A New India… a NEW Democracy!!!

It happened to me a few days before the festival of Makar Sankranti, I was shopping with my mother for a bed-spread when I took a turn and had to stop my car 'coz there it was, a fancy looking Honda Accord parked right in the center of street leaving no room for any vehicle to pass. In response to my honking car horn (an activity we all do whenever we feel bored and want to create some music to amuse ourselves without realizing the inconvenience it causes to others, and of-course, why should we think about them…we Indians are musical creatures and art knows no barriers…be it a silence zone in front of hospital or an empty road in the middle of night…we live in a FREE INDIA now!) a young man came forward and moved a few chairs, which were placed on the road by the shop owner in order to serve his customers better (and let me tell you, he still thinks it is THE correct thing to do, as he owns the corner shop, so he has all the right to use the road next to it, after-all he pays road tax too…dosen’t he??). Anyways after the chairs were moved I was able to come out of the street on to the main road. All this honking horn sort of disturbed a few synapses among the neurons in my traditional Indian brain and I, then UNconventionally parked my car on the side of the road and came out looking for the proud owner of new Accord. I could not find him but did get a few words of advice from people there: to move on and not be concerned about where the other people park their cars…as my car had come out of the street and I had nothing to do with it now. Seeing the local support for the “traditionally” parked car my mom advised me to move on…and needless to say, I did get a long lecture on – “it is India and not US”.

Anyways, the damage to my neurons lasted a little longer then it should have and I went out again to reserve a ticket for my cousin. I was standing there in line (patiently trying to avoid a fight with the person standing right behind me, who, attracted by the gravitational force of my body was leaning all over me even when there was a lot of space to stand and no rush) and suddenly my nostrils caught a scent of goldflake (or 555 chap bedi…whatever!!) and I got curious to know who was the daredevil smoking in public…as I had full faith on law and order system in DEMOCRATIC India. I turned around and saw a group of 7-8 people sitting and smoking in the middle of road having a nice conversation, while there was a poor guy signaling them to get aside as he had to go…I felt pitty for him as he was old and probably had Alzhimer’s…it was only obvious…you can not ward off people like these off the streets and go your way just by honking…they are not cows and dogs…they know their rights and they use them…any Indian in proper state of mind would know this. So, after getting reservation I went to the group and asked them the reason for smoking in public place, when it was banned. The reply I got was beautiful: “we live in free and democratic India. We will do, what we like. If there is such a law then we are protesting against it!” Wow!! Still having faith in our system I went up to the police van parked nearby (supposedly to control acts like these and maintain proper traffic on the streets) and asked a constable standing there the reason for letting such acts happen right under their nose, and again, the response was amazing. I was told that they know of no such law and even if it was there in India, it was still not implemented in Jaipur!!! And as if this was not enough, taking out a cigarette from his pocket he advised me to go and close the tobacco industry all-together. I could certainly have given a befitting reply to that, but I had enough of cerebral function left, so taking a cue about my status in the “civilized society” I came back.

Synapses among my neurons were coming back to their normal positions…and I was learning the meaning of new “democracy”. Only I was not able to make up my mind about the recent events and so I turned up to my solution of all troubled times-songs and as luck would have it…I got an instant answer to all my questions…the song was “a new day has come”. The country which had contributed so much to the history of democracy is now becoming ready to give to the world, a NEW definition of Democracy!! Jai Hind!! (to be cont...)