In response to Arundhati Roy’s recent interview on CNN IBN, with Karan Thapar!!...
A friend posted this link today on his Facebook profile. As much as I had wanted to, I hadn’t watched it on TV. So, I was quite grateful for the written version’s link (couldn’t ever stand Karan Thapar- his voice, body language, tactics, accent and just the whole self :-S ). As I was reading the interview, I started laughing and felt like leaving a comment on his profile. Eventually the comment turned out as long as it did. Thus, posting it here now. Grin
I've never been able to understand these Lefties! ...They all just seem really regressive, narrow-minded, stubborn, 'articulate', 'artsy' (read pseudo artistic…they’d be wearing Khadi, chunky silver silver Jewellery and big bindis on their foreheads…while drinking the best French Wines and Scottish Scotches, at all their meetings, get-together and conventions!! *sheesh*), and utterly and shamelessly pessimistic for some reason!! As if they in fact have something against concepts like things like growth & development, science & research, prosperity etc. :-X
Most of them seem to be 'high'.
Most of them... Read more (women I mean), misunderstand that as per 'Feminism' means 'freedom and empowerment for women' (which is true)...but they seem to think because of this all feminists should rally against bra-companies as well, since they tie a women down... whereas it was only the ancient 'corsets' that used to be designed to 'mould' a women as per society's 'ideal image (read vital stats) of them! How retarded is that?? When the modern day bras are actually the only scientific method available for support...the lack of which, can even cause breast cancer! Go figure!! *rolls her eyes*
A few facts, the lady in question, didn't get right:
1) Poor are not getting poorer and poorer; Thanks to Globalisation, lakhs of poor people, from villages, small towns as well as big cities have gained employment.
* Plus, all MNCs have to abide by the govt's rule, according to which, each work place must employ, at least a certain percentage of 'locals'... so not just as labour, but the poor have actually also been getting hired as technicians, who are given On-The-Job-Trainings, thereafter. Furthermore, as per the regulation at least, fertile lands are not taken in and converted into giant factories. Corrupt govt officials- yes- they pass a lot of fertile lands onto companies. So the real culprit is corruption. Not democracy! :-X
* And how can one forget the not-so-old, Rural Employment Guarantee Act itself?
* Thanks to BPOs countless of the 'poor' have gotten jobs... my own house-help's daughter works at a Cellphone company's BPO. :-S
* Thanks to the govt's agressive quota systems, all the 'technicians' and 'servicing' people who you meet when you get your fridge/tv/computer/etc. fixed/serviced/installed, are actually these very poor people... ask one where he lives the next time you come across one such person, and you'll know yourself!
* The real reason why we still have a LOT of poverty in out country is rather the Population problem... a simple solution could be that each parent gets 'taxed' for every pregnancy after two kids... This way, the govt makes more money to get some infrastructure, education and health-aid everywhere as well. A lot of people just don't understand things, or even paying any attention (to the family welfare ads, here) unless you start charging them. See how quickly the population would come under control. SIMPLE. :D
* We all know, that ALL of the govt jobs now, are completely out of our reach... thanks to the same quota system, which would give these jobs to the SC,ST,OBC,handicap (which is very fair as a matter of fact) and minority first... the handful of the remaining jobs would go to the relations of the existing govt employees/officials/ministers.... Having said that-- this is NOT a Left/Right/Neutral issue...rather a simple case of corruption. :/
2) Court and Media being undemocratic? How can she possibly say this right after 26/11, when we all saw how the authorities had sent out 'regulations' to the Media... for the first time ever?
* When only recently, judges have been asked to have all their assets listed out of the govt websites.
* How can anyone go conveniently blind on all that's being done..and ONLY focus of whats lacking...especially when things are actually better now! How pessimistic is that? Sure we're not where we should/could have been...but we're getting there. I know it! *refuses to see it with their Leftist negativity-tinted glasses* :p
3) All the Dalits and Adivasis are actually in states, where they have Leftist govts. :-S ...I rest my case :p (case of corruption again...NOT a wrong-doing of democracy!)
4) Se very conveniently dodged the Soviet Union and China referrals, when questioned if she prefers Socialism over Democracy. :p
* Yes Ms. Roy, in theory, every single theory of the world, does and would seem like the most 'just' language/way... How otherwise do you think the Middle East and its terroristic ways of 'all who don't follow Allah should be killed' theory, has as many followers, as it does... Like I said, every single theory DOES seem really 'right', especially, when its on the 'other side' (the 'grass being greener' thingie)
5) The 'vast portion of people', she talks about, are in fact the ones who refuse to the importance of sending their children (especially daughters) to school.
* The same people also are the ones who practice MOST of the female foeticides.
* They are also the ones who do not even want to try modern medicine and still rely on the cave-man's way of cures.
* The same people, are also the ones who refuse to let their women any kind of importance/identity/life.
* Men, from the same section of people are the ones who would rather send their women to clean dishes in the homes of other people and have a 'quarter' each night with that money, than work even a little on their own! :-S
* As a matter of fact, this very same portion of people she talks about, are the ones, who refuse to even let any Law and Order or Welfare officials on their lands. They refuse to let anyone else rule them and continue to live and pass judgements through their own archaic rituals and 'panchayats'. (remember the 'honour killings' feature from last week, anyone??)
* Wonder what her responses would be on these.
6) She doesn’t want Democracy and Globalization to be fused… Meaning, she prefers the Chinese sweat-shops?? *blink blink*
7) Can’t believe she actually says Democracy is to be blamed for the terrorism in Kashmir, Gujarat and with the Sikhs!! *wondering if she should give up trying to help anyone understand Ms. Roy’s delusions…she just has SO many of them*
8) Wonder if the Prime Minister had not apologized, what her retort would have been… “Imagine, your parents get killed and the govt doesn’t even bother to apologize’!!
9) No one has ‘only’ been patting themselves on the back for ‘what all we have achieved’… during each election campaign, at every parliamentary session and even otherwise… all officials and ministers are answerable for every single fault- corruption, terrorism, crime-rates, draught/famine/floods, literacy-rates, etc etc… In fact, they are even called ‘Public Servants’. That’s what a Democracy means Ms. Roy! I highly doubt that the highest official of a city in Soviet Union or China was ever called a ‘Public Servant’! :l
10) Yes Ms. Roy. For all these years, no one has paid any attention to you and your nonviolent movements… and that’s why you are as big a celebrity as you are today! (Yeah right!! LOL)
11) The Maoist terrorism which started a couple of months in India, actually became such big news because mostly their own fellow villagers were being killed by them. Not the Law and Order forces. They started with and still continue to kill civilians. :/
12) Again, amazing the way she dodged the question, ‘If the Maoists and the poor are justified in taking up arms, then is the State, particularly the state where the government is popularly elected and represented, justified in taking up arms in defence?’ :-O
13) She says, ‘I do condemn anybody whether it's the Maoists or whether it's the state, anybody who kills a person in custody, I condemn.’… Meaning, she thinks other killings are justified? *scratching her head trying to make sense of this highly respected lady’s words now*
14) I’d give her the, ‘which court should the poor go to (when their immediate Law and Order officials turn out to be horribly corrupt)’, point. I actually would want to know the answer to this, myself. Still, violence is never the answer to anything. Period! :l
* I’d give her the transparency point as well. Agree that MoUs must be shared with the citizens.
15) Mr. Thapar asks, ‘If the Government were prepared to take your advice, would you in return go to the Maoists and say it now behooves you to also abjure your violence. If the Government is reaching out with one hand, you must return with the other. Will you take that step?’… She responds, ‘If you are talking about me as an individual, I am nobody but I am sure there are people who would take that step. It has been done before. In the interest of the future of this country, all of us are concerned.’… I agree again… It can be done. Nothing that can’t be ‘talked out’. :)
16) *shaking her head again* Can’t believe she asked said, ‘In a way what the Muslims were to the BJP, the Maoists are to the Congress’!! :-O
I just wish people a wee bit less cynical and a little bit more positive….by people, I mean everyone… People like Ms. Roy, people in the govt, citizens of any land…everyone. …Would just make life a lot simpler and happier. I know, I’m a hopeless romantic! *blink blink*
Ponder on…S m i l e
