Once in a while, the only thing to do is open your eyes and call out the reality of the world exactly as you see it in front of you
Now that our elections are over and the 'Chowkidar' is back on the job, it's a good time to get a PK look at where we are. File pic
Do you remember the Aamir Khan film PK? I found it remarkable for one reason — it gave us a way to see ourselves through the eyes of someone meeting us for the first time — an alien who had just landed on this planet. I call it the PK point of view, unsullied by pre-existing conditions such as religion, dogmas, education and party loyalties.
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The PK point of view means stating whatever you see, exactly as you see it without interpreting or judging it. Now that our elections are over and the 'Chowkidar' is back on the job, it's a good time to get a PK look at where we are. Here is what PK would see...
We are not secular. Secular denotes attitudes, activities and other things that have no religious or spiritual basis. In a secular country, it would not matter if you were Hindu, Muslim, Christian or atheist. In India today, Hindus see themselves as having no equals. Other religions are more and more seen as unwelcome minorities. Most unwelcome among these are Muslims, who have rapidly learned that they will live longer by keeping their heads low. When was the last time you saw a Muslim in a white cap in a roadside argument with a non-Muslim? Who do you think the mob would have beaten to death?
Mr Modi crowed triumphantly that the Opposition had not used the word secular even once. He was right. Neither the voters nor the ruling party had any illusions that India today is in any way secular.
We do not respect cows one bit. Cows are the most brutalised and neglected animals in India, next to dogs. Far from being worshiped or idolised, they are allowed to walk the streets, eating garbage and plastic to fill their undernourished stomachs. Once they stop producing milk, they are either slaughtered for their meat or — wherever they were declared sacred and their slaughter banned — just left to wander aimlessly. Many Hindus eat beef, and several own factories that export beef (though a Muslim risks being beaten to death if he were caught eating beef). According to a 2016 report of the US Department of Agriculture, the country that claims its cows are sacred is the world's largest beef exporter, accounting for 20 per cent of global sales.
We are not terribly hygienic. Most of us neither value nor understand hygiene. Part of this comes from ignorance of the science behind disease transmission. A lot of this comes from just not caring less. A clear indicator of this in any society is the diversity and price of hygiene and cleaning products in a supermarket. Even in liberalised India, you cannot get decent cleaning tissues, cleaning liquids and accessories, tampons, toilet papers and deodorants in the range or diversity that a hygiene-conscious society would want them. Where quality products are available, they have elite price tags, signaling that cleanliness is for those who can afford it.
We do not care for our living and civic spaces. Public signs of national poor hygiene are festering garbage hills, flies, intolerable urinals, body odour in most public spaces — and the fact that it becomes news when any place is actually cleaned up.
We still believe in castes. Indians cannot stop thinking in terms of caste no matter how strongly they disavow. Stunning proof of this is in the daily matrimonial column classifieds where specifications for castes and sub-castes are so abundant that a system of acronyms has been devised for it: KKB, Sriv, GSB, CKP, N/NM and dozens more. [Kanyakubj Brahmin, Srivastava, Gaur Saraswat Brahmin, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu, and Manglik/non-Manglik, if you were wondering.]
Our leaders don't think, they believe. They believe cow urine cures cancer. That climate is not changing. That man did not evolve from apes. Mythology is treated as established fact and installed on the throne where science once sat, with reason replaced by blind faith. Those who object are dismissed and denigrated as "leftist intellectual elites", definitely a bad thing to be. Thinking too much in India is not very good for health, especially if you tend to make your thoughts public.
We subjugate our women. Women are treated as oversexed, provocative temptresses who must be controlled lest they seduce men. This is done through regulating their outings, clothing, education and employment choices. It also allows men to be excused when they get overexcited and accidentally rape someone.
We believe we are the centre of the universe. The government and its backers assert that everything of consequence from plastic surgery and television to in vitro fertilisation was invented in India. No proof is necessary because Mr Modi said it and he has a "raw gut" for such things. Disagreeing with rulers can be life-threatening. If you never see me again, remember I said this.
Here, viewed from there. C Y Gopinath, in Bangkok, throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai, the city that raised him. You can reach him at cygopi@gmail.com Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
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