Politics – not so bad after all

My last blog post was related to Team Anna and the fan following. The current blog title may seem too irritating for most people particularly the youth (yes indeed the youth). Interestingly the most popular social networking website “The Facebook” also has a row for “Political Views” in the about section but you will mostly find it either blank or “I DON’T CARE”. Last week’s news was dedicated to Barack Obama’s spectacular win in the US Presidential Election (although I should have written about it, might as well do in the near future). I felt great to see American youth at least discussing about it, making youtube videos – in favour, against or mocking the presidential candidate at least this shows that you do care. Look at the almost adult -teenagers (16-19) or even the new working professionals (age group 21-24) in India, they carry a “I don’t give a SHIT about politics attitude”. I wont say that they are too naïve to understand such things c’mon they are the future business leaders, political leaders, social leaders or for that matter Future Anna’s.

The Indian youth are busy spending hours on Facebook (oh I should call it FB as they do – after all there is a short for everything), spending hours chatting with their loved ones, discussing useless and baseless things, girls gossiping about latest affairs surrounding people around them. I am not an anti – gossip guy but at least you should find time to think about changes happening in the environment around you particularly the political system, the economic system of our beloved country India. Let BCCI or PCB host a India vs Pakistan and you will find almost all the Indians glued to the television supporting their favorite nations. It is saddening to know that they have gone to the extent of calling each other enemies (particularly kids). Is this what we are heading to? Cricket matches are conducted in the spirit of the game and not to incite war among two nations. Imagine these kids grow up and become Foreign ministers what do you expect when there is a meeting to discuss issues. Will they throw rocks or use MC, BC? I hope none of the reader thinks that time will teach them everything because it is these childhood instances that matter the most when it comes to taking tough decisions. Time does teach you a lot but it cannot be with you all the time.

The American teens do have a basic idea about what is happening, Indian teens are not even bothered about politics. People might say it is because of the format of the elections. Americans have a televised public debate between the Presidential candidates as well as the Running mates. In India all you have are a bunch of television ads, campaigns, rallies, etc but none of this touches the eyes and ears of naïve Indians. We call ourselves the largest democracy and proud of the largest youth population but will it make any difference if the youth are ignorant. I use the sentence “Ignorance is a Sin” and my friend does scold me for being too harsh but then don’t you think it is important to be aware about your own country specially when it is going to affect you.

Every step the government takes (I feel like calling it Federal government), does affect you, your neighbor, your loved ones. The terms like economy, fiscal deficit, foreign policy might look foreign to some but can create havoc if they are not addressed.

Let us look at some of the lame reasons that most young crowd gives. The most common and funny one is “How does it even matter if I comment or discuss”. Well if it doesn’t matter then why does price hike matters to you, why does VAT matter to you, why does the Beer Bottle going costlier matter to you, why does Airtickets getting costlier matter to you. If you cant talk about it, I don’t think you have a right to even complain. The next reason is that “I will don’t find intellectual people to talk about it and if I do people cut me out” – well that’s the problem with most Indians. They feel the right age to talk about politics is either in the office (when no other topic about a hot chick in office is left) or when you turn 40. If that was true then why are we even paying income tax before the age of 40. If you cant find like minded people try to discuss it with parents, seniors, I am sure there are many who love to talk about politics. Well the youth can find ample reasons to run away from the real issues but trust me it will one day start affecting you. There are some who go on to the extent of saying politics is evil. If it were so, why have intellectual men and women chosen it as a career. People like Arvind Kejriwall (I like to add an extra “L to make it sound WALL), Subramaniam Swamy, just to name a few. They could have continued their journey of making a formidable career infact Mr. Swamy was a Professor at Harvard what compelled him to come to India (please don’t say money in politics). It is sad to see very few Indians think of Politics as a career option due to the muscle power and bulk cash involved in getting a ticket.

I am happy that the Anna movement and Team IAC (although I don’t blindly support them) has been able to shake and wake some Indians from their sleep but still many are sleeping. I can only expect that in the near future, the Indian junta can come out of their shell, think and discuss about issues that surround our country. Independence day and Republic day are not the only days to show your patriotism.

Politics is really not that bad after all.

Photo Credits : http://www.toptenz.net/