Thousands of words may be spent comparing China to India. But then, India is a democracy. And I have always been appreciative of this fact. And articles like this, confirm my faith in the Great Indian Tamasha called Democracy.
But then, if I spend a minute or two pondering over this … Are we any different at all? Isn’t this an almost normal affair during every Indian election? Doesn’t this happen everyday of the year in Bihar, UP and the rest of the cow belt? Well, it is true that in India this event would have warranted much more coverage, with a slew of gruesome pictures to drive home the point. And after all the pics, nothing would happen.
But then, if I spend a minute or two pondering over this … Are we any different at all? Isn’t this an almost normal affair during every Indian election? Doesn’t this happen everyday of the year in Bihar, UP and the rest of the cow belt? Well, it is true that in India this event would have warranted much more coverage, with a slew of gruesome pictures to drive home the point. And after all the pics, nothing would happen.
Damn these thoughts. I’m no longer sure. Are we, the world’s largest democracy, in any way different from China, the world’s largest non-democracy?? Agreed, we can express our pain freely. But, does that alone make our pain and plight any less? Has the greater freedom helped us achieve a greater quality of life?
And, do we “really” have greater freedom? Or rather, does our “greater freedom”, really mean anything concrete? Possibly. But that would need much more thought. And time. And another separate post. And that is not going to be now.
