The Evil Game of Numbers

Though it has been many years back, I still remember the lump moving up my neck reading the saddening state of the farmer in Do bailon ki Kahani and Godan of Munshi Premchand. But fast forward to the current day and things have changed. He has a fleet of Scorpios, wears the biggest fashion labels, dons a Rayban and goes to the Pubs, at least three days a week. He is the new Indian farmer.

This is the problem with numbers, they form a vision which is too intimidating to challenge. The cover the masses and become the face of masses they claim to represent even when they are so vastly alienated fromt the same masses which they claim to represent. It becomes so overwhelmingly difficult to move against the current and stick out your neck in such scenario. Just a look at the scenario of today's Newspapers speak of it. Gurgaon Villagers protest in front of a mall against some violence which happened last week when some youths from neighbouring villages tried to forcefull enter the pubs, underdressed to be taken in. They carried a picture as well of people in fancy Tee Shirts and Jeans, as villagers. They still carry the sympathy of masses becuase of the numbers they claim to represent. They do no farming, they live in Millennium city in one of many flats, which they rent out, earn more than a city executive who probably struggles to survive a meek existence, to  be able to send across some money at the end of the month to his parents, who are villagers living in the villages on the other side of India Shining in the real sense. This is the villages which has gone so bankrupt in traditional values that village elders back their kids and youngsters in their attempt to gain unlawful entry to drinking holes of the cities instead of questioning the increasing alcohalism and crimes in the youth.  The Hukkah being placed in the middle of such assemblies is only false prop to the old tradition which is erected for the best effect to the media.

A youngster in Delhi launches Slut-walk, aping canada, which I presume is where she intends to fly to once her father agrees to pay for it. She has no thought  for the Bundelkhand rape victim, who pain and anguish is truely unfathomable for us who have not been through such helplessness, when a rape FIR is converted to theft FIR for the theft of mobile phone. These priviledged women claim to take the side of beaten up womenfolk, but on their weekend do they teach homeless women, open for opression on city streets or hop on their SUVs to escape to Jim Corbett?

Farmers in Noida, kidnaps government employee, fires on a senior government servent, and central government which considered Ramdev's anti corruption movement as law and order threat fans it. Who cries a tear for the Deputy collector who was fired at? People who are representing the government are not considered a part of government. It is all the evil game of numbers and politicians play it well. Sons and daughters of people who have lived their protected lives in government bunglows, with access to best ot the teaching available in the country have no qualms in claiming to be an oppressed (who oppresses the son of a Police commissioner is a moot question).

We need to grow up and be mature enough to realise the new socio-economic and political reality of the day. The divisions are different now, the victims and the oppressed are also different. Times do not stand still, Mughals who once ruled the roost, had their last generations now running a tea stall in Kolkata, can we still say the lady running the tea stall is opressing the people in her neighbourhood because she is a Mughal, once ruler of this country? The people who claim to represent their base have long back shifted to the other side of the divide and still claiming they piece on the other side. That is the reason, while we have hukkah smoking, gun wielding farmers in scorpio in NCR belt, their are farmers committing suicide elsewhere in the country, who are not represented but their numbers is merely used by those who do not actually represent them, same is the reason that we now have no news of what happened to the girl in Bundelkhand, and why a tribal for Bilaspur, studying through government high school has no place in Engineering college, which gets taken up by those who have already moved into the priviledged side of the divide. It is very important to maintain objectivity and for policies to keep up with fast changing social structure to avoid the imbalaces of the past to creep into the future. We have to be wise enough to not to claim what is not ours and not to be a tool to the game of numbers being played out by the wise and the vicious, who come on television and dare Anna Hazare to fight election if he wants his draft of lokpal to go through.