'Mango People, Banana Republic..'

So, apparently I'm at risk.

Not just me, all you 20 something youth of the second most populous democratic constitution in the world. You are at risk. All you twitter addicts, facebook fans, the blogger junta - everyone is after all, at risk. But why are we at risk? Well, the great constitution that boasts of (wait, lets take a deep breath here; and begin) Sovereignty, Secularism, Liberal democracy and Republicanism, is kind of turning onto itself, more often nowadays. Why, is the pressure of a billion people's antagonistic mindset, too much to handle for the government we elected?

Following the twitter ticker nowadays really shows how many people out there are actually aware of the contemporary situation in the country. They are the other kind of people I guess, the ones who won't have to look up into the dictionary to get the precise meaning of the 'strong' words I mentioned above. Most people, I believe, would ignorantly flash their wrongly-spelled voter identity cards on your face and say 'I am a democracy person, I get to vote.'

And may I ask, you vote for whom?

Well ours is truly a model democratic system, with distinct political parties and competitive elections to promote them, time and again. We do get to choose from a long-long list of the extremists, the fundamentalists, the megalomaniacs, the regionalists, the separatists and the oblivious!

Few days back a 20 year old girl got arrested in Mumbai over a facebook status, and her friend for liking it. She had decided to voice her sentiments online, that were apparently provocative and disrespectful. So the police decided to handcuff her and lock her up in their holding cells.

'Freedom of Speech? Or was it just a hollow speech indeed!'

Initially when I heard of it, I kind of supported it for I had misinterpreted it as protective custody. Which is what, I believe, it should have been in those conditions. But no, it was a part of the usual nonsense after all. This is a country where certain members of the system believe they're above law. Legal system is for the common people - mango people of a banana republic. And god forbid, if a commoner finger is raised at them!

...

As an important political leader passed away recently, I got involved in a debate with a friend of mine. He was rejoicing, strictly in support of his idealistic viewpoint as I was mildly amused at his sudden interest in politics, which was not known to me earlier.

'I don't support fundamentalism in politics, its as simple as that.' declared he.

I clearly shocked him when I replied that 'I believe in it.' I said, 'I believe in a healthy practice of fundamentalism.'

'Healthy practice of fundamentalism, is an oxymoron' said he, displeased at me, quite obviously.

'I also am against fundamentalism, in theory. But I admittedly support a healthy practice of it. Of course, there should be an underlying clause of restraint, understanding and plenty of room for intellectual intervention. Fundamentalism would have been among the better philosophies, had there been a separation of Jingoistic and Chauvinistic attitude from it' explained I.

'You see, its the same principle as the Indian army. Are we, a war mongering country? Certainly not. But we still have an excellent army, an impressive air-force, and a decent navy. Akin to their reason for existence being defensive purposes, I believe intelligent fundamentalist outfits should exist in a place like India. A country where there are ample opportunities and life-improving policies like reservation selectively for the minor communities, while the others are made to look tolerant. When those supposed minor communities decide to stand on the shoulders of others and look tall, the latter is expected to be tolerant. When the minority takes upon arms and bayonet the ambitions of others, why is the latter still expected to be tolerant?'

'But no one is above law, remember?' reminded my friend.

'No, of course not. But I also don't believe in passively surrendering to the ambitious wishes of the other co-existing communities. I rather think that if you've established a country with states divided on the hint of regionalism and language, there's definitely a vindicated sense in mildly wishing well for one's own community, isn't it? If that weren't the case, then the world would be an ideal place to live in my friend.'

'Is it not better, the world being an ideal place to live in?' asked my friend.

'Then you're talking about a Utopian society. And utopia is but, fiction. And its on the same lines as what the Nazi tried to do with their eugenic experiments. It is neither fair, nor is it feasible.'

When I start thinking about the prospective ways of governance in a huge country like India, my mind begins to reel. And every time I come to halt at the notion that the only thing that may work in this nation, is a secularized autocratic ruling. If the ruler is a despot, a tyrant, a failure, someone somewhere will rebel and bring him down. If he turns out to be a boon, he takes the nation to the heights of economy, education, development and global power. At least there's equal odds on both the sides!

For what I see in this current situation of our country, the odds are heavily on the bent side of affairs. As long as we have choices like the ones we have now, we'll elect our candidates based on who's distributing free colour TVs, cheap tablets and subsidized prices of gas. And we'll keep appointing ministers who believe that global warming is but a hoax, birth control can be prevented through late night TV screenings, and that rapes can be prevented by denying a girl of cellphone and people, of the luxury of chowmein.