My silence over the past couple of months mark my sadness at the current state of decadence in our existence. I was prompted by a lot of well wishers to pen my thoughts on the current turmoil in the country and elsewhere. But I cannot help but let my memories travel back to the 70s and 80s and feel the pain and anguish at the bankruptcy of morality of the present generation of youth.
There was a time when the youth across the world raised their voice against the American atrocities in Vietnam. Poetry and music fazed the globe with its anti-colonial rhetoric. Students marched down the streets of Paris, Athens, New York and Kolkata, the vibes the same, the rhythm same and the goal was the same. The universality of youth transcended geographical and linguistic boundaries. The 60s and 70s saw the birth of new art forms led by the Parisians. The new age cinema saw a whole new set of Indian film makers challenging the existing order of song and dance sequences created by the traditional filmmakers and endorsed by the establishment.
In the midst of the craving for a new world order, a not so well known member of the then communist party of India, called on the youth to wage a war on the state. The prudence was questionable and the intentions unclear. The time was such, the emotions were bursting at the seams and reasoning was a thing for the weak. Several million youth believed this to be the clarion call. Ideology was true, intentions were genuine but the reality was different. In a bid to counter the state, run by stooges of neo-colonial countries, they fantasised of a world described in the imagination of Marx and Lenin. A world which never saw the light of the day.
After the success of the Bangladesh war in 1971, the Indian army was asked to march through the jungles of Bihar, Bengal and Orissa, where thousands of brilliant minds with dreams in their eyes were hiding in the wait for a new world to bloom. The fantasy of youth was crushed by the brute force of state power, military, paramilitary, police and goons of the then ruling party. The jungles of Bengal, the streets of Kolkata and the expanse of keonjadh and koraput were soaked in the blood of a million dreams. A genocide never witnessed before. A country annihilating it’s own flesh and blood. The greatest minds, the selfless souls and the honest dreams of a nation were decapitated without hesitation. The nation silently witnessed its own carnage.
When we look at the current state of the country, we realise that we had wiped out our future in one fateful move, crushing a million dreams. The youth aspire for a better tomorrow. They might not be correct in their means but they are not wrong in asking for one. When we have killed the tigers and lions in the jungle, we are only left with hyenas preying on their blood and flesh. If you kill Bhagat Singhs and Subhash Boses of the world, you will obviously be left with the Gandhis and Nehrus.
I don’t see any resonance of honesty, aspiration or brilliance in the youth of the day. The considerations are not about giving a better life to the deprived, but the battle lines are drawn along religions and caste. When we grew up in the 60s to 80s in Bengal, we did not know how to judge each other based on religion or caste. Until today this concept is alien to me. The world is fragmented along lines of narrow identity. The youth today is what is left after elimination of brilliance three decades back. What is left of the LEFT, is bankruptcy of thoughts, ideals and morality. In India, everything said and done, religion doesn’t discriminate. Poverty does. At the end of the day, in the unabridged version of capitalism, its money which speaks. Dwelling on eradication of poverty is the luxury of the rich and not the right of the poor.
Why is there silence over International terrorism launched by Russia and America far and wide! Why is your dislike for me likely to annihilate me while the world watches in silence! Why don’t I crave for the golden mist on the young daisies any more! Why has the world sold it’s soul to the few and mighty! If change is the only constant, I shall wait for the young minds to change the way they think of the world within their narrow limits of perks and packages. I shall wait for the youth to rediscover themselves for the sake of our survival. I shall wait for them to take the stage occupied by Hynkels and say it loud and clear that ‘ I am sorry, I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone.
We want to live by each other’s happiness.
Not by each other’s misery.
We don’t want to hate and despise one another.
And this world has room for everyone, and the good Earth is rich can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.’
I shall wait for fallen Hannahs to look up at the sky without the veil that hide their dreams, our dreams, the dream of the mankind for a better tomorrow. We shall wait——.
A Doctor's Dairy 