India is the motherland for contradictions. We adore love stories and screen romances. Yet we vehemently oppose love marriage. We consider the nature in its entirety as divine. Yet, we absorbed untouchability. We had wealth beyond measure. Yet, we continued to live in poverty. And this is just a start of an endless list.
So, how could that theme vanish when it comes to the campaign of "Kiss of Love"? Without getting into the merits or demerits of the campaign itself, there is a tangential - yet very significant in a bigger scheme - to this story that cannot be ignored. It is the nature of a political contradiction that faces the large majority of young generation. Like most contradictions, the people who face it may not be even aware of it.
The Kiss of Contradiction
The first official glimpse of Authoritarianism
When the new Gujarat governor signed the bill that mandates voting in local bodies, I do not see it as a law confining to the borders of a state that I have not even visited. There is a larger frame to this picture. And that frame is made out of the wood from the forests of Authoritarian-lands. This picture does not smell of any flavor of democracy.
Authoritarianism does not rise up as a tsunami on one bad morning. It always works itself up as a destructive hurricane- starting with a mild pressure variation, building up slowly, steadily and stealthily in some remote vastitudes of sea before climaxing to its ferocious form right before the landfall.
Marx wrote Das Capital in 1849, Lenin took power in 1917 before Stalin could bring the Socialist dictatorship to climax in 1929 in Gulags. Marx never envisioned a Gulag, neither Lenin. Yet, there it was. Like the seed of a poisonous plant making itself fruitful over years & decades.
Authoritarianism does not rise up as a tsunami on one bad morning. It always works itself up as a destructive hurricane- starting with a mild pressure variation, building up slowly, steadily and stealthily in some remote vastitudes of sea before climaxing to its ferocious form right before the landfall.
Marx wrote Das Capital in 1849, Lenin took power in 1917 before Stalin could bring the Socialist dictatorship to climax in 1929 in Gulags. Marx never envisioned a Gulag, neither Lenin. Yet, there it was. Like the seed of a poisonous plant making itself fruitful over years & decades.
Indian Revival vs. the West
R Jagannathan of FirstPost critiques Pankaj Mishra's recent article in New York Times. Well, I think I need to critique both!!!
First, Pankaj Mishra claims that there is a ressentiment within the Indian elites that is subterranean, which is potentially more dangerous than Taliban and ISIS etc. In reply, Jagannathan thinks that it is the West who is afraid of a revived liberal & democratic India who is about to find its Hindu-Buddhist-Jain cultural moorings, and that Mishra is just attending to pander to this fear.
First, Pankaj Mishra claims that there is a ressentiment within the Indian elites that is subterranean, which is potentially more dangerous than Taliban and ISIS etc. In reply, Jagannathan thinks that it is the West who is afraid of a revived liberal & democratic India who is about to find its Hindu-Buddhist-Jain cultural moorings, and that Mishra is just attending to pander to this fear.
Emergence of UPA-III
After all the codswallop, we have UPA-III, garnished with RSS-education. In a matter of four months, it is the Nth time that the current government choose to follow the earlier regime.
It's their prerogative, but it is a bit funny to see some of the blind followers still choke themselves out of admiration when they pronounce "The Name". There is a very recent successful politician who peddled HOPE & CHANGE to win two consecutive terms, but now having an approval rating so low that even George Bush found very difficult to stoop to.
I wonder if the Nobel committee mistook Kailash Satyarthi for someone else from India. Otherwise, it would have a perfect start for a possible repeat.
Or would not have been. Approval is hinged only slightly on performance, but largely on carefully crafted perception & even deeper cultural currents. So, who cares?
It's their prerogative, but it is a bit funny to see some of the blind followers still choke themselves out of admiration when they pronounce "The Name". There is a very recent successful politician who peddled HOPE & CHANGE to win two consecutive terms, but now having an approval rating so low that even George Bush found very difficult to stoop to.
I wonder if the Nobel committee mistook Kailash Satyarthi for someone else from India. Otherwise, it would have a perfect start for a possible repeat.
Or would not have been. Approval is hinged only slightly on performance, but largely on carefully crafted perception & even deeper cultural currents. So, who cares?
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