Inconvenient Indian Truths!

A nation battling its image in the world -after a devastating attack in MUMBAI. Its not like India was never attacked before, but yeah, 24*7 television has changed the impact of an attack, far from the scene of the crime to the cosy bedroom of each and every Indian family, within and abroad. Though the situation was brought under control in less than 3 days, (appalling by any SWAT standards), the nation still has a feel for the "sitting ducks" that they are, in the eyes of these terrorists.

But if we start digging around these Indian ducks, one of which is typing this line - all one can see, without bias, is a well-segregated and differentiated sub-groups on the basis of state boundaries, languages, religion, caste and so on.. Segregation is infinity exponentiated. We hardly have a core concept of what "India" should mean to all of us, but we can easily recognise ourselves as a Tamil xxxx or a Bengali yyyy. This is where the fundamental terror link exists in our social framework. States which were drawn on linguistic lines have caused irrevocable damage to us, only ensuring that we are fighting over water and electricity and what not?!

Taking religion more seriously in our lives, tends to be the other prominent dividor. One needs no explanation to understand this perspective of Indians.

Given these "I can find 100 differences in you" attitude, it needed an event like the Mumbai Attack or a war or maybe, an alien attack - on extrapolation - which would have given purpose for unity, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh.

Politician bashing ensued and it held for very eventful television viewing, funny and satirical. The bare fact remains that each and every one of us isnt really much different from the politician we blame. Again not a no-brainer, but I will elaborate nevertheless!

How many of us maintain an orderly queue to get tickets at a railway counter or to order our favorite dish at the restaurant. How many of us try to drive in line with another vehicle in the many roads of the many cities we have? My personal belief is that "the culture of a city, a country can be understood by looking at the way the people drive on the road". One can get a sense of the law of the land, if it is of any significance, the patience quotient of the folks, the social adjustment factor and most importantly, the orderliness and cleanliness perspectives of the combined social setup.

While we are pathetic in most aspects, what shines out, is the emergence of grassroot corruption - paying the quick buck to the traffic constable - to escape official censure and processes. The reason for this - "who will go and waste time paying fine and appearing in the court?" So we take a more "practical" approach and avoid the legal system altogether. Policing and legal ways are essential not just to maintain an orderly society - but are essential to securing it as well. The system's corruption is such that, even a terrorist can bribe his way through the police, the army and even the legal system. If all of this fails, politicians with narrow goals, will support these groups, on some pretext or the other.

This is where we have been an incubator for not just terror, but for a kind of "illegal lifestyle". It was least suprising to know that all the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai had 400 dollars in change - why? - because thats the bribe one has to pay to the Coast Guard to sneak into India. One shouldnt blame them, we are all equally responsible for encouraging the kind of society where money can buy you anything, including legal shortcuts, citizenship and in such cases, entry to the country.

If there is no one to give, there will be never anyone to get.

If you and I, start following the law, and ensure that we do our bit to maintain its high ink standard, most of the other aspects will start re-organizing itself. Intelligence, blamed for its failure in the attack, doesnt only rely on phone calls and foot locker notes - it depends on the common man as well, from reporting on a new tenant to the nearest police station to ensuring that suspicious activities are reported instantly. Intelligence has to be as close to the battle ground as possible and cannot always be a matter of something orbiting the world, miles up.

At the time of retaliation, our leaders are still appealing to the world and to the galaxy, for support, for retribution. Nothing which comes from them, can give everlasting peace to India. The problem isnt entirely external. Its internal reasons need a much bigger and serious corrective action. Inconvenient truths. Inconvenient Indian truths.