A Slap that defines the state of our nation : Sad

Overzealous, patriot, publicity hound or a mentally unstable man. Whatever he may be doesn't really matter. What matters however is the reactions that followed the public slap Harvinder Singh delivered on to the unaware Sharad Pawar.

I am quite aghast by the reactions i saw from people in general and also by the politicians, one and all.

If India truly was a civil democratic society, the reactions i would have expected would be following.

Mass condemnation by the public in general.

Message on facebook and otherwise, which would have deplored such an un-civic act.

And i would have expected the political class to go into contemplation. “What could have caused a young Indian - and potentially many more - to do such an extreme act?” ; “What could have caused the tolerance of the nation to fall so much?”. Such questions should have made all our politicians go into a reflective mood.

What happened on the other hand was completely reverse.

The young man was praised by most people, making a hero of him - and to some extend comparing his ideology with that of Bhagat Singh. And this reaction, i saw, came from many well educated middle class people.

The political class on the other hand got together to deplore the "cowardly" and undemocratic act - as if all their actions are always bold democratic and virtuous.

Some others were chuckling within.

Someone questioned "only one slap?" and that someone was fighting a battle of non-violence just a few weeks ago and had revived the Gandhian ideology.

And no one seems to be really bothered by the same.

Personally i am quite saddened by seeing the state of our nation and the idea and perception of democracy as understood by the people in general.

And also by the lack of empathy from our politicians about the mood of the nation and their desire to explore what could have caused it and what could be done about it.

The democracy and the civic sense itself is in danger. Forget about upholding the Gandhian values.

I hope the Nightmares stop now.

It took 21 years for me to build courage and visit it again.
21 years is a long time, a very long time. Much had changed in these 21 years. The joint family I grew up in, had disintegrated. Many of them were dead. I now had my own small family. Life had changed completely and as they say, I had moved on.

However the one thing that had not changed, were the dreams I had. Those lanes where I grew up; those people who were more family than friends, the neighborhood, my room, our lawn, my school and much more. They used to be always there. They used to haunt me. Very often and for last 21 years. Many of my friends and family members did go back and visit it. I had heard stories of disappointment. How things were no more the same. I had seen pictures. Still the new picture never set in. My dreams continued to be from the past.

Many people told me to visit once. They said it is Important to close the loop of emotional disconnect. Somehow I was fearful. Wasn't sure if I could handle the loss in my face. The loss of a childhood, place where I grew up, place which was once my home. Place were my mom used to be there - always to help. Place were my brothers and I used to play. Place were my uncle and I used to fight and play. Place were all my friends were left back.
And now today, none of that was going to be there.

And, It was just a matter of chance that i landed there last month - for just a few hours.

I just wanted to give it all a miss and just drive past.My friend, however coaxed me to visit my home. And after a lot of anxious thoughts, i did.

And i was there, right outside what used to be my home, my world – and in my mind, it was just a few years ago. The place however looked so alien yet so close.It was not a picture from the past. The past needed to be really dug out from it.I could recognize my room from outside. With the burnt windows still smelling of the wonderful past.I found myself searching for the cherry tree i used to climb on and the lawn where i used to play. All had gone.It was now replaced by a concrete courtyard. Looked like the past was sealed under the mortar.And the industrial feel of the place made sure no familial touch remained.
The neighborhood looked familiar, however I could not find any known face around.
It was getting dark and my friend told me, it was the time to leave.I did not want to.I wanted to look more. In hope of finding something familiar.But I wasn’t sure what I was looking for.I wasn't even sure of my own emotions. I was quite perplexed.

And decided to leave. With no desire to come back again.
Am not sure if the emotional disconnect has been resolved or it had become further complicated. My only hope is that the Nightmares stop now so that I can really move on.

- Aug 2011
About my visit to my hometown – Kashmir.

Non Violence – How does it happen?

Most of the western media is intrigued by the current non violent movement happening in India, under the leadership of Anna Hazare. While the world has witnessed many violent protests in the recent past in Lybia, Egypt, Tunisia etc, for them it is amazing to see how India has managed a non violent movement of such a big scale.

The question that then arises is, are Indian’s inherently non violent?
Since non-violent protests have existed from the times of Gandhi to Anna and have had many different avatars in between – from the famous Chipko movement in Doon Valley to Appiko movement in Karnataka and many more.

However that does not seem to be the case, since India has also witnessed many bloody violent protests from the recent Gujrat and Mumbai riots to the 1984 riots and also riots in the past in UP, Bihar, to the deadliest of them all in 1947 after partition. This list is many folds longer than the history of non-violent protest.

So what is it then that makes the non-violent protests to happen?

The answer, according to me, lies in the Leadership. What is happening today in this Jan Lokpal protest is all due to the leadership of Anna Hazare, who claims to be a Gandhian and has deep belief in the power of non-violent protests. And same was true for Gandhi also. Even in the time of Gandhi, there were violent protests happening. However Gandhi’s protests remained non-violent in nature.

So, what is it that makes some protests non-violent and most of them violent?

It is because non-violence is not a tactic, which can be learnt and picked up by any one. It is not a magic wand, which just anyone can use. It has to do with deep beliefs and value system of the people involved. For most people, it is very easy to get angry and even resort to violent methods of protest. Non-violence on the other hand is a deep rooted belief in tolerance and acceptance of everyone and every view. In this belief, even if the other person or other party does not agree to you, you don’t feel offended. You let them have their view. However, you still hold on to your own view and you hold on to it so dearly that you are even ready to fast indefinitely for it. And at the same time, you give space to the other people to have their view. You have unconditional love for everyone that no matter what they say or what they do, you still love them. Even if in their arrogance, they come and hit you, you still remain unmoved and don’t hit back. (in fact, you put forward your other cheek!).

That is where non-violence comes from. A deep seated belief in humanity, a deep seated love for everyone, a deep seated acceptance of others, no matter what their views are, no matter what their beliefs are and no matter what they do !

And people like Mahatma Gandhi developed such beliefs over his life time, which inspired people all over the globe and continue to inspire even to this day.

Ameet Mattoo
August 2011