Thursday, February 12, 2015

Travails of the Common Man

At the outset, I would like to clarify that I am a non political, non bureaucratic and non religious person. I am just a Common Man


A middle class citizen of India who has for long been driven by other outside forces. I have been living in a country where religious tolerance has always been questioned. As a top U.S. Leader very recently quipped, " India will succeed so long as it is not splintered on religious lines.”

I have been working  in a country where rules are made to be broken. Where if a law is made, also made are tens of ways to safely bypass that law. I am in a country where the highest national awards


are bestowed upon Godmen and politicians responsible for creating communal rifts. I have received my education here where our books abound with sacrifice stories of freedom fighters. That has instilled a sense of patriotism and love for my nation. This has always deterred me from exploring avenues abroad. Over a period of time, this feeling seems to be dwindling. A sense of frustration now seems to be creeping in. Corruption, lawlessness, lack of education, religious disharmony and poor etiquettes have all become so deeply embedded in our systems that it has become virtually impossible to get rid of them. 
In the modern-day world, where time is premium and battle for subsistence is unimaginably tough, the hapless common man simply gives in and pays the bribe just to get on with life. He has lost hope and seems all but buried. He has been driving himself at the behest of others, striving to make ends meet, and following a religion which his ancestors have been following. 
He has now decided enough is enough. He has only two options left. Either he begins a revolutionary movement or he gives up his life as a coward.

Suddenly, things seemed to be improving. The grass looked greener on this side. The clouds had reduced their gloom over the sky. The birds were chirping much more than before. The common man had won the general elections in the capital city of this country. It was a victory of the masses. A victory of the people. It had been a coup of sorts where the ruling party was overthrown and a single person had emerged a winner in this bout - the Common Man. The locals were out on the streets celebrating.


The champagne was uncorked,  and the ale was flowing. And why not. Every Indian at this juncture wished to be a part of the celebration, a part of this movement. Everyone hoped that this victory would replicate itself in their state and city." Was this the beginning of the revolution that we had been long waiting for? " The question seemed to cross every Indian's mind. It was a sort of déjà vu for the oldies. They were reminded yet again of the freedom struggle that they had witnessed against the Britishers. This conquest had now given a ray of hope to every Indian that all was not lost.  

The media was abuzz the next day with reports as to how the fort was conquered, whether a recipe for success could ever be charted or not and how the common man's woes would be over soon. Amid all this, the ruling party was working overtime to provide explanations for its dismal show. It had failed to anticipate a defeat of this magnitude.

Then came the turnaround. The next few hours saw a plethora of newsfeeds making a mockery of the triumph. While some said that the election results were fixed, some dubbed it as a deliberate walkover given by the ruling party to shift the media attention away from its inadequacies.

So? What is the truth? Nobody will ever be able to tell. But what everyone knows for sure is that the one to suffer yet again is the Common Man. The promises abound. But will they deliver? Or will the Common Man have to continue his endless wait? Life has to move on for him....

"God must love the common man. He made so many of them."

'Honge kaamyaab, honge kaamyaab
hum honge kaamyaab ek din.
ho ho mann main hai vishwas
poora hai vishwas
hum honge kaamyaab ek din.'