'I don't like it, so I throw stones'

‘I disagree with what you say, but will defend till the death your right to say it’, said Voltaire over a century ago. Poor Voltaire is burnt, buried and stamped upon in today’s India. For over 50 years, school texts have announced that poverty, illiteracy and unemployment are the chief evils our country has to deal with. They need revision. Make way for the most dangerous of them all- Intolerance.

WE think churches are responsible for mass conversions. So we attack the nearest church in sight. Why? Oh, we just don’t like it. Also, it gets rather boring sitting around in our political common room. This way we’re doing something. Two..umm..churches with one stone- Personal satisfaction plus you show ‘those people’ where they get off. Illegal? Not if you have the backing of the party in power. Horrifying? Well..It won’t draw any more attention than bomb blasts..after all the country is now acclimatized to violence..

A rural family thinks their daughter shouldn’t mingle with some male classmate (No, she doesn’t have the right to free speech and action, stupid question..). Do they talk, resign themselves, worst case, even disown her?? No. They pick up an axe and bludgeon both. Simple solution. It’s a matter of ‘honour’. Welcome to medeival justice in the age of free media, computers and nuclear tests.

From family to person. Traffic woes are apparently too much to take for us modern ‘stressed out’ individuals. Busdriver jumps out in a traffic jam and nearly strangles the autodriver in front. Couldn’t he hear the horn?? We would’ve thought hearing the horn was itself enough punishment..

But we really know we’ve touched rock bottom when art has to conform to some norm. A norm that varies from person to person, organization to organization. If M.F Hussain is constrained in his expressions of art, then one can imagine how bullied artists of lesser renown are likely to be. Worse, we’ll breed a whole generation of ‘artists’ (what a joke), whether painters,writers or moviemakers, all forced to function within some set of rules lest they ‘offend’ someone important. And yes. We take offence mighty quickly. Infact Jaya Bachchan’s casual statement, possibly just about deserving half a raised eyebrow, is enough to rouse a mob. There seem to be no dearth of people looking for an outlet for a great deal of latent physical energy, preferably a violent one. A variant of a 5 year old’s tantrum; except the lego blocks are rather larger and more expensive here..

What is it? Too much money and no work? Why are tempers so frayed and opinions pre-slotted? Is the aim to murder all free thought and expression? Is there ANY difference left between the misguided and singleminded young men who fanatically give up their precious lives, and the well fed but bored young men who throw stones for lack of anything better to do? Where is our sense of perspective? For instance, does a statue being set up deserve any, let alone much, attention, when there are homeless people waiting for that easily announced ‘compensation’??

Who are we to guide anyone’s imagination? In fact,who are we at all? Too may people seem to suffer from the delusion that they’re terribly important, and hence everything better function the way they want it to. Disillusion them, please. A couple of Indian Institutes of Perspectives may well be the need of the hour..

So the next time you want to paint the walls of your house, check with the neighbours first. They may not like yellow. Also check with the zillion religious and cultural organizations around, yellow may symbolize something someone doesn’t like. Oh and the glare at night may make it an easy target for bombing, the government needs to be consulted. What? YOU like yellow and its YOUR house? So? Don’t bring up irrelevant objections..