india, through my eyes

I’ve lived in a society where discrimination has prevailed for centuries. There were activists, rulers, reformers, outsiders, and many more who tried to make changes but we didn’t hinge from our staunch belief.

I find it laughable when I read about how certain social reformers helped get rid of discrimination because a society that believes the difference between first and second class means comfortable seats and enough leg space, is a society that has regressed so deep underground that it would take forever to get back on its feet.

 All this talk about nationalism and unity yet, we sit on different seats in cinema halls. Why? Because our society has led us to believe that someone with stacks of cash deserves better treatment and the lack of jingling in your pocket degrades you. I’m not complaining about the seating arrangement of course, I just find it funny that a fancier chair is sought as a way to create a distinction between the superior and us, and to add to that, what point are we really making here?

We all apply for the same jobs and we all received education of one kind or the other but our minds are wired to think that if one paid more, they received more. So does it mean that if my classroom doesn’t have an air conditioner, my education wasn’t enough? I highly doubt it. Yet, we walk with our heads held low because the free education one receives is nothing in comparison to the lakhs another spent on getting rid of the heat.

We cover ourselves with clothes made of the same material but we shouldn’t expect to be looked at in the same awe as those with tags hanging from the back of their necks. There’s natures basket and there’s D’mart and there’s the village where we buy the same food at reasonable prices. I ask myself if this line we’ve drawn , between the wealthy and us, is a straight one?

As Gandhi said,” No two leaves are alike, yet there is no antagonism between them or between the branches they are to grow on.” I don’t think he realized that when he used leaves as a metaphor for the people, he meant it in literal sense. We’ve been dumbed down to leaves, with no voice, with no reason for withering on the branches, we let ourselves fall with the slightest blow.

Our minds, bereft of rationalism, we seek pleasure in bringing down a certain someone, on what basis? Wealth. In grade five, name calling was what we considered as the cruelest way to put someone down. Harijans or untouchables, we’re still naming a section of society that is in no way inferior to us and this only depicts that we have not grown as the years have passed. To demean another’s character, for our own callous gain is what we’ve been taught to do since ‘ma’ and ‘da’ were first enounced in our cradles.

We fight for feminism, but we lack in humanity? We fight so that women attain a place in society at par with men. Yet, when one woman is chosen over another on the grounds of something as anachronistic as class, we raise no question.

“India is a progressing economy’’, said the leader of one of the political parties and to that I say, yes it is, at the expense of the downtrodden, It’s like comparing it to winning a silver medal only to be disqualified, only, sectarianism is no game.

No two leaves are alike, and yet there is no antagonism between them or between the branches on which they grow.

Gandhi