Why

Why aren’t we proud of anything any longer? Is ‘neglect’ the only way to acknowledge the glory of the past in India? I am not even talking about pride for History or for built and natural heritage, but about simple human values and human life. The past week has thrown up two images of today’s India, both equally sad and smacking of holier-than-thou.

The first instance involves a lady who claims to have been a fighter in India’s freedom. I use the word ‘claim’ out of contempt for those who have denied her this honour and privilege after her being privy to it for a few years. Apparently this lady was registered as a Freedom fighter and hence a recipient of the State’s pension scheme for Freedom fighters. She was happy knowing about the allocation of this pension, proving her eligibility after having had her documents and precedents verified by the State. However, some politician, on one fine day, decides this is enough given and totally erases her identity, making her ineligible for whatever pension she was getting. It wasn’t a rectification of Govenrmental ineptitude. Just that someone decided to play “I have the Power”. She has been fighting her way through corrupt bureaucracy and red-tape for the past 4 years… at the age of 90.

Why?

The second instance involves Hockey. Shahrukh Khan has put it succinctly when he says that it is unfair to the hockey players, when we as a country expect them to win gold everytime, while we cannot even assure them their salaries. In a country, which, is cricket-crazy for reasons beyond reasoning, the state of our National Sport is indeed pitiable. It will be expected by those in power, to fantasize them sitting with Shahrukh Khan to broker a deal with the Indian Hockey Federation, just because he voiced his opinion and the fact that he played a convincingly real person as hockey coach Kabir Khan in Chak De India.

I wonder what makes anybody voice the misery of the players when the same thing, if done by the players, is relegated to the trash-bin? I think it is love for a game which is much more spectacular to play than cricket. I was always torn between my pace bowling and my dribbling as a left-winger. On many days, I chose the dribbling. Such is the game. But the bigger question is why do we need crutches of hope, jugaad, contacts and muscle-power to receive something as fundamental as dignity?

Why?