Saturday 26 November 2011

CHAOTIC MAN TO BRIDGE THE GAP IN THE ANNA ERA, WILL HE?

        "Anna, the phoenix rises from the ash after a long time, but bigger and stronger this time. The Jan Lokpal disappointment had burned him enough, but this time he did it. He got every individual in this country thinking and every parliamentarian afraid of losing his seat in the decision making hall of the country".

   Just like any of my brother and sister of the republic of India, I read and heard a lot about Anna and this steaming hot topic boiled my brain to extract my own flavor of thoughts, which I would like to call “chaos” as of now for you, since this is my attempt to solve the billion dollar question, “should I join the Anna Brigade?” Though I am sure every bystander in the crowded bus stand or public square must have thought about it, I just took a step forward by messing up my brain further into the issue and suddenly the news papers and TV filled me so much in, relevant or irrelevant, that I got confused and thus the word defining that moment that first came to my mind was “chaos”. “Why chaos? It’s going to solve everything!” was the first reaction when I tried to assess my skepticism by talking to my friends, but what I couldn’t understand was how? And why and what piece of cake is everyone expecting out of it? What does Infosys get out of Anna? Won’t the opposition also be questioned about their history of corruption? Why are celebrities trying to hog the lime light in such an issue which doesn’t concern their earnings? Why is Swiss Bank trying to lose its premium customers? Why is the National governing party scared of the man without a gun, while they are the ones who have been elected by majority in this billion plus populated country, knowing their predecessors were not far behind in the league of extraordinary conman? What are the rucksacks carrying students jumping into this bandwagon, rather than their school buses?

  An interesting reason one of the man, I met during the Anna National Holiday was, “Someday I could proudly convey to my grandkids that I too stood by Anna against corruption”.  Though it did sound good to me when I first heard it, but soon I started pondering that how far a proud issue, like his, is justified for bringing the productivity of a nation to halt? “Yes, I am against corruption”. Never had I seen my nation so united, but at the same time, it was one of the most chaotic times that shall go down in our history. Yet again the use of the word “chaotic”, because I couldn’t distinguish among the genuine supporters and the class bunkers. Another concern that rose in my conscience was whether my countrymen were being led in the correct direction or not, since many among those whom I spoke to seemed to have interpreted this very movement in their own context, without even bothering to read the bill being proposed by Anna! I do like Anna for standing for his belief in his step for uprooting corruption, but at the same time many of his supporters disgusted me for not even thinking whether what they are shouting the slogans for is right or not! 

  As I tried to understand this confused lot, I understood a divide in our society and a segment in particular to which many of these people belong. The rich, be it entrepreneurs, politicians or celebrities, get noticed. They are strong and well connected, but still play on a diplomatic stance; they never jeopardize their status by fighting face to face for any social cause. While the poor, who have lost their stand somewhere in their desperate act of making the ends meet. Neither are they noticed, neither are they up for a fight, all they do is to try and make it to like and struggle for existence for yet another day. They have accepted and given it up to the attempt to rectify things or make it right. In between these accepted strong and the satisfied weak, is the ever restless middle class man. For long we have the word “middle” has been used as a synonym to mediocre. Why? Well, that’s what a middle class man has been. He lives to fight an everyday battle to cut through the clutches of a mediocrity and join the elite club, but at the same time plays it safe for the fear of losing it to the money crisis which may force him down to poverty. He aspires, but can’t act since he is afraid. He awaits a representative, a leader, to come and breaks the shackles of his misery and lead him to the “as imagined” good life. He hustles every moment, while the strong survives and the weak is suppressed, because of fear and inability to stand apart. These are the people who, given a dream, would rise up for anything, unfortunately, many without understanding how, because their life is a chaos and thus, is the birth of the word “chaotic man”.

 Well, as we know, chaos cannot be attributed to a single factor or fact, but if we do connect it, it solves the chaos! We, the middle class are so busy juggling the act to continue our survival that we barely stop to think about solving the chaos which has entangled us for generations. When Anna came and brought us out of our homes, we realized how we too can make a difference. Now here comes the point of bridging the gap in the society. We have so far associated ourselves with mediocrity and have been identified as a confused lot of the major chunk of our billion plus population, but we have never reached out to solve anything. But just give it a thought; we are the ones in between the two extreme ends of our society. We have been flipping the coin ever since and have seen both sides of it on numerous occasions.
Since my Grand ma’s bed time stories, to today’s headlines, I have found examples of how there has been a strong, a weak and a “middle” man, the “chaotic” man. Though never referred by the same word, but there has always been an intermediary, someone who shares the characteristics of both.  For example, during Paleolithic ages, the physical strength was the wealth, the strong was important, the weak were eliminated, but there were the ones in between, who were involved in other works, but were not considered important, but at some point of history came someone with brains, and history started changing. India’s struggle for freedom too, there were the mighty British, the defeated Sultanate and the commoners, among whom rose the likes of Gandhi and Bose who, who stood up for the cause and pummel the Empire till they were back on their ships to the Great Britain. But how long will the middle man wait for someone among themselves to stand and inspire? Why can’t every “chaotic man” stand for himself? Why does the Middle man still wait, rather than acting? And as I find my answers in the history, I bring some order to the understanding of “chaotic man”, as I see him repeating the same “wait and watch” protocol. As I answer these questions, my quest for solving the chaos comes to a full circle, as I wait for another Gandhi or Anna to come and wake me up.  

(WITH INPUTS FROM YOGI)