What were they expecting?

The crowd at the Gateway, on Wednesday, was an eye-opener for many. Some found it inspiring; other thought it was the mythical Mumbai-spirit on display. I for one found, the whole thing to be disappointing, dismaying and more proof, why things will never change.

Rashmi Bansal writes “Everyone was there out of choice and seething with anger. Anger against Pakistan, against politicians and against the System.”

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that people are angry with the politicians, and the system. But what I don’t get, is what were they expecting them to do during those 58 dark hours? Did they expect that magically those in charge will suddenly do the right thing? How could the public even expect such a thing? Ah, I forget just how stupid people are.

Were they expecting the police to act faster, smarter, to protect the public? This is the same force, which was told by the Kolis, that some 10 strangers have landed by boat, and did nothing. These are people, who are still stuck in a nineteenth century mindset; They do not understand, the internet, and modern modes of communications. After the Emails from the Indian Mujahedeen a few months back, they had made wi-fi as the big-bad boogey man. They instruct hotels to permanently stop providing Internet facilities to patron, to prevent terror attacks. Might as well ask hotels, to do away with walls, and have transparent glass partitions, to keep an eye on all the guests.

Or were they expecting R.r. Patil to do something? Why would he suddenly change his behavior? What has he done in the last five years, besides closing down dance bars? He did nothing after the July 11, and let Raj Thakrey’s goons terrorize Mumbai, over the last 18 months. How can he suddenly provide security to Bombay?
Somehow, we people like to blame others. It’s very hard to accept blame, and acknowledge that we have been wrong. I ask, who made them leaders? People don’t become Leaders in a vacuum. They become leaders, because someone follows them. Who placed these politicians incharge? It is we.

We have failed in our duty, to select the competent people, for the right jobs. We were complacent, and did not pay attention.

Why is it that crowd, at Gateway, suddenly called these politicians, names? Did they become bad overnight? Or is it now their incompetence has become unbearable? Why was it tolerated till now?

A society gets the leaders that it deserves, and we deserve no better. We as a society, we as a culture are stupid, impetuous, hypocritical, and half-baked, as Arvind Agha puts it. Another of my favorite author, Sashi Tharoor, said that “India is a highly developed country in an advanced stage of decay.”

To have a proper functioning democracy, you need checks and balances. All the arms of the state should be cancer free. In india, we have an ill-informed Public (As Chitrack has pointed out, in the above link). When the educated voters are like this, what can one expect from the ill-literate, uneducated, unexposed villager from a remote, part of India? Is it then a big surprise that our leaders are what they are?

I find it highly hypocritical that we complain about our politicians and public officials being corrupt. Who amongst us, can say they have never paid a bribe in their life? Who amongst us, has never greased the palms of cops, when we were caught doing something, that we shouldn’t have been doing? Why do we then get all enraged, when Manu Sharma goes Scot free? Forget that, lets take an example much closer to home. How many of us, enjoy alcohol? And how many of us, actually have the permits, for consuming liquor from the excise department? How can we then blame the politicians for being criminals?

We in india, do not Understand the meaning of leadership. Do you remember a year back, TOI had a public contest, to find a leader from amongst the people? It was nothing more than an entertainment show. What happened to those people? I remember during that time, one of the persons in the race from pune, was a director of one of Symbiosis Institute. The following poster was pasted all over SIU.

One of our classes was stopped midway, so that we students could be convinced to vote for him by SMS. Read the poster carefully. What does it mention? Does it mention what he stands for, or what he believes in? No. I should vote for him, so that the name of Symbiosis shines brighter. So, basically, if he becomes a leader, SIU will benefit. And we find this acceptable. How then, can we look down on corrupt politicians, who personally profit from the actions they take, when in power?

The only thing I’m really surprised about is the way in which the NSG, professionally took care of the situation. The astonishment was due to the fact, that this is what they are usually doing.

We Indians, have this ‘chalta hai’ attitude. Some think, that it is a bad thing. I’m more ambivalent about it. I think it is this attitude that has preserved us over five thousand years of harsh and bloody history. One shouldn’t be in denial about these sort of things. We need to introspect, and think deeply, about what we are, what we want to be, and for that, what we have to do. Just blaming someone, for all our ills, will not make them go away.