chance.
It just goes miserable for the people who have been domesticated on fatalism to
somehow eke out, while these are celebrated as Indian democracy in party circuits
with antennas attuned to west.
At one point I saw a farmer judiciously
cupping water in his hand from the container and dripping on to each sapling. I
stopped to observe him. The sun had already started to sting and I felt
extremely distressed for the old man, it was an overwhelming sight and so
decided to get down. I know some basics of Tamil with that I set out. His name
was Packiam (again, unfortunately the picture got deleted. All pictures herein
are taken from the net), not sure but it could be a distorted version of bagyam (luck) which undoubtedly was ironical. He told me that if doesn’t atleast provide few drops of water to his crop (chillies in this case, and when was the last time anyone of us gave a proper price for chillies? We generally try to get it as freebees with other vegetables, atleast women in North Indian cities are quite vicious about it. There is no space for haggling in malls but then do the farmers get the price for their effort?) it will not survive the day. AND there has been no rain, he is expecting and fervently hoping for rain. These are stopgap arrangement that cannot go on for more than a week. Next few days I was quite concerned as there were no signs of rain and my thoughts fixed on his plight, fag end of the week cyclone, and not monsoon, threat loomed the region which brought scanty rain. I quite keenly followed the event to look at the region of rainfall in the weather map.
In the caste cauldron of Tamil Nadu
human life has no value as they are already classified, condemned and
forgotten. While effete elite, themselves the nurturers and beneficiaries of
these degradations, make all attempts to hide these, or else if it is
unavoidable, work it out as diversity to cleverly not only discount their
complicity in these horrendous realities but carefully showcase themselves as
kindred souls. The level of degradation is amazingly dreadful, that tinges
everyday dealings and varies in subtleties of indecent ways to horrible
discriminations, lynching and murders. These are so normalised that even
violence are cleverly contextualised into something personal. I was reading a
news report from a nearby town of teenage school children brutally beating each
other on caste related matters while a Tamil actor’s marginalized identity was
being made into derogatory fun to provoke. It is sickening, and these are demographic
dividends of India’s future. I scanned through the newspapers, even asking
someone to read it for me in tamil. While one newspaper (in its Dravidian
fervour) gave it much prominence even positing “Where is our society gone wrong
for youth to behave like this?” It even suggested remedial measures to remove
caste from society, most significantly suggesting that it be made important
part of school teaching. Idealistic morons, is what caste entrenched effete
elite is going to say with a smirk while nudge and wink it out. Likes of Ayerji
will patronise “paakalaam” and sickular swing his arse. Precisely, the most
common tamil word heard in corridors of power is ‘paakalaam’, (not quite
coincidently this is something that sanctum scums also elucidate) as people
queue up to find solutions to their miseries. Indeed, not at all surprisingly,
Indian judiciary too is very much entrenched in ‘paakalaam’ as luminaries
fattens (they charge on ‘appearance’, it’s amazing) and delay it as matter of
fate. Not ironically this word is rarely used by common people.
It need be pointed out that, as
these horrendous happening were being debated, there was no mention of this in
Kasturi&Son's world (it such a ‘unity in diversity’, ‘live and let live’ quaint world), there though was some serious bleating for french muslims!! While
litters are now apprenticing in luxuries of European cities, cementing their
embryonic link of pretentions and surely very soon will land to teach us about
tolerance and subtleties of modernity. Leave them few kilometres away from even
big cities like Chennai and, I can assure you, they will never find their way
back. For an outsider these degradations and serious human rights violations are
benignly morphed, cleverly presented, so that it cannot be deciphered at all,
to make worst they are fed fictions of moralities that seem to miraculously bind
the primitive society. That is why monarchy democracy representatives in London
can be so easily be factored in with enlarged pupil and that sly wink that only
colonial angst can patronise. Meanwhile back home castetva forces are now sharpening
for hindutva forces.
Great souls like Periyar (they
don’t exaggerate as Mahatma, nor do they have manipulative coterie settled in
power centres to viciously deal with any challenges) tried their best to remove
these horrendous ways with their deep felt humanitarian concerns and
channelized anger. The egalitarian intents of self-respect movement, probably the
only movement in India that has close parallel to Civil rights movement of US
and other egalitarian movements across the world, indeed leaders like Martin
Luther King have more in common to Periyar than anyone else. I take strong
exception for referring Gandhi as an inspiration for King (that too by Nobel Award
website). Race discrimination is undoubtedly serious human right violation,
that holy book (like any holy book has amazing level of nonsense in it, and has
inspired many normal humans to behave like religious nutcase and viciously exploit
in the name of god) believing whites expertise in. But casteism takes human
degradation to next level, it creates distinction to discriminate and put
everything on god’s will!! Gandhi is a product of this primitive ways, and
cannot be accepted as any beacon for anyone anywhere. Nothing of value can come
about from this horrendous structure, if ever then it is justifying and
acceptance of ghastly. It will not be forgiven. Gandhi must be put in context,
and scrutinised to his primitive bearings. Caste entrenched clever mahatmas are
effete elite’s set up for self-justifying reasons and arrogance, to carry their
nefarious acts with a glow. These are not part of what was once thriving narration
of egalitarian traditions, indeed these are degraded counter narration that is now carefully posited to not only
undermine and desecrate but usurp quaint traditions into its primitive fold, to create a
grander narration to awestruck the world. From this putrid pit some even stake claim
to be moral authority of the world. Gandhi is such an attempt; it has been
fairly successful so far as castetva forces took a self-obsessed homerun bludgeoning any
challenges with feudal might of the state. Not any longer, it will be fiercely
resisted.
