main aam aadmi hoon

Main Aam Aadmi hoon ,mai baap!

I am Bittu , Shittu , Tito, Ram Dulari , Sunita Basanti , the nameless , faceless Indian who makes up the great nation.I am the silent, mustachioed old man with a wisp of hair , dressed in a dhoti and jacket, an iconic creation of R.K.Laxman of Times of India fame. I am also the Budhiya Das Manikpuri of the Peepli live fame who is driven to suicidal tendencies due to farming debt which spirals out of control.I am the widow of the countless farmers who commit suicide everyday .  I am also the sweeper, beggar , rickshaw-wala bhaiya, the corner pan walla , the sabzi wallah , the doodh wallah who brings in sustenance without any protest . Of course the price rise by him is met with vehement protests and we always try not to give him the money on time but delay it. We also try to haggle with the rickshaw-wallah with the two rupees extra he demands and we feel so smug in bargaining with him.

Our forefathers when they chartered out the constitution,kept this common man in mind . All the rules and regulations were made for him , keeping him into forefront. The politician brings him in the front when fighting elections, he sits out to fight for the aam-aadmi. Rahul Gandhi says,"aam aadmi in India is that person who does not have a connection to the system. Whether he is rich or poor, hindu , sikh, muslim , christian , educated , uneducated , if he is not connected to the system , he is an aam aadmi. while the BJP, spokesmen Prakash Jadvaker says, "the common man is anybody who has a stake in the  system , but does not have a say in the system,is an aam aadmi."

Fatima Sultan ,from Pakistan says, the common man has to worry if he can still make ends meet at the end of the day,week, month as opposed to uncommon man who worries if he can afford the classic Chanel for his wife's birthday . He needs to budget ,plan everything and a slight price hits him the worst.He however does not know or even comprehends what a price rise is, or what the inflation index is ,or what  FDI is. He is worried about providing two square meals , clothing , shelter and also have a little extra to save for a rainy day.He is the one who suffers red-tapism in the government office , he earns barely 100Rs a day to pay the bribe. He is the one who still forms a monthly budget tries to stick to it, he is the one who travels on public transport and uses it to commute.

The primary schools which dot the landscape of India educate him , he has no big expenditures or conspicuous consumption says Komal Randhawa,lecturer at Punjabi university , Patiala. He is in fact the system ,a billion hearts which beat as one. For him the shining India slogan was coined.

Religion ,superstitions , beliefs ,a core belief in them makes them fight adversities head on.Life ,death, misfortune, accident, birth ,marriage are all God's doing ! The mandirs, masjids , gurudwara all sustain me, and my faith . The festivals like Holi, Diwali, Karva chauth , the satsangs, the shivratris are for me and we take happiness in live's simple pleasures.   Flowers, glass bangles, simple mithai, a samosa or a pakora make my day . Nor do I need new clothes, or jewels to make the festival festive. Red glass bangles mingled with green are my ornaments says Dulari , a sweeper working at primary school in the city . She says , who has the money to buy silver bangles? With a large family and prices sky high she can't even afford milk any more just a watered down version .The benefits of the government are unknown to her , she knows about the blue card , the BPL card , the new UID card but to get these made,to fill out the forms , she has to pay Rs 50 , she is illiterate.A shagun scheme for girls gets released only if she promises money to the Sarpanch , and the officer in charge. 

All these schemes are for the aam-admi Mai-baap but whose door does one knock to get what is due to me ?

All the laws , schemes with those long winding  names were made for me, are formulated for me but do they reach me? Did anyone find out ? The common man is lost in the race for globalization and the identity has been lost .  

Of course , globalization has given me a new identity ,I am a stul caste ( scheduled caste ) asking for a lunch ( loan money ) , and I have lot of pratise ( practice) in asking for help .

Meri baat to sun lo, mai baap ji,

Ravneet Sangha