When retrograde is progressive...

A nation on the brink, ruled by people living in an eternal flashback...a flashback would have been far better than the present state of affairs.

Long gone are the days when India used to be a proverbial "golden nest", aplace where science, philosophy and religion flourished, when India was the nerve centre of education and trade. After a lean patch, it truly seemed for a while that "India Shining" was more than just a gimmick. A recent Newsweek survey reveals that the maximum number of respondents (33%) in a survey on which country would produce the best engineers 10 years hence, voted for India. Our demographic is more than impressive, with a working populace of well over half the total, India should today be at a crucial juncture, at a point of take off.

There is global as well as domestic optimism about the future of our nation, but is everything as hunky-dory as it seems? Hardly. Take a look at most of the news items in our papers and the optimism will decay exponentially. While the semblance of progress is maintained, there is deep reaching rot in our psyche. Each day, we become less tolerant as a society, each day we justify untenable foolishness, each day we drive a nail in the coffin of our country. What brought on this piece is the recent banning of so called "adult content" from satellite television channels. Another one in a string of forcing a conscience on every mature person, of every citizen.

The attempts at moral policing were first comical, then irritating, and have now reached the level of downright abhorrence. How long can we let out choices and morality be dictated to us? Aren't these issues of purely personal preference? Why do I need to be told to not do a gazillion odd things some freak finds "morally offensive" and "against our culture"?

The point is how long we intend to keep yielding to this, and where will the line be drawn? If the nation is going to continue along the same path, people who wish to settle abroad can hardly be blamed to want to be leaving this place. Let me not even get started on reservations, which are going to make sure that all talent is forced to leave this country even if they dont want to, purely because he sees incapable people doing better than him. It seems to be fashionable to be a reactionary, to be impractical and stubborn, to hinder progress in any way possible, then be it religion or "culture".

The irony of this situation can escape no one, in light of just having celebrated our 59th Independence Day a few days back. We are destined to remain a third world nation, after all, we are the ones who want it that way...

Oblivion

A large room preferably, with most of the area at the centre cleared off. Close the windows, draw the curtains. Close the doors. Reach for the light switches. Even the fans. All turned off? Now raise your hand, bring it till your face till you can feel your breath. Do you see it? If yes, you're doing something wrong, check for that small sliver of light from under some door, a gap in the blinds perhaps. Done? Good.

Try and make your way back to the centre of the room, dont grab on anything. Just stand. Close your eyes. Now open them. How do you know they're open? Blink. Turn around a few times. Do you know which direction you're facing in? Where are you? Is the ground still beneath your feet? You feel like your falling, falling into an endless void, falling into oblivion.

Be quiet. Listen. To your heart, your breathing. The steady beat of your heart, in the percussion section. Move your hand through the darkness, smooth as satin, slipping like silk from between your fingers. Listen very carefully, hear the rustling sound. Your mind plays games with you, a light breeze feels like a hurricane tearing through your consciousness. Each sound amplified a million times, completing the symphony of the night along with your heart.

Are you afraid? Do you feel the beads of sweat on your forehead? There is nothing, nobody around...but the mind, yet again, plays games. What is it that you fear? The nothingness, the oblivion? The feeling of chaos in order, of delirium standing still, of absolute cluelessness though you know perfectly well - or think you do - of where you are?

Be afraid. Close your eyes, again. Listen, again. Unknowingly, your lips curl into a smile, you open your eyes. You feel the darkness wash all over you, a cold shudder makes its way through your body, the head, the shoulders, right upto the toes. It is then that you see - there is such beauty in it! Beauty in simplicity personified. Mission accomplished. Make your way back to the switches, grappling around. See your world, seemingly originating from thin air, originating from oblivion...

Silk, symphony, simplicity...how had you missed it all these years?