Its election time in India and every single person is bound to demand his share in the same. There are certain areas in which we find the interest quotient is dominated by one segment of the sex or the other, politics seems to have surpassed this notion of mine. I have overheard conversations, related to active politics, of those segments that seemed to be least interested in the genre of politics till now. One person in particular has been vehemently discussed in all parts of the country make him a ‘wave’: a wave people presume to be of change. But in this hullabaloo of politics in India one thing has for sure come to the fore that India is a country that loves, rather still at least appreciates, mud flinging.
Throughout the season one thing was evidently common in all media houses, be it print media or electronic media of any sort, what most prominent people of the country have to say about the other prominent people of the country. Starting from what they did in their past lives to what they would do in their personal lives, accompanied by vivid characterization, drawing parallels and farfetched reflections on objective correlatives; all with negative content. Media houses don’t show what is not appreciated by the masses, it is bound to showcase things that people love to see and know. They have their own unique way of rating viewership. And, in this season of polling the masala came from famed houses, persons of politics. Just like a new entrant to a celebrity status tries to cleave to his/her state using all kinds of tactics and playing all kinds of tantrums, knowing the very fact that this celebrity state is not going to stay for long. Our celebrated citizens utilized this season-platform for their tactics and tantrums. India enjoyed this a lot, by gluing oneself to a seat in front of a television, computer or scanning pages of print media.
In my childhood days my father used to tell me a story of an elephant that used to pass by a street full of street dogs. These dogs never escaped a chance of barking at this elephant when it passed by. On the contrary the elephant used to pass by without even bothering to retaliate. As I grew old I understood the reason why this elephant was so indifferent towards the dogs. The elephant was aware of its grandness, had it been a dog or an equivalent it would had retaliated, had it been a cat or something that is weaker, it would have escaped from the scene. Very few people realize their grandness, at least Mahatma Gandhi did and that is why he could follow what it is written in the Bible- to place another cheek towards a person who slaps on one of your cheek, at least Sachin Tendulkar could – when he refused to reply to all the criticisms that surrounded him in his non-performing months, saying my bat will do the talking. Very few know how to candidly confess their short comings when someone comes pointing towards their follies, maintaining that man is not embodiment of all virtues and to err is human. After all I have to reply to the accusations that is maligning my stature, some may say. But that is not how we have been; India believed in the philosophy of keeping a critic (accuser) as a near and dear one, as he does not charge anything to build character. Enjoying the freedom of speech, can it only come from verbal mud flinging?
Our ‘saints’ are also too busy doing the same act, what intrigues me is the question from the Bible: can bad water flow from good streams, can brier and thorns beget good fruit and the vice versa, so, can bad words come out of good mouth? Because a man speaks what is in his mind.