As the choice of my fellow Indians become apparent, I
wonder... Where do we go from here? Are we headed for “good times”? Somehow, I
doubt that.
Seeing the scenes of celebration on TV I feel a distinct
sense of unease. I’m certain I’m not the only one who feels this way.
It was clear that the existing government had to go. They
had their fair share of scams and blemishes. The same person who liberated our
economy saw it go through its lowest
ebb. Simply from a performance point, they failed and needed to go. So who’s up
next? Who do we entrust our nation’s future to?
There’s enough and more on record out there that indicates
that the nation’s choice might seriously impact what I believe to be one of our
core values – Secularism. No matter what they promise to the contrary and no
matter what colours they use to paint a rosy picture, their origins and
fundamental values have a communal tinge that can be dangerous to the secular
fabric of our nation; a distinct strand of extremism. For me, no promise of development
is worth sacrificing our value of tolerance for. I’m reminded of that scene
from “Lagaan” where the king (who happens to be vegetarian) is asked to eat
meat to save his people from heavy taxes. The king refused. His values were
more important than economic salvation. We all want our nation to prosper, for
our lives to better, for development, etc. But at what cost? There is always a
cost. Will we remain the dictionary illustration for ‘Democracy’, ‘Tolerance’
and ‘Secularism’? Only time will tell.
Maybe today is the first day of dark times. Maybe not. But,
as they say, it will all be good in the end. If it isn’t all good, then it is
not the end. Maybe this could be a case of the whole
it’s-darkest-before-the-dawn thing. I only hope that no matter who comes into
power and no matter what they do – be it for good or bad – that in the end we
come out through all of it with our
values intact.
