There was seething anger all around... Tempers were flying around... Sense of utter hopelessness and dejection giving vent to sheer frustration at the failure and futility of the system abounded... In short there was palpable tension among the people...
Here if I do nt give you a clue you are apt to run away with the impression of a write up of about yet another " Main Anna Hoon" rally and its associated hullabaloo . The scene was not really a lift up of India Against Corruption Campaign but was from the Studio of NDTV where Barkha Dutt was having a public forum to debate on the dastardly murder of Keenan Santos, Reuben Fernandes on 20th Oct, 2011 in a very populated area of India's financial capital and the heartthrob of many - Mumbai meri Jaan...
The story in short is as follows:
"On 20 October 2011 Keenan Santos, Reuben Fernandes and a group of their
friends, who were standing outside Amboli Kitchen and Bar, in Mumbai,
were assaulted by a mob. The assault was in retaliation to an
altercation between Reuben & Keenan’s friends and a member of the
mob, who was drunk and had fallen over one of the girls in the group. In
the fight that followed, Keenan Santos was killed and Reuben Fernandes
succumbed to his injuries 13 days later at a hospital in Mumbai"...
The rest of the story told in media time and again and discussed widely unfolded in the studio.. Keenan and Santos were murdered brutally in front of around 40 people who chose to be silent spectators and bystanders to the whole gory spectacle...
Is this the modern India we are living in..
Can life be worse under, lets say, some syphilitic dictator in Sub Saharan Africa..
Is it the same India which boasts of its rich human capital.. Human capital for what... Using your education and learning for earning a miserable livelihood.. Whatever happened to values, ethics, standing up against injustice and respect for human life which comes naturally with education...
In the show the father of Keenan was called who said that he is proud of what he's son had done and had no regret. Some of the panelist and audience commented that in such a situation one should always weigh the option and if the battle is 'unwinable' then it is better to quit.
To this the valiant father had the following reply " I understand that my son and his friend could have quitted and left from the scene...and that would have been the end of the matter which otherwise resulted in such a costly price... But just imagine, these goons would have got encouraged further and this would have led to a shift in attitude slowly of Mumbai which prides itself on its non partisan and gender friendly culture"...
Heavy and idealistic word... eh... And that too coming from the father of a son who lost his life barely few days ago..
I think as a society we have become so apathetic and 'comfortably numb' and "if- the -incidence- does -not- affect- me- I -really -am -not -bothered -with -whatever -the -hell -happens- to- others" attitude is one day going to land us God knows where.
Each era and generation has stood for something worthwhile and path breaking for which the coming generation remembers them proudly... For India the pre independence era marked zealous and patriotic Indian sacrificing their life for what they believe would be a free and progressive India. The period from Independence to the 70s was marked with people who dedicated worked as one for nation building through technology, industrialisation and education. Late 70s saw our parents' generation stood up against the tyranny of emergency and the threat to the very edifice of our independence and freedom. The 80s saw the path breaking revolution in the form of 'Green Revolution', 'White Revolution' and making India the super power... The 90s saw Economic liberalisation the fruits of which all of us reaped. But come 2000 and the subsequent decade, when it came for our generation to give back something it was totally found wanting. Have we grown so selfish, self centred and self obsessed that we do not see anything beyond 'me, mine and myself'... Only when tragedy strikes us that we roll our eyes in exclamation, carry out our candle marches and cry ourselves hoarse of ' mein Anna hoon'.. That is as much as we can do... What do you say.. Symbolism.. Think whatever you have to.. We care the least.. In the same way we do to numbers of injustices, violations and gross misuse of powers in our state, city and neighbourhood each day..
Till such time that we are physically subjugated and colonised like the Bristish did, we shall be happy and continue to be carefree, easy going, mall visiting, multiplex viewing and India shinning aam aadmi...
As for the murder, I feel sorry.. But itnin herogiri karne ki kya zaroorrat thi... g/f ko impress kar rahein honge.. ab gaye na kaam se... on another front bro tell me one thing which I even shudder to think... how so many people just stood there... Really brave of them.. For me I would have run away from so much gore and blood...
And do nt worry, now that you have told us the story, we will create a facebook page and do some 'viral marekting' of the issue on Twitter.. And yes.. we shall take out a candle march also... See dats d most I can do.. For a no good couch potato who is 24x7 glude to his computer/T.V set this is the most I can do...
In the meanwhile the words of Keenan's father reverberates asking for answer on why his young son was killed in cold blood for something that was right and was the most logical thing to do...
