The great Indian uprising

Politics is historically considered as a dirty arena in the Indian society. A part we love to comment on and criticize but choose not be a part off. Tides have changed in the past few years and the youth wants to get its hands dirty and clean the system from within. I find this change not only invigorating but also a bit scary.

Scary because we (the youth) are always impatient and need quick changes. We choose sides and label others by demeaning terms (aaptards, bhakts, prestitutes, or intellectuals). We are enthusiastic to bring a change but are not so keen to listen to our fellow Indians. This has also been a shortcoming of most political parties in India but what they lack in sound judgement they make up by being shrewd and ``diplomatic''.  Unfortunately, that is how politics works you need to find your way by making alliances immaterial of whether the alliance consists of contrasting views (PDP & BJP alliance in JnK).

In recent months the governing BJP has made its policies clear and the constant friction with the intellectuals (mostly comprising of the youth) are clear signs of a civil uprising. The problem, in my view, started with the umpteen promises made by the BJP during the elections. Most indians were certain that they couldn't be fulfilled but we are a hopeful group of fools. We believe in giving people a chance, as done in the case of the British, Mughals, and Pakistan, and a great orator was `definitely' a better choice than a papu. Unfortunately for the BJP they promised more than they could chew on and the intellectuals hate being taken for a ride.

Over time it became clear and obvious that the ruling party had no clear plan and relied heavily on foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI has been a backbone of several developing countries that are homogeneous and have well-regulated economic and political infrastructure to support FDI. Sadly this is not the case with India. India needs reforms in major sectors like roads, railways, tax-system, etc. that are quintessential to economic growth and hence to better regulate the FDI. This lack of vision that growth comes from within is one of the major causes of friction between the ruling BJP and the so-called intellectuals. 

The uprisings (Award-wapasi, FTII fiasco, Kanhiya sedition, etc.) due to the constant disappointments have become frequent and the lack of interest from the government to address the concerns of its people is, to say the least, disturbing. The concerns raised by the intellectuals are genuine and should not be taken lightly, but instead the BJP leaders resort to hate-mongering (even shown during their election campaign, but forgotten due to the overall glossy picture portrayed) and name-calling. Patronising intellectuals is probably the worst mistake the BJP could make because history is evident that condescending intellectuals has always led to grave consequences for the ruling parties.

That being said, I have hope (Yes, I'm one of the hopeful fools) that Indians (irrespective of caste, creed or political beliefs) will rise like a phenix. I have hope that the government will adopt a democratic and secular point of view rather than an authoritarian policy it currently seems to implement. I have hope that we as Indians will stop labelling our fellow Indians and learn to listen and understand before we speak.

IN or EX trovert ???

Finally I managed to write and occupy some space again. Also I tweaked up the blog a bit and finally found a suitable background for my blog. For all of you who still haven't figured it out the title "Black n White" stands for the blackboards and the white chalk which makes up nearly 80% of my life (Although now its more like white boards and black markers, but what the hell Black n White is still quite apt.). I know its quite lame but when I started writing I couldn't find anything better so it kinda stuck. Anyways since this article is not about my blog or its title here we go.

Lately life has been nothing as I had imagined 2 yrs back when I had just finished my masters (apparently it was the same time I started writing this blog.). It has been full of ups and downs and  worst of all out of my control. It is only in adversity that one digs deep within himself to find the answers for all the unfortunate events. In all this digging from the past 6 months this is what I realized. Although these thoughts pertain to me I'm sure they are quite general and a large sector of human species would agree with me.

In this world there are 2 kinds of people one who will take each day as it comes, for these guys life being out of control is a "normal" thing, but "un"fortunately I don't belong to this category. I need to foresee where I'm heading or else I feel lost and miserable. Apparently from my past two years I have learnt that a Ph.D is no place to look for this foresight and hence I walk on this road completely blindfolded hoping for the best. Its generally unfamiliarity that leads to "different " behavior (note the quotes on different). For me my different behavior is spending long hours in the lab, not socializing and just trying to do my work nearly 90% of the day.

Although this is completely normal to me, many around me consider this as highly unsocial and behavior that could lead to depression. Is this truly a sign of depression or there is more to the story than one can see?. For years introverts (like myself) are misunderstood as highly depressed and unsocial people. They are generally considered as mentally ill who need immediate medical attention. Let me write a few words from the point of view of an introvert.

Introverts and not unsocial. They do have friends but not as many as extroverts.  For them their few friends and close family are their world and their attitude when they are around them and when they around strangers is immensely different. They do not like to jabber mindlessly for hours, rather their talks are intellectual and thought provoking. Huge crowds and strangers generally drain their inner energy and hence many times they get projected as shy and timid people with poor people skills. A lot of introverts do like to socialize, but their definition of socializing is not going to a place with a huge crowds, rather they would prefer a quite evening with close friends probably watching a match or something.

Unlike extroverts they never let their feelings known. They don't find it comfortable sharing their problems with others because they feel that sharing is simply not going to solve the problem and since it is their problem, they should be the ones finding the solution. It is generally in times like these you'll find an introvert aloof from everyone. At this point he needs his peace and solitude to dig deep within himself to find his solution, 99.99% of the times this solution works and the reason it works is not because the person is a great thinker or a genius, it is because in that time of solitude (even though he is in a crowded Mumbai local train) he has gone over all the possible outcomes of the solution and more importantly in the end he believes it works. Its generally this belief that solves half of their problems and the other trivial half is easily tackled.

Although introverts have formed a small part of this society they have contributed immensely to many fields of arts, science, politics to name a few. Some of the notable introverts in the 18th and 19th century were Einstein, Abraham Lincon, Da Vinci, Queen Elizabeth..Many more notable thinkers, philosophers, writers, scientists, people who change the way we think in our day to day life have been introverts. Do introverts still need help???? . We have our own whimsical way of life which we enjoy to the fullest.