CONTEMPLATION
I draw concentric circles. I place myself in the centre. In the next outer circle are my wife and children. Next is my family. Then relatives – then family members – then relatives – then people of my / caste/ religion and friends – then villagers – then people from Taluka – then people from district – then people from State of Maharashtra – then people from India – then people from immediate neighbouring countries – then the human race . In terms of sacrifice the inner circle will always be preferred to the outer. In terms of taking stringent action the inner circle will always be preferred to the outer. AM I WRONG?
AM I WRONG IN THE HIERARCHY ? I am not unpatriotic. I am proud to be an Indian but equally proud of Maharashtra as the land has given me everything I need so that I do not have to go outside . I am known because of my achievements which were possible because of the place where I live in and the conducive atmosphere created by my State . I am known by my language. I owe my existence, my family’s existence to the place where I live. AM I WRONG ? India does not know me. My family, my relatives, my friends, people of my religion/village/Taluka district and some scattered over the State know me.
I am proud of my State, its culture, its History, its role in the Freedom struggle, it festivals, its local gods/deities , its leaders, its bio diversity, its vast coastal line, its uneven huge mountains, its rivers , flora and fauna, its Institutions and its people [ not necessarily of Marathi origin] . Other things remaining abstract, it is the people who are the true assets. Their hard work, commitment to honesty, a progressive vision , a respect for law and order of the land has taken my State to where it is at present. AM I WRONG ? The love for the country is omnipresent at the backdrop of my mind but then I cannot turn a blind eye to the reality which is apparent . I would always strive for my country to be self sufficient and its people’s well being , but where do I start from? Is it not right that I start from the inner circle instead of directly jumping to the outer circle.
MNS is a regional party. No state in India is free from regional parties. All of them in any name or manner of disguise do promote their own State . Electorates are made in that way. A Sarpanch looks after the well being of the village, President of the Zilla Parishad looks after the District, the Chief Minister looks after the State and the Honourable Prime Minister looks after the Country. What is wrong in this? MNS is a regional party and looks after the region, or at least tries to do so. If any of the above elected representatives fail they are answerable to their respective constituency/district/state/ country. Representatives change. Today it is somebody tomorrow it will be Raj Thackaray.
Beating up people of other states cannot be justified at any cost. Why for that matter I go further and say that beating and its extreme that is killing cannot be justified [morally]. Not even of a person of another country. He is also a poor soldier joining the army to take care of his wife/children/parents. What we cannot give , we cannot take.
We have a very short memory. Lets go back a little. Before Independence India was a loose federation of kingdoms , each to his own . Each area had a different history, different festivals, different gods, different physical characteristics and mentalities. They fought amongst each other [over flimsy reasons or just for the heck of it] and rarely came together to fight against foreign invasions. As mass commutation means were not available generally a common man was born , lived and died within probably a hundred kilometers radius from his place of birth. The art of printing was present but there were no newspapers. What was there to tie all these people together, of the region we call India ? Most of us are law graduates and in ‘ International law ‘ paper we have learned how nations were formed. Some nations are formed due to geographical position like Australia, America- some because of common heritage/language/customs – like Germany, France, British etc. Our Country was formed because of COMMON ENEMY i.e. the British. The territory over which the British ruled was bifurcated into India and Pakistan and they went away. As a nation we are young. 50 odd years is not large period . The troubles faced by us now are teething troubles of a new nation. Please pause for a moment and think, what is common between a Tamilian, a Gujrathi, a Punjabi and a person of the North east ? Even the Gods are different , leave aside customs, food habits, values, , way of dressing and the festivals. . It would be right to say that we were not one but were bound by the notion of one , by a tryst with fate.
We say we are one , but in what? In sharing the spoils, in picking up responsibilities? A person when in his home state will vote for the regional party and if for some reason he goes and resides out of the State then he we will vote for the Congress. He will try to suppress regionalism [ by expressing sentiments about banning MNS] . Why this duality of standards?
Much is made about ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ . but when? When my coffers are filled and if I am comparatively well off and I can look after a guests needs , only then will I welcome my guest with open arms. If I myself is bothered about the basic needs of my family with an uncertain tomorrow, how do I make the guest welcome? Dear friends the anger is not about the guest coming , but it is the anger which like a serpent raises its head when I see the starving faces of my own family members. I see my limited resources being whittled away by medical expenses of my aged parents, I see my aged daughter not getting married , I see my double graduate son whiling away his days in the hope that at least in the near future a day will come when he will be able to do his duty and put to use whatever knowledge he has learned till now wasting 25 prime years of his life. In the heart of hearts I know that it is not the North Indian who is totally at fault. But then in psychology there is a term used – ‘projection’ . When a person is helpless he will project all his inabilities on some external thing for purging himself. Now it is no longer about my goodness of looking after a guest, but my capabilities, my existence which is threatened. Contemplate, a guest comes to our house and he is going to stay indefinitely. What is the treatment given to such a guest by us in our daily life?
Human beings are full of fallacies. History tells us so. From the great depression to the unemployment, and all matters which remotely made the German unhappy and angry, the Jews were blamed for it all . Hitler used it to his benefit. ‘ All money lenders are Jews, all shopkeepers, all industries and factory owners all rich persons are Jews. It is because of them you [Germans are poor] - this was the strategy he used to gather mass support and then we see what we have. GENOCIDE. – A WORLD WAR.
One of my Learned friend pointed out that during times of natural calamities and other wise also there is exodus [ mass movement of people from one geographical place to another] . In such cases the clashes are bound to be there. I take the opportunity to place before you all the example of the Parsis who came to India. They have done more than perhaps any single community for India. But how was their behavior? They said we will mix in your community like sugar in milk. They never aspired to be rulers or to dictate to the local population.
In Maharashtra what do we see now? Do not we see non Maharashtrians occupying prime political posts? Which other State can boast about this? The Shivsena when it got a chance to send an MP to Delhi sent Ram Jethmalani, Sanjay Nirupam, Pritish Nandy .
Now what is the position? O.K. we are now in the same boat. We either survive or sink together. Common sense tells us that instead of fighting among ourselves , we fight the odds against us unitedly. [ the odds my friends are
- Corruption in the executive.
- lethargy
- crowning the undeserving by reservation policy causing injustice to the deserving. [ thus removing the incentive to hard work]
- Foreign countries who want to see a weak India.
- Stopping our citizens from being beggars right from the cradle by giving them food etc. [ my personal view is that it is only the family /relatives and friends who should provide help to a needy person. Only beggars take help from unknown persons]. Government schemes are like a block of ice which melts as it goes down to the beneficiary.
- Government should govern and not start Industries and corporations which are nothing but a source of drain on our economy and seats of corruption.
- Comparatively closed economy – the national well being , being the guiding force.
- Next time we vote [ and we do] we do it only to a person without a criminal background irrespective of his religion / caste / party etc.
The list is exhaustive and most of you my friends are aware about it all . But pause for a moment and think.
What is the proportion of railway employees ‘State wise’? Let any party come in power at the centre, Railway Ministry always goes to Bihar/UP. [ The reason my friends is because they have a separate Budget.] Even Orissa people expressed the opinion that it is easy to clear IAS but not railway examination. My other friend was right when he said the jails are filled with non Maharashtrians. [ Like Mr Manish Singh even I am doing what I can for them] If a consensus is taken , out of the squatters on the Harbour line railway hardly 5 % will be Maharashtrians. Same with the poor women folk who are commercial s*x workers. Same with drug addicts. Please do not blame the common Marathi Manus. What he sees is the underbelly of the State from where the people came. Rich influential people will never migrate. He has yet to see the Zamindars of UP and Bihar and yet to see what good things these States have to offer. His views are moulded by what he sees around him and by the newspapers.
I am proud to state that being a Maharashtrian , best of my near and dear friends [ some 25 odd years ] are non Maharashrians. Newspapers report the utterings of politicians in a irresponsible manner. In no way can one person be held responsible for the arson carried out. I do not justify beating of the job aspirants but to my mind it is a far greater crime what Railways tried to do by publishing the advertisement only in Bihar. Think over it my friends.
In our childhood we had the lesson of “ the Blind men and the Elephant’ . We all [ me included] are the blind men and each as per our knowledge describes the elephant to be as a wall, a rope etc. The elephant is Raj. Let us wait for the wise man [TIME/WAKT] to come forward to remove our blindness.
THANKS FOR GIVING A PATIENT HEARING.
