India Shining is India whining

For past couple of years I have not celebrated my birthday with as much vigour as I have started to look forward to national days of honor.  The 69^th Republic day that went by yesterday offered me numerous reasons to celebrate. I list below just some of them that made my heart swell with pride and assuredly somebody else’s chest to 56”.

·   Padmavat: In a nation packed with people in every nook and corner, it was heart warming how the forces united to fight against a seemingly real portrayal of ancient historical characters that could have possibly been a well chalked out threat to the aan, baan and shaan of a particular community. If Padmavat could irk and ignite such fire why did movies like black Friday, matrabhoomi die a silent death. Well, it is not in everyone to exalt art to the level of jingoism and patriotism.

   Gauri Lankesh: Just like Jessica, no one killed Gauri Lankesh. She was a victim of her own ‘right’ opinions. The unity which some of us showed in silencing voices which do not resonate with ours was impressive. I salute the unity once again.

·   Attack on Swiss couple: My hindi teacher in school would repeatedly emphasize on ‘Athiti devo bhav’ as one of our cultural tenets in India. I assumed it was meant for the guests who would come and demand repeated cups of chai thereby robbing me of my playtime. I learnt to be good to them. After so many years my thought stands affirmed in the wake of attacks on swiss couple around agra. Well, anything which does not belongs to us should be looked at with contempt and suspicion.

·     Ban on safe sex advertisements: Like I said in India people are everywhere. It gives me the feeling of being in an overcrowded space where everyone knows what the other did and every action is constantly being judged for…..read over vigilant parents J. Well, the broadcasting ministry suddenly decided to double up as moral police by banning ads on safe sex. ‘Sahi kiya’, Sex is taboo, these ads are an embarrassment to the social fabric. I was a little wayward to think some of them were very asthetically shot and made for some good lunch time discussion with my gang.

·     Lynching: Yup, lynching…absolutely worth for the protection of cows because ‘Gai humari mata hai’. Suddenly from ‘chai pe charcha’ nation drifted to ‘gai pe charcha’. After humans, cows make for the biggest population in the country. One of my Aussie general managers used to call my house a zoo just because the road used to be packed with heards of cows sitting, cud chewing, pooping, blocking traffic. He would often question the ‘gaushalas’ who left the cows out in the morning to gorge on plastic and other garbage. Poor him, how were I to explain to him this does not lessen our respect for the holy cow. Cows can eat anything, breed anywhere, die anyhow but this does not gives anybody a right to kill them for reasons well known.

Trolling: National pastime. Everybody’s first love, right to free speech. No one and nothing can or should curb it. Slut shaming, victim shaming, figure shaming are all so closely real now. And why not…like I said it has given numerous invisible Indians a tongue to be wagged and some refined words to be spouted as venom.

What!! wait a second…my friend just called. I am being royally trolled on twitter. What did I tweet? “69 never worked for anyone” but I sure meant that for our republic.