Free speech: Why Indian society unable to handle diverse and complex thoughts?

2013 seems to be a year of controversies involving ‘freedom of expression’. We have Ashis Nandy’s reference to Scheduled castes in context of corruption, Kamal Hasan’s Viswaroopam and Shah Rukh Khan’s take on being a Muslim in India becoming the hearsay. The three issues reveal the inability of media and citizens to handle complex thoughts.

For instance, the moment Ashis Nandy made his remark at Jaipur Literature festival, the news services across the country ran the headlines “SC/ST/OBCs most corrupt: Ashis Nandy.” The news was too simple to explain the context in which Nandy came up with such a remark. Also, it was misguiding enough to provoke the anger and offense across multitudes. Similar was the issue of Vishwaroopam. The media reported the movie as anti-Muslim. Without even a preview being shown, how the media analyzed the movie as anti-Muslim is not known. Whatsoever, diverse comments from functionaries and political leaders emerged. And finally, the movie was sacked. Shah Rukh Khan’s remark of being a Muslim in India in an article published by US based Outlook magazine too brought out a related, but not so huge uproar.

What lies behind this trend of being hyperactive? Is it the inability of the media to handle complex thoughts that led to this? Or is it the ‘murdochisation’ of news that makes the news less serious? If keenly observed, both the factors have contributed to this scenario. The ‘murdochisation’ has made the news too sensationalized and turned it into a form of entertainment. It has also encouraged the simplification of news, that any complex thoughts are disintegrated into meanings that contradict the original one. Besides misguiding the public, this has trained the citizens to think simple.

When the idea of complexity vanishes from the society, it becomes difficult for the people to present their opinions. Every divergent opinion is considered as an attack on some community. What is the need for a community to feel insecure when a movie is made or a comment is said? There is no definite answer for this.

In fact, it is only a matter of engaging with different viewpoints and being sensitive to each other. Also, the citizens need to comprehend an issue before they respond to it. Without these two being done, India will see more number of baseless attacks and arguments in the upcoming months.

The lost mansion

Neeta walked out of the house. She did not know where she was going. It was just like an impulse from within. The sun has gone to his palace to take his kingly rest. Darkness has gulped the place. The cold breeze has started swiping the air. Neeta could feel her bones cling with chill. But she did not feel like walking back. She continued to walk. It was as if she is walking after a long time. She felt the place new and interesting. She noticed the newly painted pillar in the next house. The lime yellow has given it a fresh look. There is a new white car parked in front of it. Its presence raised the status of the house. She loved that house for the green lawn it had, for the trees surrounding it. Truly, it looked like a land of serenity. She had an urge to look back at her mansion. Something prevented her. She felt uneasy to twist her head. “No, I do not want to see my mansion!”

Neeta walked fast than ever. Her footsteps began running as if she wants to escape from something. The sea shore was nearing. She never wanted to run to the beach, but something dragged her there. Perhaps, the mind knows where we want to be than our brains. She felt colder, yet she felt some respite. She strolled through the shore. She could hear the loud talks of the fishermen families from the huts. She has always wondered how they live near to the deep monstrous sea. The sea was dark blue. It had a mystery in its calmness. She could sense its depth even in the darkness. She feared sea and that prevented her from walking close to the water.

A few boats rested on the shore. It looked as if they are tired after the long surfs in the sea. Neeta walked closer to them. She wanted to touch them and feel their wooden structure. She liked to smell that fish stink arousing from them. The yellow light from the streets was falling on the boats. They lit up the place a bit. The sand was shining like golden powder. Her footsteps were going inside the sand. It made her walk difficult.

Neeta reached closer to them. Suddenly, something tucked her feet. She was taken aback. She looked down with a panting heart. It was a maroon coloured blanket. She saw somebody was sleeping down the boat. She kept her steps backward and looked more vigilantly. It was a man. He was not alone. There were three children and a woman sleeping nearby. “It must be a family”, she thought. Neeta looked at their tired faces. All were fast asleep.

Neeta turned back and began walking. She walked pretty fast. She didn’t care to notice the surroundings. The breeze followed her. She clasped her hands to the body due to chillness. Nobody was coming opposite to her. Even if anybody came, they wouldn’t have noticed her. She was walking too close to the walls. She stepped onto the road. Lights were brighter there.

Neeta could see the yellow pillared house from distance.  It still felt to be brighter. She crossed that house and walked to her mansion. She opened the gate. There was no mansion. There were only broken bricks which fell down the ground when ‘they’ demolished the mansion. She stepped on them and found few pieces of glass. It could be that of the glass bottle which her mother used to store sugar. She remembered stealing sugar from it when she was small. There were some white pieces of plastic next to it. She could not recollect what they used to be.

“Neeta, come home fast. Where have you been?” Her mother came out of the shed behind and asked loudly. Neeta left the whereabouts and walked to the shed behind. The picture of the family lying on the shore lingered in her mind. She was not the only one left homeless. She felt happy, but tears were rolling down her cheeks. Her mind was indeed remembering the beautiful mansion she possessed till yesterday.

“My Right to Education”

This is about a little boy whom I met today. He is studying in 4th standard in a nearby school. His mother brought him to my home to make him sit and do his homework. I called him ‘Chottu’ because he was too small for his age.

And, there Chottu sat with a big bag that must have rolled through all sorts of earthly dirt.

“What homework do you have?” I asked him in a pampering voice. “Maths!” he replied in a tough voice with an implied face.

Chottu had no time to waste, so we began the chase.

His book was a priceless sight of how worst a study book can be kept, with plenty of red marks, pencil marks, sketch pens and many other sorts of unknown writing tools. The covers were torn to extremes and the book was three fourth uncovered.

I couldn’t resist asking him the reason behind the sketch pen marks in the notebook. Surprisingly, those were the contributions of his mentor. The teacher has used sketch pens as a substitute for red pens. Chottu too has contributed his creativity on them, giving the book a vibrant appeal.

I felt quite happy to do the divisions and subtractions after long years. Chottu too was happy because he understood that the Didi sitting in front of him knows to do his homework. The thought made him lazier and he began looking at me for every single digit. His pleading face or his cute little face, I did everything for him.

Homework got over in twenty minutes and Chottu was all set for the pack up. Like most of the elders, I advised him to study better and asked him to visit frequently so that I can help him out with his studies. Chottu doesn’t seem to be concerned. I decided to make him a little frightened. “You will fail next year if you go like this”, I warned him.

Chottu replied, “Didi, teachers won’t fail us. Government has said not to hold back any student in classes till he completes the 8th grade.”

I went speechless for a moment. While bidding him good bye, I was terrified of the knowledge he had about his Right to Education.

Will Kerala emerge or submerge?

For the past three decades, Government of Kerala had nothing to flaunt in the sector of industry and agriculture. Most of the projects undertook ceased at the brink where they begun. The corporate companies were not ready for investment on a land where most of the days are strikes. 

A matter of joy

Here we see a new dawn. With the global connect event Emerging Kerala 2012 occurring from 12th September 2012 to 14th September 2012, hundreds of conglomerates are showing their interest to invest in God’s own country. This will surely execute many of the abandoned, yet aspired projects of the state. A few of them will be Kochi Metro Rail project, High Speed Rail Corridor, Vizhinjam International Deep Water Seaport, IIT Kottayam, Power plant projects and Electronic Parks. 

The fear 

However, the joy also raises a few concerns. When the state heads to a multinational investment hub, it shows an equal chance of being susceptible to few hazards. The major one is the environmental impact. 

Kerala, the land which is known for its scenic beauty can never take the risk of being a land of concrete masses. Hence, the projects that bring fortunes must be executed with care without harming the godly land, protecting every inch of greenery it possesses. A special care may be requested in the case of Cochin because it is a city with innumerable infrastructural developments every day and more are in the offing. It also faces the issue of improper waste management.  

Another foremost issue is about the land transaction. The state with a small area of 38, 863 km2 has to be careful from blindly selling its lands to investors. It is already reported that the land mafias have buckled their shoes. This has to be taken care before the issue gets worsened into a state of social exclusion.

As far as now, the Chief Minister Ummen Chandi has assured that no land will be sold and only providing land for leases are in consideration. Even if those are leases, they have to be clear cut on the papers according to the norms of the acts like the Land Reform Act and Forest Act of 1980. Transparency in the dealings is what is expected out of the Government in such cases. 

Beyond these lawful issues, the government needs to guarantee that no citizen gets affected in the whole process of implementation. With multinational projects coming up, millions have to be rehabilitated and sheltered. Many road side markets and make-shift businesses will get affected. Their right to live can never be ignored. Although no talks are sprung from the part of the Government about this, the issue has to be discussed and get accomplished rightly. 

Above all, the Government must be careful that the weakest sector in the state will not fall back in the race of development. Multinationals come up with products and lifestyles suitable for the middle classes and the upper classes of the state. The employment opportunities which they now highlight as a prime benefit for the state may only cater for a few sector of people. There are high possibilities for the farmers to get expropriated leaving them deprived. 

Beyond making currencies, the prime policy of a state is to ensure its citizens a quality life safeguarding their rights. Let us hope Government of Kerala will remember this while executing the projects through Emerging Kerala 2012, making the state emerging and not submerging. 

The tale of a broken heart

There was a time she could recognise his smell, hear his footsteps and predict his mind. All those time she thought he is the only man who could make her mad, happy and sexy. The days scrolled fast than ever and one day she sensed something is going wrong. She stood up sternly to untangle the shackles, only to realise it is a gone story. 

The days bought another face to her life, where she felt comfortable with. But her mind had a naughty propensity to compare the latter with the former. Again things went off the beam because she made the smallest mistakes of the latter big and protruded them to huge fights. The time lapsed and her mind got the power to wake up from the past. She began a new life with all the love and prosperity the latter gave her.

The hidden cruelty of mind still sustained. This time it was not the problem of her mind. It was that of the latter’s. The hurts her fights gave him were not healed in his mind. They made him a brutal monster and he began reacting senseless. Demands were the prime tool, many times, perhaps all the time she failed to fulfil them. Things worsened as he warned her that she would lose him. 

However, her mind thought the latter totally as hers and she felt there is no need to act. And, there she was becoming a fool being herself thinking his love weighed equally as that of hers. She kept weaving dreams about ‘their’ beautiful life and that hope was the only factor that helped her to sustain. 

One day, she ran to him seeking protection from something unhappy. He reacted politely, yet sternly “Everything is over between us”. Amid the busy world she stood alone, begging him to come back to their happy days. He was firm and looked as if he forgot the past. He could only count her negatives and said she never made him happy. His sweet words-I am so lucky to get you, I will never leave you, all those reflected in her mind. They still sounded sweet, but as lies. 

Midst of the vast ocean, there she swims directionless. No hopes, no dreams. Her face reflects an unsaid strength - The determination of not getting cheated again.