59 years

Yeah, we are approaching 59 years of independence, so i thought we should have a look at what we have achieved. Not in terms of economy, but socially and politically.

The recent OBC bill has more than raised a few eyebrows, with people going on hunger strikes and threatening immolations. Noble gestures, and peaceful indeed, following the lead of Mahatama Gandhi. The 'father of the nation', and the godfather of 'Harijans'. He created a nation without a state religion, and based on all utopian fundas that one could hope for. And meanwhile he picked up BR Ambedkar as his protege, who one fine day decided that India needed reservation for the opressed. Granted, for 10 years, in higher education, and wherever. Turn to 1990, the era of globalization and liberalisation, or so we are told. VP Singh decided that the country could still accomodate these sons-of-god, and made reservation in jobs. Swell.

And turn to 2006, the Hon'ble minister of HRD, Arjun Singh, sold all his honor out, and decided to increase the reservation. Not by 1, 2 or 10%, a meagre 27%. Which now implies that practically 2 out or 4, or every 2nd person would ride the government. You can draw stories, and annomalies and all that jazz, but this is shear spit in the face of the middle class and the hard working 'Indian'. A term which i feel disgusted to use. YES, they have been opressed for 5000 years, but isn't 60 years of charity enough. They may constitute 70% of the population, but the government hasn't even done its homework. They should have had a look at the number of 'factory' products which are under the age of 18 and then they would have had a horror. Because at the rate they reproduce, they shall increase in numbers, always. And one can't be too vocal about this, because, get this, they are constitutionally protected. So if you call a SC/ST/OBC ( i prefer calling them sons-of-god, he does produce miracles) names, and you are too vocal about it, you can be punished legally, probably because the cop would have his hands tied.

This Meena community has a tale in itself, many legends have been heard. So i shall publish what I believe to be true. They had someone initially in the Lok Sabha, and he supported the govt. on some issue, provided they classify them as ST's. He had 10 seats. The govt. just bent over. And after 59 years, they are the ones studying in the IIT's, IIM's and DCE's of this world. And what has the govt. done for the ones who work in their native areas as servants, zilch. They actually are from a region called Meena in Rajasthan and trust me when I say this, every family out there has a child studying in IIT or IIM and even Civil Servants galore. Sometimes the honors are split amongst the same family.

And they are only one of the many sons-of-god sponsored by the Centre. So if he goes out to buy a Nokia, why doesn't the govt. see it fit that he gets the phone at 1/4th the price, which is roughly the marks he scored to study there. This is not a potshot at them, trust me, they deserve much worse, for all the caste politics they play when they join college. Their are way too many instances, but that shall be discussed some other time.

Reservation is fundamentally wrong. Picture this, if you are born out of any of the protected categories, your troubles begin as soon as you are born. Primary,secondary,higher and all forms of education, you have to fight for every inch, because someone else may be willing to give up all he knows for that inch. And then there is the small small matter of a livelihood. So you 'perform or perish', which ironically enough, is also a Mahatama Gandhi slogan.

And now the protected class, you are born, welcome to the free world. You start from school, you have a seat waiting, join college, another seat, higher education, another seat, and Public Sector jobs, another seat. Promotion, another seat, and sometimes dual promotion, due to the experience factor. So, if you and a SOG(son of god) are appointed together, 'you bet your life', as Uncle Sam said, the SOG is the odds on favorite to rise through the ranks and retire at a higher post. And it doesn't end there, soon he will reproduce aka Fibbonacci's Rabbits, and then his children follow the path of the righteous soul. And if someone can still justify RESERVATION, please in the name of the lord, go immolate yourself, you are a waste of keyboard space.

Those who are in favor relate this to the American Civil rights movement. Analyze this, shall we. The civil rights movement started about 200 years after Lincoln decided to abolish slavery, and they had just causes like segregation and racial discrimination. Besides, they had by that time produced JC Owens, Jackie Robinson, and many others. And they had Malcolm X and MLK Jr. So U2 decided to write 'Pride' for MLK.

Come to modern India, 60 years, lots of govt. jobs, digging teeth into the treasury, posh govt.houses, promotions and all those issues later, they want more. I don't think they have done enough for the country, or they are segregated, say, when Mark Knopfler or Brian Adams tour India. Heck, they even get govt passes for Cricket and hockey games. They are allowed to sit in restaurants, and I bet my useless existence on this, they have more cash to spare then we do. General Category constitutes rougly 1/4th to 1/3rd of the population, say 30 %. So its not justified that we produce the top-notch engineers. Granted. But this 30 % give up everything they know when they study for JEE and CAT, and i don't think any of the reserved junta knows the feeling. If you have something waiting for you, your time will come. But when sweat bloood and tears don't add up, thats when it means something.

Besides, the leaders of the opressed, have filled up their pockets enough. SO anyone in the right frame of mind won't compare MLK to LP Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan or Sushree Mayawati (as she likes to be called). And I hope I don't live to see the day that a band writes a song for them. Has the govt. ever ordered a detailed investigation into the fodder scam of the railway minister, who managed to deduct people's pay for being late to work. And Mayawati can afford swanky chateaus in Delhi of the order of 20 crores, which probably has been scammed out of the treasury anyway.

They are not clear in their minds what they want, I know of Haryana, and quite a bit since i stay in Delhi. The agricultural income is tax free. So basically, all you earn is yours. And when you make Ayurvedic medicines, the tax is 30%. SO to practise your ancient science, you need to pay up. But to be a OBC and cultivate, you are protected by the state. And they have gotten the OBC status under the gazillionth amendment brought up by some 'Tau' in the parliament. So Ram Vilas Paswan who openly supports SC, being one himself, opposes OBC!!!!!!. What a cabinet??

I recently saw Crash. Its a look into LA of today, and how they are haunted by ignorance, and how the cosmopolitan nature of the city has practically become its biggest problem. A brilliant movie, worthy of any award. So blacks are still called niggars, and all hispanics are Mexicans, whether they are from Puerto Rico, all middle easterns and central asians are Arabs. Anyways, after all that Jazz, i wondered and pondered, on the reservation for African Americans in Jobs, and Matt Dillon's dialouge in the movie summed it up. I dont remember it verbatum, went something like,

"I can't help but wonder over the five worthy white people who didn't get a job because of you, and i hope i am wrong about this. My father worked as a ganitor all his life, he hired your kinds and paid them equal wages for 20 years. Until the county decided that it was time to give the contract to a black man, and he lost all he had in one night."

NOW, I don't ever remember seeing anyone or using any such lingo myself. And trust me, my blood does boil, when i think of the people who could have made it, myself included, to a IIT, if a SOG won't have been blocking them. It worked out just fine for me, but for the others, it wasn't so ominous. They were left to study in DU, or the flourishing engg colleges in OBC Jaatland of Haryana and the OBC Jatland of Punjab. But i havn't called a SC any names, not becaue i violate the law, or maybe because deep down I know its wrong, wronger than sex, drugs and alcohol:)

My grandfather was literally thrown out of his house following partition, he came to India with 2 rupees in his pocket. As per the formative rules, and using some connections, he could have gotten a certi. But he chose not to, instead, he did what a self-respecting man does. And yes, we may not be filthy stinking rich, but god does enough for us. Allegedly, he is the same god whose children roam the free world.

Besides, what are you going to achieve by producing undeserving engineers and managers, since the field is eventually narrowed down to that. But the bigger catch is left out. Suppose I have a kid tommorrow and I can't afford a private hospital, so I go to a govt. hospital, does the govt. guaran-damn-tee that some unmeritorious SOD won't fuck up the baby. And someone working as a doctor, can even give the wrong drug and end someone's life. It may be a nice way to manage the population, but its not right.

Soon, me and my kind shall 'Walk the Earth'. That, trust me, is all we can do. Soon their will be women's bill, a Muslim bill, a Christian bill, a Buddhist bill and what have you. The women's bill is a story in itself, with some now praying that its passed so that they atleast have a shot. When I asked them, they also categorically said 'no'. they don't want to use charity. And one of my aunts said they had lost their mind, considering they even needed seats in buses to sit upon. Seating in buses to prevent eve-teasing is one thing, and charity is another. This I shall hope to discuss in future, sometime.

And if you are a beneficiary, and you think its personal, you are too damn right. It sure is. Trust me, you shall stay where you are, IIT won't weave its magic upon thee and transform you into a charmed prince from the rotten frog that you are. Plain and simply, you didn't deserve this, and so you shall know.

To end, simply, I feel like a Nigger, no disrespect. Soon people will make a mockery of the general category, and sooner, the OBC certificate holders are handing out sweets, for them, a IIM of their choice beckons next year. Where are my rights? Is my 'Merit' just not good enough? For us, we have a god, unfortunately, he is their father, tough luck, mate.