Friends, So here is my beef with the comfortable middle class janta: An honest party resigns on a matter of principle, when the other two major parties in the Delhi Assembly who should have joined hands to provide support to an anti-corruption bill, dropped the ball citing some technical niceties; and the middle class jumps up and down and labels it bhagoda. A 31 member strong BJP Party in the same Assembly firstly refuses to take on the mantle of leadership, then almost shames the second largest party into taking up the challenge, then refuses to provide selective support and runs away from the responsibility of providing a stable government (so what if it is not their party, at least the state is their own!) through association, is not called a bhagoda? A non-repentant Srinivasan clings to BCCI like a limpet with fevicol on its feet and we still try and find reasons why IPL is good for the economy? A Baba Rampal refuses to vacate his ashram, while thousands of supporters protect him from the arms of the law, and the middle class watches it on TV, barely breaking a sweat at all round mis-governance. A non-engineer rises through political favour to become Chief Engineer of three rich and roaring Authorities in Western UP, amassing over Rs 1000 crore over many successful years along the way, and the middle class residents of those authorities do not protest when he is attached to the Personnel Department by way of punishment. Dishonest and corrupt people sticking to their chairs till the last legal case pronounces them guilty is OK. However, giving up the seat of power for the sake of a promise you want to fulfill to those who voted for you is hugely disappointing? Is resigning from a plum post purely on moral grounds and principles such an anathema to this middle class, which has become cynically attached to the corruption all around? I happened to be having tea at a tea-stall in Delhi recently and struck up a conversation with an auto rickshaw driver who sat right next to me, sipping his tea. A man in his 50s, he had seen many ups and downs in his life. He was the personal driver of a local Congress leader for many years and recounted how wealth was generated in that house. He told me how SHOs are the ones who own 15-16 of those car-towing cranes, which are in turn driven by goons and louts, who are also behind car thefts. He was fully cognizant of the politics of US, Pakistan, China and India and was a wealth of information, incisively analysed and catalogued. We spoke for almost 45 minutes. He was a fan of NaMo and said the country needed a strong leader like him at this time. But he also said that NaMo could do little single-handedly as almost all in his team were intensely corrupt. He was clear that when it comes to Delhi, there was no one but AAP that could deliver the goods for the poor and downtrodden. When I pointed a finger at the middle class and said they are disillusioned with AAP, he was quite charitable, and said bechaare middle class ke paas sochne ki fursat kahan hai? Kya karen bechaare? Hum to fatey haalaat bhi ji lete hain, Unhe to apni shirt-pant theek se rakhni hoti hai! Hum apne bachhe ko government school bhi bhej sakte hain, par middle class ko to achha, ooncha school hi chahiye na? Hum police ke zulm sehne ki taakat rakhte hain, unhe police ke naam se bukhaar ho jaata hai! Agar thoda sa sochenge to AAP ko hi vote denge Dilli me. Jis tarah desh ke liye Modi sabse laayak PM hain, usi tarah Delhi ke liye Arvind Kejriwal sabse uchit CM hain. I came away impressed with his deep wisdom. Education wise, we were poles apart. Wisdom wise, I bowed to him silently before shaking his hands and walking away. Sheetla Yadav and his ilk are my hope for Indias egalitarian future. May his tribe and cohort find its true voice! :) Pramod Joshi Dec 4, 2014
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 08:00:55 +0000
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