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Charged Emotions

By Rituparna Goswami Pande |
The paeans had not yet subsided regarding the communal and ethnic unity and harmony that the Indian Idol finalists had brought about in the states of Sikim and Meghalaya and the northeast for that matter that pandemonium broke loose. The fans of newly crowned Indian Idol Prashant Tamang erupted in fury at jibes made on their idol by a Radio Jockey of a Delhi based FM station. The 2000 odd fans of Tamang undertook a procession in Siliguri to submit a memorandum to the local SDO but the march turned into mayhem as they indulged into a controversy regarding the passage of an ambulance carrying a patient. The tiff led to widespread arson and triggered a chain of violence which brought in the army to retain a semblance of peace in the area. Teargas, firing and an indefinite curfew was called to control the situation.

In India the emotions are always running high sometimes for religion, ethnicity, communal divide and now even in fun and games. It seems deep down the Indians are a parochial and selfish lot always thinking firstly of individual gains later about family, then community, then religion and lastly about the country. Our minds are divided and are so fragile that small things disintegrate our unity. Perhaps this was why the imperialist nations had a field day ruling over us. And the future is not all that bright if such a tendency prevails.

India is surely a land of oxymorons where Ours is a nation of Oxymorons where law keepers break rules, politicians corrupt the government, spiritual leaders wallow in worldliness and doting fans turn into daunting fiends in no time at all.

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jaay's picture

Submitted by jaay on Sat, 08/12/2007 - 04:06
“And the future is not all that bright if such a tendency prevails.” And we still think that HAMARA DESH MAHAAN. I often wonder how this nation is surviving. When I first visited Canada, the first question I asked a friend of mine was ‘This country is 5 times bigger than ours, and you have multi Ethnic society (French / British / Americans /Italians / Chinese / Fijians / Indians / Pakistanis / Sriu Lankan), I am amazed how the smoothly the systems are working.” You see the health sector, free schooling to every child irrespective of their identity (Schools are beyond our imaginations, their functioning, cleanliness, teachers, curriculum), working policies, everything seems to be so in order. Look at us, we are still struggling to define how should be the systems. Look at the government sponsored school; no person in their senses would send their children to these schools. All and every system has failed and still we cry ‘MERA DESH MAHAAN’. We fight over regions, we fight over religions, we fight on cricket, we fight on football and now on program which are mere source of entertainment and sometimes I doubt their intentions of being serious in what they beam. You are correct in identifying us as Oxymoron, but then people rule and sometimes I shiver at the thought of what we may end up with, if this continues. Nice article.

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