[Statutory warning. This write up is ‘Tongue in cheek’. Please spare the brickbats. I have neither any political agenda nor any capability to articulate points of view]
In the recent past, I have been keenly questioned about ‘Civil Society’. Actually it is my mother. She would want to know about what ‘society’ the TV channel fellows are talking and arguing about. And with the latest crackdown (and numerous climb downs thereafter) , her curiosity has only increased bringing more insistence that I answer the question.
Now that really gets my goat….er, please pardons my semantics that have been rendered ‘beyond repair’ during the practice of abbreviated natter of flying operations during my air force days. But you see, I am a true blooded Indian. I want to work hard during the working hours (as long as these are a sub-set of 9 to 5 routine), and then come back home and sprawl on the sofa with a nice cup of tea (green label added for flavor) and watch TV. I love those Hindi soaps where someone or the other bangs her/his head against something and loses memory. Wow, then you keep wondering whether the memory will come back or the person will keep making a fool of herself/himself for the benefit of your entertainment. Isn’t losing memory an Indian specialty? Maybe much reviled separation during ‘Kumbh ka Mela’ is our DNA trademark. Personally, I have nothing against it, rather I will like to forget ‘office’ after 5 PM, and when in office (and with my jovial colleagues) I don’t let the thoughts of family back home spoil fun and frolic.
Getting back to the topic, I told my mother that our society is divided into two parts, rather three. One is called civil society, the second uncivil society (popularly called Government for ease of addressing), and the normal society (which is also the majority). The whole political drama consists of the normal society intelligently voting to choose the government, which then assiduously gets down to getting the country on the path of progress. The civil society is supposed to a bunch of practicing intellectuals who infrequently write philosophical matters that the normal society can not understand and the government does not care to read.
These forces are supposed to be at equilibrium in the bliss of democratic environment and supposed to keep doing what they are supposed to do. The problem arises when they don’t.
Firstly the normal society is supposed to vote intelligently. (Even the politicians proclaim that ‘Janata’ is the wise). However looking at the kind of politicians that we have been choosing for the last fifty years or so, that intelligence is as much sure as the existence of the unicorn.
Government is supposed to enable India to take her rightful place in the comity of nations. Going by recent performance, the various political ensembles look more like the Hindi film villain trying to punch holes in the hull of the boat.
The civil society has kept busy with issuing high sounding rebukes from time to time, from the air conditioned confines of their drawing rooms.
But that was till Anna Saheb came along.
All of a sudden every one is inconvenienced. The government is not being allowed to work, the PM is supposed to be cornered so much that he is not be able to perform (????), the parliament is not able to pass any bills (including the recently tabled ‘Thuggery Protection bill’ that said that MPs and higher ups are exempt from even oversight, not to talk of prosecution). And biggest of it all, I cannot enjoy my TV serials and have to explain the civil society and its genesis to my mother.
The next question from my mother, “ Why cant Indian society be all civil”. Now that is a rather obnoxious query and I am not going to answer that on behalf of PMs, CMs, Ministers, spokesmen, SDOs, JEs, IASs and many worthies, who decide what is good for us, the society.
No comments:
Post a Comment