Let’s bring back the past

I think we spend too much time obsessing over India’s march forward, and not enough time thinking about what we have left behind. Representation pic/AFP

I spent much of last week arguing with a friend about the price of petrol and LPG. He was complaining about how he could barely fill half a tank these days, citing
crude oil prices and governmental failures. I did my best to counter him, pointing out that the finance minister couldn't possibly be held responsible for the string of poor economic decisions that had brought India's once unstoppable growth story to a shuddering halt.

Hadn't other ministers, from departments related to health, the environment, and even textiles, reassured us that India's economy was just fine? Yes, unemployment is at an all-time high, more and more wealthy Indians have been giving up citizenship, and millions of us have been pushed into poverty, but how was the government to blame? I urged him to stop focusing on the present or an undeniably dismal future and turn towards the past instead.

Everyone who reads a bit of history knows that India was once the most amazing country on Earth. We had flying machines and teleportation devices, thousands of years before the West dreamed of them. No one in this land knew what sickness or poverty were. Our ancestors lived for hundreds of years, building fabulous things until evil outsiders from other lands chose to step in and destroy everything. This is why I urged my friend to stop attacking our government. If someone had to be blamed, it was the people who entered India thousands of years ago. They were the reason he couldn't afford a full tank of petrol, not our blameless minister of finance.

I think we spend too much time obsessing over India's march forward, and not enough time thinking about what we have left behind. One of the nicest things our government has done, luckily, is introduce us to what India was like a few hundred years ago. By denying us employment, it has forced millions of young Indians to think outside the box and pursue fruitful new career options, inculcating a much-needed spirit of service that was missing over the past few years. It should be mandatory for engineers to work as drivers or restaurant delivery personnel because those are the kinds of jobs that build character.

Look at how healthcare professionals have coped with COVID-19. They have pulled off miracles without protective gear, oxygen cylinders, and essential medicines. By doing this, the government compelled them all to be more like our ancestors, who also managed without these supplies and laughed in the face of trauma. The death of a few thousand doctors and nurses should be treated as a sacrifice, an inevitable price for the necessary march backwards.

Education is another field just waiting to be fixed, and our ministers have spent the past few years working tirelessly and selflessly on this thankless task. We shouldn't look at science, technology, or advances in modern medicine that the West pours billions of dollars into. We should be smart enough and brave enough to look at how our ancestors managed when they lived in caves and thrived on raw food. When ministers ask us to forego medicine and consider urine instead, we do them a disservice by laughing at them. If they admit themselves and their family members to hospitals that practise Western medicine, it is only because they put themselves at risk by testing these methods on our behalf. We should be grateful.

My friend thinks I am being facetious and wants me to demand more from the government. He thinks my taxes aren't being utilised effectively and wants me to insist on better facilities such as healthcare. He says the government has failed on all fronts during the pandemic and wants me to be angry. I refuse to be drawn into his way of thinking because I believe India has finally begun to do the right thing by turning its back on the future.

We sent a resounding message to the world by exporting millions of vaccines to other countries instead of keeping them for our own people. Yes, the lives of our loved ones could have been saved, but I like to believe everyone who has passed away has done so with a smile on their faces, calm and reassured in the knowledge that India is no longer a country obsessed with transitory things like food, water, healthcare, or human rights. We are looking towards the medieval distance and making this country great again. We don't need petrol because we can simply walk more often.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira

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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper