The Last Fight

Of retirements plans and time crawling, of soppy forwards and the number 40, of forwarded trips and the spelling of kemmengundi, my thought for the day.

Last evening, while I was having an altercation with my girl friend, I decided it was time for news. What the connection is with news and violence (verbal though it may be), I have no idea (a colloquial sentence for the purist)! Yet, I happened to stumble upon an argument that individuals were having on a show which is probably as doctored as Oprah’s tears, Dr’Phil’s ‘tough love’, Judge Judy’s fake hair and The Jerry Springer show all rolled into one, called “The Big Fight”. The topic for discussion was the Gujrat violence and how some individuals had been punished. Was it justice served late? Was it too little because 29 others accused had been acquitted? Was it that those who burnt Gujarat should burn because they were forming a divide in the otherwise ostensibly secular country, separating people on the basis of the way they cut meat whether human or God?

Scene 2: A few months back: Some time of the day: Some hospital: A colleague had been admitted to the center because some dumper truck thought his bike looked like tar with stripes on it and decided to take a hike on his bike, the only problem being, he was in the truck when he did. During the many nights that I spent in the medical center, I was accompanied by one Mr. Kashif Baig and Mr. Romesh Kostka. Kashif is one of those people who the whole of IBM looks up to, a leader in the true sense of the word; One of those paradigms that can be followed because though he walked the path less tread, the path was always right. Romesh is a brother from another mother (borrowing the now very oft repeated African American term). I notice though that at no point did we in our conversations have any qualms about discussing religion. It was a debate of religions so to speak; Kashif; the surprisingly devout Muslim, Romesh; the understandably lethargic Christian and me, the vocally impious Hindu.

Cut Back: Scene 1: Last night: The show: Gujarat burns. NDTV dramatically puts in filmed clippings from a movie to make sure the viewer sympathizes and empathizes with every victim, as if the stories were not enough. And people on a podium argue about whether Narendra Modi is making the right moves politically and whether the Tehelka tehelka would be politically a strong hold and a USP for Narendra Modi’s government.

The disparate and the opposite poles are the flavor of a secular nation, but how can these co-exist. How can Me and Narendra Modi be the part of the same constitution? Is it criminal then on my part to be disillusioned by the political set up of our religion or the religious underlines in our politics.

Fact: Gujarat was a shame to every Indian alive, whether Hindu or Muslim, where resident or non-resident. Fact: We are a part of corporate India where GDP and Turn-over rules the grey cells. Fact: We are a secular country where individuals can co-exist without thought to religion or caste. Fact: Last night I was ashamed to be Indian!