If there is one starving person in your country, your country is not independent. That old man called Gandhi said it. May he rest in peace.
I live in a country of beggars. The helpless beg, the slightly less helpless steal, and a few are billionaires. Quite many others are our leaders in the Assembly Houses and the Parliament Houses. And a few others are religious beggars, a very fascinating lot they are: they provide us with our daily sustenance of fun.
Five individuals in my country possess assets worth Rs 5,23,897 crore rupees. Mukesh Ambani's wealth amounts to Rs 1,49,474 crore rupees. But he will sell our petroleum abroad and not give it to us. That's called "the Gujarat model of development". For more about India's wealth and beggary, read the report by Wealth-X.
"Don't be a spoilsport," says M. "Let us celebrate our Independence."
OK. I don't want to burst the balloons on Rajpath. Quite a few crore rupees of the taxpayers in India have been spent on those balloons, I know. Let the black ghosts in Swiss Banks rest in peace too. If we can bury the father of the nation in peace, we can also bury the black money in peace. Or vice versa. And we, the ordinary people, should learn to bargain on Jan Path.
Happy Independence Day.
Let the emperor have his way. Let him call the Tribal Chiefs for his coronation and have parties. And then let him go to the borders and hurl challenges.
We have an emperor. That is more important. Not a dumb Prime Minister. We have an emperor who can hurl challenges to the neighbouring enemy. We have nuclear bombs too to show off. We are in a position to hunt heads.
Jai Ho! Let us be happy.
Happy Independence Day.
I live in a country of beggars. The helpless beg, the slightly less helpless steal, and a few are billionaires. Quite many others are our leaders in the Assembly Houses and the Parliament Houses. And a few others are religious beggars, a very fascinating lot they are: they provide us with our daily sustenance of fun.
Five individuals in my country possess assets worth Rs 5,23,897 crore rupees. Mukesh Ambani's wealth amounts to Rs 1,49,474 crore rupees. But he will sell our petroleum abroad and not give it to us. That's called "the Gujarat model of development". For more about India's wealth and beggary, read the report by Wealth-X.
"Don't be a spoilsport," says M. "Let us celebrate our Independence."
OK. I don't want to burst the balloons on Rajpath. Quite a few crore rupees of the taxpayers in India have been spent on those balloons, I know. Let the black ghosts in Swiss Banks rest in peace too. If we can bury the father of the nation in peace, we can also bury the black money in peace. Or vice versa. And we, the ordinary people, should learn to bargain on Jan Path.
Happy Independence Day.
Let the emperor have his way. Let him call the Tribal Chiefs for his coronation and have parties. And then let him go to the borders and hurl challenges.
We have an emperor. That is more important. Not a dumb Prime Minister. We have an emperor who can hurl challenges to the neighbouring enemy. We have nuclear bombs too to show off. We are in a position to hunt heads.
Jai Ho! Let us be happy.
Happy Independence Day.
Happy Independence Day to you too
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteI wish being independent was the same as staying independent. :/
ReplyDeleteDr Chinmoy, did we ever become independent? When the British left, we started killing ourselves in the name of religion. Colonial slavery gave way to religious slavery. Then we learnt to live with it. Now, with the new govt at the centre, I think we will see a reenactment of the drama that Khushwant Singh depicted in 'A Train to Pakistan'.
DeleteHappy independence day..nyc post
ReplyDeleteThanks, Aparna. Wish you too a wonderful Independence Day.
DeleteIf we test countries' independence on Late Mohandas K Gandhi's criteria then no country would be declared as independent. It suddenly reminds me of that dialogue of the movie, Yeswant, where Nana says "Sau me se assi beiman fir bhi mera desh mahan." Anyway, Happy Independence Day!
ReplyDeleteNice observation Ravish. Now the ratio will be different; assi must be nabe. Even the economic ratio changed proportionately, you know. It used to be 80:20, meaning 20% f the population owned 80% of wealth; now it is 90:20, soon it will be 99:1 !
DeleteHappy Independence Day.
Scathing enough!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't help it, Brendan. Sorry for bringing such thoughts that don't match the occasion. That's why I'm a called a moron by some people. :)
DeleteHappy independence day sir :)... do you think India would have been more prosperous had it been still under the ruling of British ??? May be a completely different question but I wonder if independence has really made us independent!!!!
ReplyDeleteShruti,
DeleteNo. The British were in India not for making India prosperous, but for making the Great Britain greater.
But their departure, unfortunately, didn't give us "independence". We have become more slavish now.
Truly said if the last person of the society won't get the feeling of Happy Independence Day, it won't be a happy Independence Day, just now published a blog on the same. Hope you will like it.
ReplyDeleteAlok, I completed reading a novel yesterday and have reviewed it today in my latest blog. It speaks about the human urge to create a better world. My endeavour, limited as it is, is the same: strive for a better world. Empower people to hope and dream as also to materialise the dream. Thanks for sharing your post with us.
Deleteoh! Few words and many meanings. :)
ReplyDeleteGreetings!
Greetings to you too, Indrani. Thanks.
DeleteHappy Independence Day
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at some comments wishing gladly when the entire post is a satirical scathing attack on the state of affairs. Is it just my lack of clarity or did some not get the moot point of the post?
ReplyDeleteSorry if this offends someone...