Truly Madly Deeply (20 page)

You ask me why? Well this was the very same topic that I had rehearsed for and practiced last year as it was expected then but what had actually come up was ‘Privatisation of education: boon or bane?' Nevertheless, who says knowledge goes waste? Haha… you can imagine the adrenaline rushing in my blood then. I had a steady smile on my face after the announcement of this topic and was very excited (I toppled a chair while trying to attempt a joyful stunt). I quickly jotted down most of the points, I could gather in the library. I saw the Green house team on their way to the auditorium when I was on my way to the staffroom to meet Dorothy ma'am. When I first noticed, Seema was leading them in but till the time I reached the door, she was gone, the other chipmunks remained.

“Ready for another painful loss, are we?” I mocked them.

“Rahul, I think you should wait for the play to begin,” Azra said.

“Ah, we'll see what you all are made of today, won't we?”
I laughed.

Asif held back Azra just as she was about to reply something.

“Rahul, let us go to the stage with a sporting spirit,” Asif
said softly.

“No, buddy. This is war and let your commander know that I'm going to sink your ship before it can set sail. I have quite some canons down there,” I said, pointing to my balls. “Be ready with the house-cup.”

I think I overdid it as usual but who cares? I passed my enthusiasm and confidence to my group, especially Jess who was participating in a debate for the first time (so it was not just going to be Rahul v/s Seema, you see, two best friends were also competing.) Hmmm …but I know Seema is better than her in every department. Jess had a slight …ahem, ahem …major advantage on her side this time as I was or rather she is in my house.

As I was going back to the auditorium, I bumped into Dorothy ma'am, who told me that this year we had to win the house-cup and conquering the debate will give us a major lead.

“Beware of the Green! They are a strong team with Seema. She's already won a national level sponsored event for the school a couple of years back,” she forewarned.

I knew then she would soon be the national chimp, but this I did not mouth.

“Yes, she might be but she has not faced me yet,” was all that I said.

Honestly, I have never seen her open her mouth as much as to shout on someone, she always gives up an argument too soon,
DEBATE? Huh!

I entered the auditorium with Dorothy ma'am. The seating arrangement was circular for both groups with five members each on the two extremes. Between the vacant spaces was the microphone that we were supposed to ‘shout' our views into and behind the speaker's back would be the moderators presiding over the discussion.

The higher secondary students were the only ones allowed to witness the competition and I was pretty much ok with that, because this category contained both Seema's and my classmates but that would also mean additional pressure of performance. Phew!

Anyways coming back to the scenario, D'lima ma'am and Wilfred Sir were the moderators and they made it clear that no participant would speak for more than three minutes. We strategised and came upon the decision that I would go in to speak after Seema had done her part. She was their main speaker, I was ours.

Seema's matter was ruddy brilliant, I must agree. She had done her homework well and researched up the good side of the debate. She highlighted the nation's progress in the past five and a half decades through the concept of democracy, green and white revolutions, nuclear deal, unity, respect for women like nowhere else in the world, higher income, emerging sportsmen, rising economy, culture, tradition, etc. and took some names saying that they were the lions of the country, ruling the nation to ensure better progress.

Nazia and Jess whispered in my ear that Seema had performed her part brilliantly. All I did was smile, nothing more. I guess I gave away a bit of my game plan there as the Princi saw me smiling from the judgement chairs and smiled along with me. Hope he was not thinking that I have lost it! I did notice Seema's verbal and nonverbal cues, I really liked the way she manoeuvred her voice to suit whatever she was saying but the show was yet to begin! The audience cheered for her as she went back to her seat and I hoped that they would save the power of their lungs for later.

D'lima ma'am and Wilfred Sir would tell the speakers to face the audience, even if they glanced at their opponents from the corner of their eye. I guess they forgot to do so in my case or was it just because they went half-deaf, half-dumb hearing the roar of the crowd when I walked to the microphone, blatantly observing Green's body language. The teachers got up to calm them down. Dorothy ma'am had to leave soon midway as she had a lecture in the sixth grade. Apparently, she missed what was to follow and so I began,

“Let me tell you one thing about democracy.” Seema straightened up; I realised my index finger was moving towards her direction, I quickly used it to scratch the nearest part of my body, in this case, my ribs (lest you get any other ideas.)

“Democracy is a Government meant for the people as it is by the people, of the people and with the people. Since, we are getting all the people common here; through common sense we can say it is benefitting the people! But mind you, it isn't my friends, it isn't!” my voice roared, stopping just a moment to absorb in the reaction.

The crowd egged me on. I don't know what it is about us Indians who simply love every form of aggression whether be it street brawls or henpecks having it from their wives, I mean coming from me, it sounds unusual but still who would appreciate the quite methods of Dravid if all were to go gaga over Sehwag's sixer. But if this crowd wanted a show fukat mein, I would ensure I gave them the time of their lives.

“Today's Government is a selfish entity that claims profits through corruption and bribery and multi-million scams that go unnoticed lawfully. It stalks us for its own motives like a hungry lion stalks its prey…” I stumbled for words as I eyed Seema.

After what seemed like a seconds pause all that came from my mouth was, “…Not like the hungry lions my dear friend from the Green house just said.”

Almost half the people including the teachers present there laughed openly. I even saw Paul, the peon, sniggering. Ever since when did he come to know about us, eh?

Anyways my mental finger kept itself pointed towards her and wondering why I stopped, I started.

“The politicians of this country crave for money like a hungry lion craves for food – (I don't know why only the damn hungry lion kept coming back to my mind, maybe because I was just beginning to feel some pangs in my tummy. Have to tell mummy to make breakfast more yummy!) – No one can keep an account of the revenue of the nation when the money is adroitly drifted into their own pockets and who has to bear the brunt of it, honest people like you and me, good Samaritans who are punctual tax-payers of the nation. Old sticklers... sorry… I mean aged, conventional people who are not mentally and physically fit to rule us – (Frankly speaking, all they do is warm their seats for their long tenures and eventually even their seats get dilapidated with the amount of money they hog in illegally and the only way it comes out is by tilting their huge pot-bellied frames to one side and emitting poisonous gases that not only damage their beloved seats but also the nation as a whole and then they shout ‘Global Warming.' Hallelujah! I was not going to say it aloud because no one was game enough to hear it!) – The younger lot of leaders are either internally scrubbed off their modern values or are cornered by the seniors of their parties, to act in a manner which they deem to be correct. Today many of these selfish politicians are preying on the nation itself – (belching corruption and farting discontent!) – Disgusting, horrible and the most ugly to describe it!”

I stopped a bit to soak in the reaction. Politics is clearly a not so happening topic in our young blood. I could clearly see many students yawning. Some might have been discussing the new Shakira video amongst themselves, the one shown on MTV these days. Bloody fuckers, if it was a porno movie featuring an interracial orgy, their eyes might have ogled out and ears might have become sensitive, even to ultrasonic sounds including the oohs and aahs but not for causes of the nation. Hrmpf …youth power indeed!

I thought now was the time to open the trump card and awaken the LION – basking in its pride and hungry of course, for victory, and displaying its prowess – within me, pounce upon the opponents (not literally!) and bring them down.

Anyways, my voice rose up again in a challenging manner. Seema was scratching her notebook with a pen. One look at her and the image of me holding the house-cup was reignited.

“Oh… oww… oww! You talk about unification or unity in diversity, as you prefer to call it. Yeah? I ask you, where did the so-called unity disappear during the Godhra incident? Take a look in the past and you will find that India really did lack the so-called brotherly feeling during the 92-93' Mumbai riots. When it settles down and the media decides to put their attention on something else, we say that everything is fine but what about the lives lost, what about the wives widowed and the children orphaned?

“Kashmir is part of our country but it looks good only on paper. When we keep blaming Pakistan of sending terrorists across the border, do we ever ask ourselves what role have we played in disturbing the sanctity of that place? The spot often compared with heaven on Earth is the breeding ground of terrorism in the country. Clashes between the public and the law are as common as potholes on Indian roads.

“Why just Kashmir? Take any state today which can claim to have a stabilised Government. Unfortunately, there are none, something or the other keeps coming up for us to claim internal peace. ‘We are Maharashtrians!' some proudly say, pushing away people of their own country. Evidently, they forget that the land of a country's territory belongs to the nation first and later to the state. Political parties attack media houses for expressing their views in a democracy. Some extremists even gang up against the young blood of the country, just because they socialise in the name of a few westernised events. Can they claim to have children who would be tied up in their homes doing nothing but washing utensils? The Naxalite movement in the north-east is spreading fast and taking into its trap, not just the poor tribals in the belt but also the law and order of the state and what do our ministers have to say about it? Well, one says we take them head-on and exterminate them whereas the others are divided in their opinions and needless to say, some are not even aware of the magnitude of the problem!

“Just by becoming a nuclear power, doesn't exactly make you a developed nation. We challenged each other on nuclear deal, for some it was really the matter of one clause while the others just wanted to show that they were against the US. Of what use is the development if it is defined by instilling fear in other countries? There is a vast difference between fear and respect and we are a long way from commanding the latter. It merely satisfies the ego of a few political stalwarts, does nothing for the people. How strange it is that the house of these hedonic stalwarts is filled with all the luxuries of life, right from plasma televisions to Swiss bank accounts. So how will they notice the tonnes of food grains rotting in the northern belt? Each grain is worth a token of happiness to the hungry stomachs of the poor and yet, the Government has no space to store it but has the audacity to let it rot without distributing it amongst the needy. In a country which is primarily still an agrarian economy; farmers are committing suicides by the dozens in regions around us. Their hands are tied not by ropes but by the greed of the intermediaries that the system has generated, who eat up the farmer's income while it is on its way into his hands. It is only natural that the rich become richer and the poor beg for a living and yet, we live in an era of ignorance.

“How bizarre it is to see the temples plundered, the mosques demolished and the churches ransacked of a land that housed greats like Asoka, Shahjahan and Mother Teresa. All that we get to hear now is Muslims killed, Hindus looted, Christians raped and if you don't believe me then you can most certainly tune the ‘Chain se sona hai to jag jao' types channel on your idiot boxes. There is breaking news of such an extent multiple times every day! From a celebrity, who could not sleep last night to a gay marriage in the West and from stupid superstitions like an idol drinking milk to a B-grade actress announcing her marriage on reality TV, everything makes news. Dog bites man is no news but man bites dog is a sensation unless the dog bites some Bollywood demi-god.

“More such nonsense comes in the name of religion. If a bomb explodes in Delhi, Muslims did it, if someone opened gunfire in a crowded place in Mumbai; the prime suspect is anyone who has a beard. In the name of TADA and POTA, how many innocents were put behind bars, how many households deprived of their bread earners? Why this brazen stereotyping on the basis of caste and creed? Why do we still believe that if some members of a community have the wrong ideologies, the others from the same sect are also following them? Just because they chose to stay back in their land during partition – which was in reality the divide between Hindus and Muslims and not just two nations – can we term them spies of the enemy? The fault is primarily ours, for pushing them to their limits, causing them to be brainwashed by opportunists of destruction. The very aim of terrorist groups like the Lashkar and the Al Qaida is to cause distrust amongst people and they don't care if it comes at the expense of their own community. We are suspicious of neighbours, colleagues and friends and all in the name of alertness! Whom are we kidding by replacing suspicion with alertness? So, where is the unity in diversity?” The crowds were up on their feet again. I could feel myself trembling a bit. I strengthened my grip on the microphone for support.