The Nation in a Hole

[Guest guest]

When

I tuned into my preferred news channel, there was a question flashed on the

screen: What will happen to Mahi? Following the male habit of switching

channels every few minutes, I wanted to see what other news channels had on

offer. It seemed they had hit a jackpot that day. A girl named Mahi had fallen

into a hole bored into the ground for a tube well at Manesar. “How many more

Mahis?â€, “Continous coverage of the rescue operationâ€, “Laparwah

adhikari†and

“Kab jagegi hamari sarkar?†were how all of them reacted to this incident.

The

newsreaders on English channels were both excited and concerned, blabbering

incessantly about Mahi and her ordeal. As expected, the Hindi channels were

ridiculously dramatic. A few days later when the child was pulled out dead, it

was: “Nation Mourns Mahiâ€.

This

child-in-the-hole business is not new in our country. Such accidents are

reported

with sickening regularity. I think the ‘child-uncovered disused wells ratio’

should be included in the list of parameters to judge our Human Development

Index. Nobody knows how many children have gone down the holes dug for various

reasons (and then left as traps for the unsuspecting). It would be interesting

to map the whole country to have a count of such holes.

It

all started when a boy called Prince fell into a hole in Haryana five–six

years

ago. The rescue was televised live for nearly three days. I remember it

distinctly because there was no other news on TV for that duration.

Fortunately, Prince survived and was pulled out. As he surfaced, there were

people desperate to be photographed with the boy. Prince was handed over to the

chief minister as if he was the father. The boy looked confused and irritated

as he was bounced around.

The traps

we create for our children beg a few questions. Why do we have so many

‘holes’

in our country? Who digs them? The child-sucking holes are not the only issue.

Experts

say the economy has hurtled down a ‘hole’. Still others declare production

and

growth have slipped into a ‘hole’. The ones with a conscience mourn we have

buried our morals in a ‘hole’. The once-erudite Sardar is happily ensconced

in

his Parkinsonian ‘hole’. Someone called Pratibha dug herself a ‘hole’ at

Pune.

At this rate, all holes may coalesce one day and become an infinite hiatus.

Then the whole of India will be in a ‘hole’.

Bharat

 

 

----- Forwarded Message -----

To: " mgims " <mgims >

Sent: Monday, 25 June 2012 5:55 AM

Subject: Re: Fw: Apathy or is it my biased unbiased opinion!!

 

I was up till almost 2.30 AM with Namita,my wife... painfully watching the 86

odd hour ordeal of the sweet young child " Mahi " come to a dreadful end on NDTV.

It affected me so much that I

dreamt about the child being stuck in the borewell crying out for help.Why

should so many Mahi's die? Is there not an apathy in my country of birth? Why do

people not learn and take actions to avoid such accidents. If one child dies in

a first world, why do the parents tend to start a foundation in their memory and

start a whole movement to prevent such deaths from happening again?

                                                     

             Why does a father whose child is kidnapped and killed in

Hollywood Florida, Walsh ,start a TV show called America's most wanted

which helps solve so many crimes and prevents so many future crimes?Why do

parents of a child named Amber, whose abduction and killing in Arlington Texas,

start a movement leading to AMBER ALERTS (actually standing for " America's

Missing:Broadcasting Emergency Response " ).By this system within minutes of an

alleged abduction of a child all information is broadcast on highways,radios,

weather channels etc etc. Why was there no mass information campaign and long

lasting programs in schools and colleges and some thing akin to Amber alerts etc

 put into place when Sanjay and Geeta Chopra were abducted in the late 1970's I

think it was 1978. Despite their being so many opportunities to save the two

kids after they were abducted

hitchhiking to All India Radio, New Delhi for a program they were killed. The

result was just a bravery award set up in their name.

                                                     

           Having been brought up in India and having lived a considerable

amount of time in the Africa's I am at present in the West for almost 18 years.

I have had the opportunity to closely study the human behaviors in all these

places thanks to my line of work and inquisitive nature.For a multitude of folks

like me who travel back and forth to our countries of origin it gives us a

unique opportunity to observe the differences  between our adopted and our

birth countries with very little bias ( my biased opinion sic!).Why do people in

the third world have so much Apathy towards social issues, civic sense, care for

others, empathy in a larger constructive way? I am singling out the

intelligentia here, the so called middle class and upper middle class which is

doing pretty well economically in the last decade or so. That was an excuse when

I was growing up in India.

I see my kids in school both in Public( government free schools) and Private

schools being inculcated with the sense of duty and volunteerism right from a

very young age. They go to public kitchens, hospitals, cleaning their school

grounds during breaks...thereby inculcating in them a sense of giving, empathy

and being action oriented. 

                                                     

           Are these just my naive observation or will the west reach the

same stage of Apathy when their economies crash and Asia takes over the world in

the next 50 years( Thank god for dual citizenship !! ). I hope something

constructive comes out of this tragedy and it just does not remain in the domain

of mere " BaatCheet " ( Idle talk) and " Time pass " ( sitting room chatter).

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