There are three things nauseating about the ongoing election campaign:
1. Extreme partisanship filled with hatred. While partisanship is something you would expect in an election season, the amount of hatred spewed out would surprise even a King Cobra. If you happen to be a not-infrequent visitor to Facebook and if you have some 100 friends there, this would be self-evident for you. If you watch TimesNow channel at 9 PM everyday, you will get visual & auditory proof.
2. Focus on petty personal matters and absolute silence on policies, ideologies and action plans. Of course, relevant topics do appear once in a while, but you get to hear about them in bits and pieces, just like the side performance of Jokers in Circus when the main artists are getting prepared for the main items. When Narendra Modi spends time arguing with Priyanka Gandhi (who is neither a contestant nor any party leader, at least officially) over I-don't-know-what, I think the point is self-evident again. Of course, when the party that is projected to be in power, publishes their election manifesto on the exact day the voters went to polling booths, what else can we expect to happen? While dense debates have never been a norm in Indian politics, my memory (going back to 1991) tells me that the discussions were never this petty in the recent times.
3. Emergence of the voice of a large section of de-politicized, de-historied and frustrated youth and middle-aged men as the default voice of Indian politics. I am not differentiating between urban and rural youth here. In terms of the general characteristics of this population, I don't think that such a differentiation holds sufficient ground.
I find the third phenomenon very peculiar as compared to the other two and, in some sense, as the driving force for the other two. There is a case for arguing that it was this factor that introduced venom into partisanship and frivolity into the debate. This is the case that I argue, and my case rests on the characteristics of this section of society.
This is a strange category of people.
They are very educated and intelligent, yet not informed and wise. They have conquered the abstract heights of mathematics, mastered various fields of applied science, or are proficient practitioners of social sciences. They hold many certificates, diplomas and degrees and have studied in many institutions during their learner-ship. Prestigious or otherwise. Domestic or Foreign. Yet, they find it difficult to understand what holds a society together. The abstract words of constitution does not appear meaningful to them. Not for them the inductive reasoning from history (of this nation or anywhere). They think that civilization only moves forward. They are not able to see the large black patches in the human timeline.
They are very communicative, yet not introspective. They are proficient in many languages and can talk about anything for hours. Neither the occasion nor the stage choke their throats. They like to have endless discussions and they don't fall short of topics ever. Yet, they can't seem to sit quietly for an hour and contemplate. Not for them the silence of the sages. Not for them the dark hours of confusion. Not for them hard research and painful readings from references.
They are very ambitious, yet not patient. They want to achieve growth, progress & harmony now. They want to see Autobahns across the country yesterday. Now or Never is their slogan. They prefer to sit on the road and scream for change. Sprint is what they prefer, not Marathon. Yet, laying a foundation and patiently arranging the building blocks is not for them. Acknowledging heavy cultural baggage hanging on their shoulders is even unthinkable. They can't stop during the run to acknowledge that the baggage is dragging them down. They don't have time to put the baggage down and separate the shoes from the stones. They don't want to throw out the stones and put on the shoes and then begin to run.
They are very patriotic and brazen, yet not civil and fearless. They love their families, their surroundings and their nation. They vociferously defend their positions in media and sing loud songs. They demand respect for the country, family and self and go any stretch to ensure it. Yet, they do not respect the other. For them, the other is a filthy pig, to be scorned, beaten to death and be fried and eaten. They are brazen enough to call colleagues abusive words in Facebook for a political position, but afraid of even raising the topic when they go for coffee together. They are audacious to debate and reach conclusions in 140 characters, but avoid reading a 1000 word article lest it could change their 140-character perception. They regard civility very highly, yet they don't think it is applicable to self. They assume that a nation can be built by applying your agenda on the other.
And they are frustrated. By scams. By looters. Frustration has fired up their intelligence, but the calming guidance of wisdom is not available. Disappointment has hurt their ambitions and that makes them even more impatient. Lost dreams have pushed them to the brink of audacity, but the courage to face the truth is not present. Sadness makes them wail, yet they can't contemplate.
In a nation building exercise like election, hatred is a paradoxical presence. In an evaluative and corrective exercise like election, frivolity is a paradoxical presence. Long before the campaign kick started, this section of people occupied the center of Indian politics with thoughts resulting from the their own inner paradoxes. Paradox raises from paradox. When your major voter-base is paradoxical, what else the discourse be expected to be?
Update 1: Just saw that NYT editorial also has expressed similar thoughts. "The intolerant, anti-intellectual mood sweeping the nation is frightening." Hatred and Frivolity, that is. Read NYT.
1. Extreme partisanship filled with hatred. While partisanship is something you would expect in an election season, the amount of hatred spewed out would surprise even a King Cobra. If you happen to be a not-infrequent visitor to Facebook and if you have some 100 friends there, this would be self-evident for you. If you watch TimesNow channel at 9 PM everyday, you will get visual & auditory proof.
2. Focus on petty personal matters and absolute silence on policies, ideologies and action plans. Of course, relevant topics do appear once in a while, but you get to hear about them in bits and pieces, just like the side performance of Jokers in Circus when the main artists are getting prepared for the main items. When Narendra Modi spends time arguing with Priyanka Gandhi (who is neither a contestant nor any party leader, at least officially) over I-don't-know-what, I think the point is self-evident again. Of course, when the party that is projected to be in power, publishes their election manifesto on the exact day the voters went to polling booths, what else can we expect to happen? While dense debates have never been a norm in Indian politics, my memory (going back to 1991) tells me that the discussions were never this petty in the recent times.
3. Emergence of the voice of a large section of de-politicized, de-historied and frustrated youth and middle-aged men as the default voice of Indian politics. I am not differentiating between urban and rural youth here. In terms of the general characteristics of this population, I don't think that such a differentiation holds sufficient ground.
I find the third phenomenon very peculiar as compared to the other two and, in some sense, as the driving force for the other two. There is a case for arguing that it was this factor that introduced venom into partisanship and frivolity into the debate. This is the case that I argue, and my case rests on the characteristics of this section of society.
This is a strange category of people.
They are very educated and intelligent, yet not informed and wise. They have conquered the abstract heights of mathematics, mastered various fields of applied science, or are proficient practitioners of social sciences. They hold many certificates, diplomas and degrees and have studied in many institutions during their learner-ship. Prestigious or otherwise. Domestic or Foreign. Yet, they find it difficult to understand what holds a society together. The abstract words of constitution does not appear meaningful to them. Not for them the inductive reasoning from history (of this nation or anywhere). They think that civilization only moves forward. They are not able to see the large black patches in the human timeline.
They are very communicative, yet not introspective. They are proficient in many languages and can talk about anything for hours. Neither the occasion nor the stage choke their throats. They like to have endless discussions and they don't fall short of topics ever. Yet, they can't seem to sit quietly for an hour and contemplate. Not for them the silence of the sages. Not for them the dark hours of confusion. Not for them hard research and painful readings from references.
They are very ambitious, yet not patient. They want to achieve growth, progress & harmony now. They want to see Autobahns across the country yesterday. Now or Never is their slogan. They prefer to sit on the road and scream for change. Sprint is what they prefer, not Marathon. Yet, laying a foundation and patiently arranging the building blocks is not for them. Acknowledging heavy cultural baggage hanging on their shoulders is even unthinkable. They can't stop during the run to acknowledge that the baggage is dragging them down. They don't have time to put the baggage down and separate the shoes from the stones. They don't want to throw out the stones and put on the shoes and then begin to run.
They are very patriotic and brazen, yet not civil and fearless. They love their families, their surroundings and their nation. They vociferously defend their positions in media and sing loud songs. They demand respect for the country, family and self and go any stretch to ensure it. Yet, they do not respect the other. For them, the other is a filthy pig, to be scorned, beaten to death and be fried and eaten. They are brazen enough to call colleagues abusive words in Facebook for a political position, but afraid of even raising the topic when they go for coffee together. They are audacious to debate and reach conclusions in 140 characters, but avoid reading a 1000 word article lest it could change their 140-character perception. They regard civility very highly, yet they don't think it is applicable to self. They assume that a nation can be built by applying your agenda on the other.
And they are frustrated. By scams. By looters. Frustration has fired up their intelligence, but the calming guidance of wisdom is not available. Disappointment has hurt their ambitions and that makes them even more impatient. Lost dreams have pushed them to the brink of audacity, but the courage to face the truth is not present. Sadness makes them wail, yet they can't contemplate.
In a nation building exercise like election, hatred is a paradoxical presence. In an evaluative and corrective exercise like election, frivolity is a paradoxical presence. Long before the campaign kick started, this section of people occupied the center of Indian politics with thoughts resulting from the their own inner paradoxes. Paradox raises from paradox. When your major voter-base is paradoxical, what else the discourse be expected to be?
Update 1: Just saw that NYT editorial also has expressed similar thoughts. "The intolerant, anti-intellectual mood sweeping the nation is frightening." Hatred and Frivolity, that is. Read NYT.
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