The new angry young Indian.
I know my posts have become very irregular but believe me it’s not as though I’ve not tried. So many things have come into my mind that I wanted to post about but just haven’t been able to write anything. I really wish I am a bit regular from now but of course it doesn’t help me that the broadband connection I signed up for 10 days ago shows no sign of coming and all my efforts in trying to reach those guys go in vain as no one picks up the phone!!! And mind you I have four numbers. Really wish I could use the RTI act to know what’s with these offices. Really frustrating…
Ok now I am gonna talk about something that may raise a few objections but that’s expected. Don’t try to argue with me over this coz I myself am not sure if I am right but the fact is this is what I feel.
This is a topic that a friend of mine also wrote a post about although from an opposite view. What I am talking about here is the new trend of righteous rebellious people or should I say youngsters. Let me warn you again this may seem like a totally wrong and stupid view but hell I really feel it. I call it the ‘post rang de basanti effect’. Personally I loved rang de basanti, not just as a movie but as a wake up call towards unjust and corrupt practices of the government. And then it really did start, everywhere the crew of rang de basanti went to promote the film all they said was how bad the state of our country is and how we should stop complaining and do something about it. ‘Good thought’ I thought, but it happened again and again and again. And then it started bothering me. I mean everyone everywhere started talking these highly righteous and morally superlative things that they want to do for the country. May be they really did want to who knows but it bothered me.
Then the real action started. The anti reservation protests started with a few students and slowly spread until the whole country was divided into two. They were unstoppable, the doctors went on strike, the top most doctors of the country participated in it, and even film stars came out on the streets. Hell even their symbol shows a clenched fist not in a strength sort of way but a punch sort of way. Then slowly every hot blooded youngster’s mind became ultra righteous about everything they thought was right. A professor was paraded through the streets with his face blackened. A women’s college came out on the streets protesting against a ban on cell phones, a group of girls were shown destroying their professors’ property in front of the police, and now it has resulted in a professor being killed.
There is a sense of rebellion in the youth with an aggressive approach. No matter how much Rakeysh Mehra said that what he wanted to show with the youth in RDB turning to violence and getting killed showing that it is not the right way, which I think was bull shit that he was talking, youngsters have not taken it that way. They are shown to be killed by deceit and not punished so there’s no question of them being wrong in what they did in the first place. And this has resulted in youngsters being influenced so much that it’s not long before an assassination takes place which I worried might be of Mr. Arjun Singh. If there are any security issues due to this previous statement of mine with the Government of India, I expect my blog friends to help me prove the context in which it was written. I am not counting the recent death of a professor as it was not intentional and just happened in middle of the act of ‘fighting for justice’.
I completely accept what a corrupt government we have and the need to do something but this just doesn’t seem right. There’s too much of strength used in all of these, too much of threatening, and too much of aggression. It has come to an extent that any one and everyone can have what they want if they threaten the government in some aggressive way. I just hope this goes away coz instead of bringing goodness in our country all it’s gonna bring is violence. Everyone has taken it for granted considering the feature of politician that any one who is young and educated can transform the country into a corruption less place. Youth is no guarantee that the person is not corrupt or a cheat. There’s no age group that is free from this. Don’t you remember how old people were actually considered ‘sabhya’ and the younger generation were considered ‘bighda hua’? Nothing has changed post RDB. There still are such youngsters around just that they are being hidden by the sea of righteousness that pours out on the streets every time something is done against them.
I don’t the biggest problem India has is the Government or the administration or anything. The biggest problem we have is the people. The government is filled with people like us. It’s because we as a society are like this that the government is like this so before standing up in protest against the government and pledging to get into the government to change the government, we should first of all try to change ourselves. I don’t see these righteous youngsters who strive for the betterment of the country ever cleaning the streets, or helping the poor or serving flood victims or as I said before fight for social equality against casteism. All they do is pledge to get into the government and suddenly the country will be perfect.
Really like this post, has been pent up inside for long. Would really love your comments.
Ok now I am gonna talk about something that may raise a few objections but that’s expected. Don’t try to argue with me over this coz I myself am not sure if I am right but the fact is this is what I feel.
This is a topic that a friend of mine also wrote a post about although from an opposite view. What I am talking about here is the new trend of righteous rebellious people or should I say youngsters. Let me warn you again this may seem like a totally wrong and stupid view but hell I really feel it. I call it the ‘post rang de basanti effect’. Personally I loved rang de basanti, not just as a movie but as a wake up call towards unjust and corrupt practices of the government. And then it really did start, everywhere the crew of rang de basanti went to promote the film all they said was how bad the state of our country is and how we should stop complaining and do something about it. ‘Good thought’ I thought, but it happened again and again and again. And then it started bothering me. I mean everyone everywhere started talking these highly righteous and morally superlative things that they want to do for the country. May be they really did want to who knows but it bothered me.
Then the real action started. The anti reservation protests started with a few students and slowly spread until the whole country was divided into two. They were unstoppable, the doctors went on strike, the top most doctors of the country participated in it, and even film stars came out on the streets. Hell even their symbol shows a clenched fist not in a strength sort of way but a punch sort of way. Then slowly every hot blooded youngster’s mind became ultra righteous about everything they thought was right. A professor was paraded through the streets with his face blackened. A women’s college came out on the streets protesting against a ban on cell phones, a group of girls were shown destroying their professors’ property in front of the police, and now it has resulted in a professor being killed.
There is a sense of rebellion in the youth with an aggressive approach. No matter how much Rakeysh Mehra said that what he wanted to show with the youth in RDB turning to violence and getting killed showing that it is not the right way, which I think was bull shit that he was talking, youngsters have not taken it that way. They are shown to be killed by deceit and not punished so there’s no question of them being wrong in what they did in the first place. And this has resulted in youngsters being influenced so much that it’s not long before an assassination takes place which I worried might be of Mr. Arjun Singh. If there are any security issues due to this previous statement of mine with the Government of India, I expect my blog friends to help me prove the context in which it was written. I am not counting the recent death of a professor as it was not intentional and just happened in middle of the act of ‘fighting for justice’.
I completely accept what a corrupt government we have and the need to do something but this just doesn’t seem right. There’s too much of strength used in all of these, too much of threatening, and too much of aggression. It has come to an extent that any one and everyone can have what they want if they threaten the government in some aggressive way. I just hope this goes away coz instead of bringing goodness in our country all it’s gonna bring is violence. Everyone has taken it for granted considering the feature of politician that any one who is young and educated can transform the country into a corruption less place. Youth is no guarantee that the person is not corrupt or a cheat. There’s no age group that is free from this. Don’t you remember how old people were actually considered ‘sabhya’ and the younger generation were considered ‘bighda hua’? Nothing has changed post RDB. There still are such youngsters around just that they are being hidden by the sea of righteousness that pours out on the streets every time something is done against them.
I don’t the biggest problem India has is the Government or the administration or anything. The biggest problem we have is the people. The government is filled with people like us. It’s because we as a society are like this that the government is like this so before standing up in protest against the government and pledging to get into the government to change the government, we should first of all try to change ourselves. I don’t see these righteous youngsters who strive for the betterment of the country ever cleaning the streets, or helping the poor or serving flood victims or as I said before fight for social equality against casteism. All they do is pledge to get into the government and suddenly the country will be perfect.
Really like this post, has been pent up inside for long. Would really love your comments.
Comments
What you said is true but I dont agree. If it is indeed the RDB effect then perhaps you're forgetting that despite it being a 'hindi' movie, the male leads died or rather were killed. I don't think gen X or whatever you wanna call it is that stupid...
Well, I'm kinda against what you wrote. It may seem like crossing the limits, but all of these have happened, and have been happening only bcoz all of 'us' were silent. Now that people have woken up, itz going to be all different.
I feel sad for the professor though.
hey vibhor, didn't get you man. what controversy? Of course I let everyone speak that's why I said I would love ur comments. Plz feel free say anything. I am not gonna argue just put up my perspective. Maybe I am wrong...
Remember "Mandal I"? The protests then were quite violent. In stark contrast, the antireservation protests were quite peaceful/nonviolent (excepting the police lathicharge of course.) So, I dont think RDB has anything to do with it though it might've acted as a facilitating factor.
"A professor was paraded through the streets with his face blackened.""
All these protests should be looked at with the context in which they happened in mind. I guess the professor who was paraded through the streets with his face blackened was involved in a sexual harassment case. I dont know the facts so it wont be prudent on my part to comment on it.
"Girls in a women’s college came out on the streets protesting against a ban on cell phones"
The girls who protested against the ban on cellphones were quite justified - you must remember they did not use violence. On the other hand, the party they were protesting against - their teachers - used unreasonable violence by slapping a girl (corporal punishment is illegal, btw), not just one teacher but more than one. When you "group slap" an ambitious individual at the dawn of a bright life (1st year of college) - whatever the reasons are - you're bound to create intense trauma in his/her mind (put yourself in her place.) In that case, I wont be surprised if the person in questions resorts to violence but still she didnt. She merely protested and brought her hegemonous teachers to justice and we ought to congratulate her for that. The teachers must be condemned for their domineering behaviour. One should expect broadmindedness from teachers but we saw the opposite in this case. An 18 year old has fundamental rights and she cannot be punished corporally except by law. She's not her teachers'/professors' personal property, mind you. In fact, her teachers must be grateful to her for not filing a lawsuit for corporal punishment.
"a group of girls were shown destroying their professors’ property in front of the police"
Here again, the context matters a lot. They had a proper case against the Vice Chancellor but I'm afraid, by taking to violence, by destroying personal property, they went too far. But it is also valid to ask, who was the root cause? The VC or the girls? Surely, the girls must have better things to do than break into their VC's house for some wild entertainment and destroy his property. I'd be pointing my fingers at the VC as well. He must've done something really really bad. So, in addition to asking "What is wrong with our youth?", we must also ask "What is wrong with our teachers?"
"now it has resulted in a professor being killed."
The "protest" that resulted in the professor being killed was hardly a "fight for justice." Remember that it wasnt "rebellious students" who were protesting, Pranay. It was ABVP activits, who I bet had little to do with injustice and corruption. All of them were well beyond their early twenties, out of college also I presume. The "finger wagger" himself looked about 35-40 - it'll be wrong to categorise him among youth; "frustrated middleaged person lacking ethics and morals with a criminal mindset" might be a better description :p
If you watched the incident on TV, you'd know that it was plain goondagiri and no fight against injustice. The man was seen wagging his finger and abusing and our incompetent policemen kept watching the tamasha.
Now, that is something I agree with. These may be the same who put the waterless argument - "Am I not a patriot if I dont sing Vande Mataram?" when asked to put aside a mere 2 minutes of their precious life and sing the national song. They're again the same who speak incredible crap like "Reservations are not good for India. Reservations will cause capital flight and the Indian economy will collapse."
The problem with our youth is utter ignorance. Watch that Channel V show in which the VJ tours colleges, shows a picture to students and asks them to identify the person in the picture. Listen to their replies and you know what I'm talking about. The last time, the picture of Albert Einstein was shown and in among 14 or 15 of them, just one answered correctly. Some answers were downright hilarious! These people rather find time and energy to discuss the bra/panty size of Katrina Kaif, the curvature of Mallika Sherawat's butts and which boy and girl were seen together in which restaurant the other day, the price of the balcony/couple ticket at X theatre etc. etc. Heh! But most of them probably dont know who the President/Prime Minister/Home Minister of the country is, the lyrics of their nation anthem, the national bird, the national animal, the number of spokes in the Ashoka Chakra, the number of lions on our national emblem etc.
I'm going to make a radical suggestion here. General Knowledge must be made a compulsory subject in our colleges. Degree qualifying exams must have a compulsory paper on General Knowledge.
Rationale? X is a student of Electrical Engineering. He knows only what is taught in class but he doesnt know shit about what is happening in the wider world of Electrical Engineering and civil society (if you're doing an engineering project, you NEED to have an idea of the social and economic scene of the country.) In that case, how can he make any proper use of his knowledge after he graduates? There's little point in awarding a degree to such a student.
And sadly I do think there's more tall talk than anything else. What has happened due to this is an opportunity for people to use students as they want just by fuelling this new found passion. Students are getting influenced very easily by all these but not in the right way. Nobody is getting influenced to do some good work like I said and there's just an anti government wave. It's less of pro India and more of Anti establishment.
Although not all the examsples I gave might be right on but they are somehow related to the point I was making.
The ABVP activists may be criminals but don't you think there would I 've been students somewhere in that whole mob. There's a likin for being in mobs and fighting the establishment that's present as was seen in your post.
Although Mandal 1 protests were more violent I don't know if they split India as much as right now or were they as many protests as this time including the ones like whats mentioned in you post.I don't think there was ever a view by the whole organised protesting population that they would even defy the S.C.Those violent acts must have been isolated incidents not as a whole group, like it's now.
I think, even if not completely but rang de basanti and the statements made by the RDB team played a huge part in this change. This might have been good too but somehow my instincts teall me this is gonna do more harm than good.
Well about the condition of youngsters right now the lesser said the better. I've seen the show and it's pathetic.Not just politics but they dont know absolutely day to day things.
Although what you said might work temporarily but what we need is a change in the attitude of people. It should not be just about scoring marks, people should pay more attention to aptitude. Your solution might again lead to people learning general knowledge just to score marks.
And now such scores of youngsters who have no knowledge of anything other than their books are readily getting influenced as a whole by their leaders. Just hope they don't end up doing something regretful.
It is really sad that India has come to such a level. I hope somebody focusses on the society to make India better than to just curse the government.
And sadly I do think there's more tall talk than anything else. What has happened due to this is an opportunity for people to use students as they want just by fuelling this new found passion. Students are getting influenced very easily by all these but not in the right way. Nobody is getting influenced to do some good work like I said and there's just an anti government wave. It's less of pro India and more of Anti establishment."
Hmmm... sadly...
So how do we go about brining a change in peoples' minds/attitudes? If even highly educated people (AIIMS, IITians) behave this way, what do we do?
my posts are sorta on the same lines...
http://frangipanirock.blogspot.com/2006/02/one-evening-at-movies.html
and...
http://frangipanirock.blogspot.com/2006/07/this-argument-has-no-merit.html
happy blogging!
Hey Fpr, it's ok man. Blogspot works in weird ways...
Same to you.