these are difficult times for an ordinary Indian citizen such as me...this election has taken on an extraordinarily intense pitch, its a life and death matter, it raises questions of being that raise doubts and sow confusions in our minds, questions that concern our belief systems and the ingredients of our identities. Hell!!! when did i give away my right to decide for myself the contents of that which is right and that which is wrong for me?
the fevered pitch at which these judgements are being made and thrust down my throat, question the nature of our democracy in my mind...
therefore it is that if i do vote for a certain someone, i'd best drown in the sea, and if i don't, i'd best pack my bags and prepare to move to Pakistan!!!
well, politics was always theatrical in these parts, but of late it has taken on particularly black hues...it smacks of a sense of self righteous worth that demeans the other in order to survive, a grand plan that must, as a matter of necessity destroy all that , that stands in its path, in order to find fulfillment in dubious creation.
that kind of exclusive extremism, displayed in the public space by almost all players, bothers me, it lacks a decency that comes from informed considered deliberations, it lacks the careful choosing of accommodative actions, a selection of a path, a course of action, based on inclusive consent. it rides rough and hard over my finer sensibilities, making a brute out of me in the process
i resent the environment in which i am forced to live, forced on pain of 'my way or the highway' positioning...
secularism is now a dirty word. in a country that has suffered on account of deliberate use of religious identity for vote bank politics, communities in turn have learnt to use their numbers to bargain for shares of the developmental cake, such as it is.
i grew up in a time and a world where your relationship with your God was manifest in private space and was respectful of my relationship with my God, Manifest in my private space.
in these ready , loud, rough times, that relationship , no longer sacred and sacrosanct, is worth nothing if it doesn't shout loud enough through the barrel of a loud speaker, it is worth nothing if it doesn't intimidate...
i want the nuanced finer things of my world safe..and yes if that means that i must move to Pakistan, then so be it..
or Switzerland, Italy or Greece for that matter...!
Vinny Jain
28/4/14
the fevered pitch at which these judgements are being made and thrust down my throat, question the nature of our democracy in my mind...
therefore it is that if i do vote for a certain someone, i'd best drown in the sea, and if i don't, i'd best pack my bags and prepare to move to Pakistan!!!
well, politics was always theatrical in these parts, but of late it has taken on particularly black hues...it smacks of a sense of self righteous worth that demeans the other in order to survive, a grand plan that must, as a matter of necessity destroy all that , that stands in its path, in order to find fulfillment in dubious creation.
that kind of exclusive extremism, displayed in the public space by almost all players, bothers me, it lacks a decency that comes from informed considered deliberations, it lacks the careful choosing of accommodative actions, a selection of a path, a course of action, based on inclusive consent. it rides rough and hard over my finer sensibilities, making a brute out of me in the process
i resent the environment in which i am forced to live, forced on pain of 'my way or the highway' positioning...
secularism is now a dirty word. in a country that has suffered on account of deliberate use of religious identity for vote bank politics, communities in turn have learnt to use their numbers to bargain for shares of the developmental cake, such as it is.
i grew up in a time and a world where your relationship with your God was manifest in private space and was respectful of my relationship with my God, Manifest in my private space.
in these ready , loud, rough times, that relationship , no longer sacred and sacrosanct, is worth nothing if it doesn't shout loud enough through the barrel of a loud speaker, it is worth nothing if it doesn't intimidate...
i want the nuanced finer things of my world safe..and yes if that means that i must move to Pakistan, then so be it..
or Switzerland, Italy or Greece for that matter...!
Vinny Jain
28/4/14
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