Disillusioned

Yesterday, as I spent more than an hour in my car navigating the many traffic jams that had proliferated in the rain, I saw a disquieting event. At a jammed-for-miles traffic intersection, there suddenly appeared a cavalcade of old Ambassadors with flashing red and blue lights, which then proceeded to take the wrong side of the road, speeding away to their destinations. Traffic from the other side was disrupted, the people who had been waiting in line for more than 20 minutes kept sitting there in their vehicles like idiots, and the policemen manning the intersection did nothing except wave the cavalcade forward.

This led me fuming - why is it that my time is always considered less precious than some likely corrupt, illiterate, venal, small time thug? Why are rules only for me, and not for this same person? I remember an ad on radio during election time talking about the "garibon ka massiah" Kanwar Singh Tanwar, the BSP candidate from South Delhi. This very same thug's son recently crushed 2 people to death in his speeding BMW, which he was driving in an inebriated state.

The thought led to many other (I had lots of time to kill in the jam), and I realized that everywhere, in every sphere, the Indian state has failed. I look at the Commonwealth Games fiasco, and feel ashamed. I look at the big dug-up holes that pass for in-process-of-beautification roads in Connaught Place, and dont know how to explain it to myself. The latest on these holes is that the contractors have given up on getting them repaired in time, so they will be filled back with mud, and 'beautified' AFTER the Games are over. Meanwhile, Kalmadi and his ilk line up their pockets with Rs 11,000 crores, delivering leaking stadia, substandard roads, and shoddy pavements. The RWA in my colony spends its precious time getting petitions for cutting trees so that they can create yet another cemented parking lot for their third cars. Meanwhile, every rain, the lane outside gets flooded and breeds slush and dengue carrying mosquitoes.

The Indian state is failing. No - this is beyond the state. Indian society is failing. There is little I can do about it. I am not sure if the reason is poor governance and systems or Indians themselves. The 'real' India of the villages still believes in male chauvanism, caste based 'khap' panchayats, feudalism and illiteracy. The 'elite' Indians living in cities like Delhi are rapists, totally selfish, corrupt, narrow minded and a threat to social living.

I can ignore all this and keep going through my daily grind (as I have been for ages). I do not know what else I can do?