Its funny how sometimes when situations almost force you to finally take up an activity that you’ve been putting off for a long time due to various reasons (the prime one in my case being the love of procrastination!). Why do I say this? Well, for days I've been thinking about posting some new stuff but kept postponing it. What finally got me to get moving was a hellish ride in Delhi Metro. Interested? Read on…
The Delhi Metro is one of the major reasons I am proud to be a Delhiite. In the mass anarchy that is public transportation (or for that matter most public services in our great nation), the Delhi Metro stands out as distinct rarity. One that signifies punctuality, perseverance, and efficiency. Its convenient, surprisingly cheap and regular. Eons of praise have been sung about both, the DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) and its head honcho, E. Sreedharan. Before you mistake this as an advertisement for the Delhi Metro, let me come straight to the point. What the Delhi Metro did was to show us that we could implement a world class rapid transit system on time and in budget and also run it profitably. It is a shining beacon of hope and change in a vastly uninspiring mass of pitiful public services which disappoint us more often than not. Hell even our notoriously filthy habits and complete disregard of public hygiene couldn’t affect the metro! What I mean to say that if there’s any ever need of a sign of hope that things can run smoothly in the face of adversity, one can look at the Delhi Metro. Or so I thought.
Just as i was returning yesterday evening, it started to rain which had been preceded by a slight dust storm. No problem, I thought, its the metro after all. Its completely alienated from these ills and should offer no hiccups. Boy, was i wrong! As soon as I entered the station to the moment I got off, I was wondering, if I'm still human. The crowd was simply too much for the system to handle. There were constant delays at every station, incessant pushing which turned to shoving and then finally into a mindless romp over each other. There were women and children wailing due to lack of air, people missing their destinations due to the immobile crowd, in short UTTER CHAOS.
It got me thinking, what did it take to throw such a world class system totally off-track. Just a bit of rain and dust! is that all? I mean c’mon, surely its SUPPOSED to withstand at least that. Its the Metro for god sakes! But then maybe its not the Metro’s fault. The way the people went ballistic, pushing, shoving, shouting and what not. What chance did the Metro have? In front of our legendary public etiquette [:P], the numerous awards won by the Metro from organizations the world over don’t mean a thing. They don’t train ‘em to handle the incorrigible Indian rowdiness now, do they?
And the worst part is to hear people complain about everything and anything without stopping for moment to realize that the mess they find themselves in is largely their doing. I mean sure there’s always an ignorant government, inefficient bureaucrats etc to blame. But the biggest perpetrator of these acts are we, ourselves. We, Indians, have a favourite national past time, to bitch about politics and the politicians that rule the roost. For a long time till I didn’t know how to spell politics, I inferred from what I heard other people talking that it was spelt as, “Poly Ticks” that is, many blood sucking creatures! [:P] (Come to think of it its not that far-fetched). We love bitching about the state of polity in our country. Its probably the biggest unifier in our diverse country besides cricket and cinema!
Anywhere you go, anyone you speak to, always has something vastly derogatory to say about our leaders. Their corrupt practices, the dynastic nature of our parties, the communal hatred they espouse, vote bank policies, minority appeasement, caste-ist tendencies and so on so forth. I, for one don’t agree to that notion. Don’t get me wrong. All these beliefs about our politicians are unfortunately not imaginary but quite true. Most of them are filthy scumbags, just interested in filling their own coffers, but then i also believe that politics and more importantly the politicians are just a reflection of society. If one wonders, who elects them in the first place? Its us. So we can’t ever deny the power we have in their selection. Now a vast majority of the people may say that its not true, because they don’t feel inspired enough to vote. I ask them just one simple question, isn’t the urge to get the issues that concern them resolved, an inspiration enough? At the end of it all that’s what we’re trying to achieve. We could ignore this urge and fall back on old habits, continue to criticize and mock the polity, but then we must also remember one thing, we have NO right to complain about the state of affairs. Simply because, if we’re not a part of the solution, we are as good as the aggravators. I mean how long can we continue to remain hypocritical about the numerous ills that plague us and still be nonchalant enough not to do anything about them?
I am not saying that just because you feel strongly for a cause you jump into mainstream politics. Change has to begin at an individual level. No matter how cynical we maybe, there’s always SOMETHING one can do at his/her level to improve things around us. There’s no denying that. Take the example of the ongoing general elections in India. After the 26/11 attack in Bombay, there seemed to sudden awakening to the reality of participation in the process of elections to affect a change. Eminent people from all over the city organized campaigns trying to get people out to vote. It seemed a new Bombay had emerged, a politically conscious one. But come election day only 44% turned up to vote, even less than the 47% in 2004. Most preferred taking the extended weekend vacation than exercising their franchise. Now do you think that people have the right or moral authority to demand any kind of change? The answer’s pretty clear. The classical Greek philosopher Plato once aptly remarked,
“The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
What started off as harmless enough metro ride turned into a experience of our total apathy towards anything remotely connected to politics! I guess that's how life is at times, completely random…
Happy voting!
