I do not pretend to understand. Anything. Either I know it, or I figure it out as I play it out in my head or I admit upfront I don't understand.
I don't understand politics.
But I do understand the basic premise of democracy. The ballot and voting. And election and decision. The dependence of the system on intelligence, culture and choice.
Also, I'd like to mention here that I avoid mass media news (newspapers, 24 hour news channels etc.) like the plague, and that affords me the luxury of sifting through a select few distilled views and opinions, from sources I have established as reliable for a variety of reasons over time. So while I may have the social awareness of a tapeworm, I have a firmer grasp on the political reality than the average person who is acutely aware of every breath every politician draws. Based on this grasp, I firmly believe we as a nation do not deserve the power that a democracy affords us.
As always let me elaborate.
I witnessed the response of one of our mini metros, Pune, to a little challenge thrown our way yesterday. The Palkis (you might have to look that up) arrived, like they have for hundreds of years and threw the ill prepared traffic totally out of whack. A city which does see a lot of traffic but rarely a jam, was suddenly very still. Noisy, irritated and restless, but still.
When I joined one of the hundred traffic jams in the city, I wasn't sure what was causing it. A collision blocking the road? A power cut turning off the signals leading to a free for all? Turned out it was the worst - an actual traffic cop trying to direct traffic. The primary skill set of a Pune traffic police person consists of exactly one skill - levying fines on bikers for riding without a licence. They choose to be clueless about everything else a traffic cop needs to know.
The next junction was worse. No traffic cop, so the motorists were left to their own device. Traffic flowing from a side road had blocked the flow on the main line for a few seconds, so the vehicles had to wait till they could get in again. Did we stop one behind the other like we should have as responsible motorists? No we chose to start going down the wrong side just to keep moving and get to the front. Soon the T junction was choc-a-block because there was no where for any one to go. All because we couldn't wait in line for a few seconds.
I explained to a motorcyclist adjacent to me how he'd caused a traffic jam. He was aghast at the suggestion. "Me?" He asked. "I was just going that way." He did eventually understand that he was on the wrong side of the road, effectively blocking off traffic with the aid of numerous like minded idiots.
How we behave on the road says a lot about us as social creatures and about our level of intelligence in general. We choose to violate speed limits. We choose to drive down the wrong side of the road to save a few seconds. We choose to wear seat belts and helmets, not to save our lives, but to avoid a hundred rupee fine. In effect we wouldn't wear them if no one were looking. We choose to not use our turning indicators. We choose to ignore others' turning indicators. We choose to drive with our head lights on high beam mode even if it blinds motorists on the opposite side. We choose to zigzag and create chaos. We choose to keep creeping forward at red lights. We choose to jump red lights altogether. We choose to terrorise pedestrians and cyclists. We choose to violate lane discipline. We choose to overtake from the left. We choose to enter main line traffic without warning. We choose to refuse anyone the right to stop to ask for directions or get out of a parking slot or to make a U turn. We choose to fuel up insufficiency and drag our vehicles around. We choose to jaywalk. We choose to ignore pedestrian bridges and walkways. We choose to use our phones while driving and even text while riding bikes. We choose to hold conversations with fellow bikers while riding, effectively blocking the road. We chose to park like imbeciles. We choose to stand around and eat and chat while vehicles make their way around us. We choose not let an ambulance or fire brigade pass. We choose to bribe traffic police. We choose to intimidate traffic police. We choose to ignore accident victims. We choose to get into a fight if we survive an accident. We choose to not maintain our vehicles. We choose to get into and out of running buses. We choose to get drunk and try all of the above.
Coming out of the traffic to day to day life. We choose to litter. We choose to not learn how to use a toilet. We choose to urinate on walls and in the street. We insist on spitting gutka and pan on walls and in lifts to the extent that it becomes a structural issue rather than one of hygiene or aesthetics. We insist on repeatedly pressing buttons in a lift. We choose to not learn which button we need to press when calling a lift. We choose to cross train tracks. We choose to destroy, deface, abuse and steal public amenities and property in the best of times (not factoring in riots). We choose to not stand in queues for anything. We choose to use electronic devices when prohibited in aircraft. We choose to have obnoxious ring tones and to yell when speaking on our phones. We choose to violate safety and hygiene norms wherever possible. We cut corners with everything. We choose to cheat on our taxes. We insist on writing on our currency notes. We choose to ignore a rape or robbery in progress. We choose to haggle with a poor vegetable vendor and in the same trip donate money to Calvin Klein. We choose to equip our tool kits poorly and never cleanup after ourselves. We choose to run CSR projects so that they look pretty on our annual reports. We choose to cheat and rob tourists. We choose to be racist and narrow minded. We choose to mock people with special needs. We choose to go through our education and careers on autopilot.
And we choose our leaders. This time we seem to have accidentally got it right, but do we really deserve to a have a say in anything?
