See Mr. Bush what you did to Iraq

…and that includes Mr. Blair too, both of them are in many ways responsible for this unfolding catastrophe in Iraq. We so much protested against war on Iraq…but invain. So many signatures of ordinary people were collected to bring in some sanity….all comes to a naught. With a rather extreme type of group taking over things are going to get much tougher for the people. 

PS: I recall sending across the signatures (against the war in Iraq), of hundreds of people from different walks of life, as also wide age spectrum, to Kasthuri &Sons. The arrogant scoundrels didn’t as much as acknowledge it, most likely they were using it fattening themselves first, of course for other’s sake. I feel like puking, if only internet was so widely used (I think it was 2003) and if blogs were around, I would have scanned it and put it in my blog. Blogs are such a respite, importantly you don’t have to go through traditional power brokers that define Indian society and succours from unethical religio-moral framework.  

For those for whom the hooters hoot

People die all the time, and with appalling neglect. Of all recurrent cases of misery the one that comes into prominence is that of 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. It's 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 this framework that the society is condemned 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.    

     

An unopen letter to Kasthuri & Sons slave

Dear our esteemed trustee (aka Kalpana Sharma),

                                                              

It’s been seventy odd years that you and your clan have been hiding behind Gandhian hypocrisy, in the meanwhile singing shenanigans for modern values and didactic persuasion for less privileged. The arrogant concerns have become not only a wonderful career but also much influence and money, the smack in egalitarianism has been cashed with international invitations and so on as spokesperson for beloved us –the Indians.  I thought of taking you head on and bring you down to some rustic reality that the common people have been facing for thousands of years. You may feel discomfited by this sudden turn of events and eviction from ordained comfortable perch –that gives you the view and insights that we common people are least likely see or experience.  It’s the glimpse that your elevated concerns have purposely missed, it’s quite normal from where you are placed, commonly called Gandhian blinkers, trustees are known to suffer from it.

In a civilized world there is an understanding, that you may miss or probably will never get it, and that is, you cannot take high moral grounds if you yourself are placed in unethical framework. It is a simple logic and in a stricter understanding an appallingly unethical behavior. It’s unacceptable, its opportunist. To start with why are you slaving for a set up which is run by Kasthuri & Sons?  Didn’t your heightened feminist concerns never find anything wrong with this, questioned it? I know you are only a slave but you could quit. You have that right. Carrying on, as if there is nothing amiss, is shameful. In short, you should be ashamed of yourself. 

On related thought, that is, the matter of shame, why are you carrying the burden of Sharma? Who gave you this title? You must ask your father: what kind of culture he has passed on to you? Since the impact is much telling in Hindi let me translate it for you: apne baap se ja ke poocho ki ye kahan ke janwari sanskar diya hai? In the context of things this isn’t rude at all, ideally being rude is much milder response to these haughty vulgarity. Your heightened concerns for the world, and the women in it, will have to take a pause. The identity you carry and not so subtle impact it has is questioned. Your sanskarist baap nor his forefathers might have told this, nor did you care to think about: this identity of yours is a symbol of untold atrocity and represent unethical worldview. It symbolizes untold misery to common people, as also the sense of crude sort of entitlement that it seeks over others. It is the beginning of the end. And as you are probably aware, and choose to ignore as part of traditional apathy, this is what eventually percolates down to Badaun. It is a rape of civilizational values that your identity represents. It has reduced this society to brutalized social contexts, for which you will have to take responsibility.   You just cannot pretend ignorance nor can you run away from the realities of your identity, that you have preferred to flout.

No civilized person or community will carry these burdens nor condone it.   It is surprising that your overactive medulla oblongata never condescend to these matters. It must be the tradition in the family that Kasthuri & Sons so very well understands. It is in the same context, and understandably so, that you may not find anything amiss in matrimonial columns nor the casteist articles that Kasthuri & Sons so gleefully promotes as part of family tradition. I understand that the price of potato and onion is increasing and so is the flight charge. It must be tough. In the meanwhile dear self ordained trustee how about bundling up your concerns and drop it into the nearest nallah, we have had enough of you and your kind.  

  

Warm regards

I remain depalan (it takes about 100R to change the surname and join the civilized!! Incidentally the outside world is also catching up to this reality. So your egalitarian concerns will be closely scrutinized, it’s already showing huge ethical holes that no amount of feminism or secularism can fill. As Crude Woman says “ghatiya hue tho kya hua secularist tho hai!!”)

The tradition of Badaun

After close observation of the happenings in Indian society, and the way matters pan out as mainstream concerns, I have gathered that common people never really mattered in scheme of things. The elitizens have firm hold on narrations, the hold is very much a control, though it has framework of modern pointers but remains very much feudal. It is not as ruthless as it was few centuries back, maybe because we now live in civilized society, transgressions will be obvious. So the elitizens have managed to give themselves semblance of modernity, the structure that perpetuates these heinous behavior is intact, in lawless section these turn violent, with patriarchal ways barbaric Badaun is the result.

 I was reading Guardian Newspaper “…Dalits, formerly known as "untouchables", still face systematic discrimination across India. Though in urban areas "caste" identities are weakening, they are still strong in rural areas and particularly in northern parts of the country…” This is precisely what I was mentioning, the twist in the narration “though in urban areas "caste" identities are weakening”, now where did the writer get this perceptions from? Our man seems to be tutored by few drawing room talks over wine and chicken tikkas. A cursory study –which he may not have inclination nor intend, it’s a general apathy that elitizens are able to induce, will show him that everyone carries their identities on their sleeves literally, that includes Pankaj Mishra, who contributes in the same newspaper. If the rape victims father carried Mishra identity things would have moved much faster, and maybe the poor kids would been saved, indeed in most likelihood would not have even happened (statistically 4.3 dalit women are raped every day, this from what is reported, these are most marginalized section so one can safely say the reality should be much bleaker. Further, rape doesn't include other forms of abuse or even neglect). These incidents will never happen in elite circle of cities, indeed it is inconceivable, nor is there any concern, things in here works with contacts, deals are done with sleaze, nepotism the prime mover. Since Indians pride their extended families, concurrently the misery also has more reach. Baba Ramdev was quoted as saying “picnic and honeymoon at dalit’s house”, clearly he didn’t intend it but what he said is part of common culture that finds it way in collective expression. Ditto when Sashi Tharoor mentions “cattle class”, the semantics have deep import that interlocutors may not realize. 

Badaun is a mindset that is spread across India, in smaller towns were the mobility is limited these take heinous forms, Dalits and tribes face atrocities on regular basis. While in big cities –where mobility is high, it morphs into amazingly crude behavior towards others, particularly marginalized, and disregard for rules and fairness. This also includes arrogance of elitizens who fancy themselves as enlightened guardians. I don’t give damn about Kasturi&Sons and quote them to bring out a general value base of this section. They could easily change the name, and be gender sensitive, but will not. They will quite cleverly promote regressive values and make money but want the poor people to change. This gives them the necessary control over others, as guides, the ‘trustees’ (Gandhi wasn’t naive). 

What we see across the country as heinous crime against marginalized and weak, emanates from the framework that temple squatters left. This cannibalizing society is their contribution. That they still dwell in temples across the land is perpetuating the framework. As people prosper and are socially mobile, they don’t have an egalitarian world to enter. So they end up miming the elite, who, meanwhile have moved a step further away by emulating west.

 The fellow at Guardian should do a crash course on idea of India, particularly from his brethrens in Kasthuri&Sons, who seem to be the trustees. They are much vicious than the rapists, they are the ones who are preparing the ground work for these to take place, they are the ones who give credibility to these systems, it is a tradition that has given them the power, the con act is smooth. Things are dealt with such subtlety and deftness that Western media will never ever be able to decipher nor will ever get the hint, add to it the camouflaged cultural undertones and values derived. Western media, incidentally, happens to be an important pointer for Indian elite to sequester their egalitarian acts and gain credence as spokesperson for Indians. The grip is such that hapless victims are reduced to mute spectators, as they are numbed from the concoction of fate, fear and absolute hopelessness.  There isn’t any empathy, even expectations of justice is fruitless, as it is biased and primitive (the reason why police or judicial reforms are delayed, has this deep bias).  

Badaun rape case is systemic reactions of heinous Hindu culture and tradition that has permeated into all religions; therefore it should be classified as crime on humanity. This blogger reiterates that India should be declared a racist country and Indians with casteist references in their identity should be denied visa. So far the elitizens have very cleverly masqueraded these as cultural diversity, and were able to twist the narration. International community will have to take this seriously, it is a systemic atrocity sanctioned by tradition (and in mainstream version of Hinduism) and practiced for thousands of years. This primitive society doesn’t have a place in civilized world.     

 Post script: It is not surprising that Nehruvian gentries, never really thought much about land reforms, without which freedom and democracy doesn’t make any sense. Nor the laws were reformed. When it comes to common people there wasn’t much concern. As is the tradition of Indian casteist culture they on delved big ideas (that was very much hinged in western thoughts and pretensions, though egalitarian but never sought to be practiced, ofcourse West had these standing on racism and slavery). Nehru despite all his achievement stands condemned for not initiating land reforms as also for not banning caste, his thoughts therefore fail in scrutiny on these counts. B grade Nehruvians since then have become a bane, it is reduced to their self serving worldviews and accented english indulgence.  

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

What a ‘Phenomenal woman’!! Deeply saddened.