Why India is unlikely to rid itself of this downward spiral of corruption, rape, murder and deception
When I was a young man, like 70% of India is today, I was completely consumed by living in the “now” and “making it”. Ofcourse, at that time, I didn’t think that is how I would describe what I was upto. I was doing what every young person has done from time immemorial: Climb the socio-economic ladder, enjoy the nice things in life, have fun, see the world and so on. I’m sure you get it, since you are quite likely to identify with these things as being the important things in life.
In those days, it was important to climb to the top of the heap. Nothing else seemed to be the reason for life. Looking Good and Avoid Looking Bad was the name of the game, in one sentence. It was at the core of all things and people, it seemed to me.
But then, I inherited a freedom for which I never fought, never suffered or even saw achieved, thanks to my forefathers and their struggles. I could pursue anything and everything I chose to, dared to, or dreamed of. That is freedom. Except, I didn’t have to learn how to preserve it or even remotely understood how it was achieved.
That’s why history repeats itself.
The rampant corruption and downward sprialling of public life, born out of neglect by the I – Me – Mine generation can have only one end: Anarchy.
That’s at the root cause of Naxalism. That’s at the root cause of Talibanism. That’s at the root cause of the growing Saffron fundamentalism. To name a few in India. I need not mention that Indian TV channels break scams about once-three-times-a-day like a physician’s prescription.
While everyone fums and frets about all this, no one will lift a little finger to use the only known successful form of peaceful protest that works: Mass Civil Disobedience. We’re now locked into an armchair critic’s role, with internet connectivity without wires.
Protests must be led by the Youth, since only they have the strength and energy to do so successfully. Look at any of the successful movement around the world and you’ll see those who saved their countries from disaster we young people.
But when the youth have been raised on a diet of fashion statements, fast food, instant glory and so on, climbing that ladder will naturally be the priority. That the very freedom they enjoy will dissappear once they are fully enslaved by creeping corruption, rape and disception will go unnoticed till its too late.
And that’s why the Youth will, unfortunately, fail India.
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust