The Delhi airport ,now undergoing a major renovation seems to be a true replica of our republic and our Democracy.Gone will be the days when it looked pathetically small and ill maintained.A glance at the passenger's attire ,baggage and air of self confidense waiting for their flights to York tells you how much the life of upwardly mobile Indian has changed in the past years and how much more it will change in the years to come.They are the part of the ' GREAT INDIAN
MIDDLE CLASS ' which takes pride in the fact that it is very much the part of 'INDIA SHINING'.
MIDDLE CLASS ' which takes pride in the fact that it is very much the part of 'INDIA SHINING'.
However alook at the labourers involved in the constuction has a altogether different story to tell. They have probably come from from U.P. or Bihar or some other poorer part of India.Their faces are dark. Their bodies ill.In all likelihood they carry a sense of relief at having got a job,since life back home has fewer oppurtunities.There is no cheer in the faces and no zest of any kind.This is 'BHARAT' at the heart of 'SHINING INDIA'.The scene repeats itself in almost every place in India.Infact the recent success of Aravind Adiga's 'WHITE TIGER' and 'SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRRE' have left us with no option but to accept the most blatant truth of our 61 year old democrarcy of which we have been in constant denial ... the rift between 'BHARAT' and 'INDIA'.
India is straining at the leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering recently upon us while Bharat is the leash. India lives in optimism . Bharat lurks in skepticism . India wants while Bharat hopes. When elections come it is the Bharat which in villages and urban slums that votes in greater numbers and with more hope.Our democracy displays an instructive contrast. Bharat votes but does not rule .India rules but rarely votes.
What message can meaningfully connect the two contrasting but linearly interdependent halves of India? how can we make our Democracy mean to the common man more than his five yearly vote?how can we reassure them that their work for india's progress is as important as that of their more priveleged counterparts ?As a responsible citizen I am troubled by the thought of how to communicate to these faces of Bharat that you confront almost eveywhere in the streets of India?
These and many other questions need to be answered and that too quickly unless this rift between Bharat and India takes the shape of a hole which could never be refilled.
