Rang De Basanti

Here is a disclaimer (especially for those who don't know me)- By nature I detest violent approaches to enforce my world view. I didn't really like the approach RDB youth had taken. I don't think killing someone is a solution to anything.

Now I can write further.

The "no excuses" speech in the end made me look at RDB differently. As I read about the reservation firefights I feel a silent rage churning inside me. A lot of factors fuel this rage:

1) Political aspirations and sheer greed of individuals like Arjun Singh can threaten to lay waste a large country like India. It is Macbethian characters like him that are the bane of Indian existence. How many dead bodies of hard-working, smart Indians will he tread over before he stops?

2) The apparent abdication by my ex-idol Manmohan Singh. I revered him for his intelligence and his actions. I was happy that an intellectual of his calibre had decided to get his hands dirty in Indian politics. But now as I see him refusing to acknowledge the anti-reservations protests I am left despondent. He has followed a policy of minimum resistance to his baiters and minimum visibility to those who seek his true views.
Did even Hamlet ever face Dr. Singh's dilemma?

3) The refusal of other parties to join in the anti-reservation debate...no one wants to sit on a gun powder keg, light up a match and see their political prospects blown sky high.

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ToI
Meanwhile, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj beat a hasty retreat from AIIMS after the students asked her to take a clear stand on the reservation issue. Once they realised that no response was coming, they started shouting slogans and forced her to leave the venue.
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4) The lack of willingness on the part of regular, working or studying joes to come out into the street and to join in protests against this shameless act on the part of the government. It mystifies me, infuriates me to wonder...do these guys have no sense of social obligation and an obligation to their future generations? Their refusal to participate may be representative of their declining faith in the system, their personal lack of belief in the strength of their voice and in general a "chalta hai" attitude. Until John Doe becomes a social activist, no good can accrue.


Yet there is hope, I heard engineers are joining in and a batch of accountants joined in the protests in Delhi.

But all this begs a few questions...
1) Why have only doctors been the active participants in this crusade? Aren't MBAs, engineers, accountants or other occupations going to be hit by this piece of legislation?
2) Moreover, on the longer time scale...medical residents, engineers don't have unlimited time being only social activists. Their primary duty is an onerous and time-consuming duty whereas people like Arjun Singh, in the twilight of their life and career, looking back on a life ill-spent, have ample time to claim their one last moment in the spotlight, damn the cost. How do we keep the movement going without compromising our work life?
This certainly isn't going to be a 10-day fest affair. This monster is going to have to be battled longer and stronger.

People like Arjun Singh can push their agenda forward in the firm knowledge of the pacifist nature of people like us...we don't set buses on fire or lynch a minister. He needs to see that we can't be taken for granted and that if he is back to his bull shit...we will raise our voice...loudly!

All it takes for Evil to succeed is for a few good men to do nothing.
Rang De Basanti!