Winter in Punjab is famous for grandiose, blingy
weddings, sumptuous saag consumed in great quantities, followed by every one’s
favorite acidity antidote, and well my favorite the long winding political discussions
on the state of affairs of Punjab especially with the NRI’s who love to play
the anti-establishment card. It gets heated over, I guess with the amount of
masala chai consumed and the pinnis and gajrela eaten and well we have an
explosive combination and I do not mean the passing of the wind but just loud
voices and temper overdose.
One such relative had come over after the elections
had finished and he said one of the main grudge he had was that when they the
NRI’s construct or make something in the village they have to make umpteen
rounds for the local politician to come and inaugurate it. My question to all
of them is that if they are giving back to the society and to their native village,
why do they need adulation?
Why are we as humans always striving for recognition? Why
do we look for accolades and do we need to leave stamps and our names for the
coming generations who are frankly not even bothered? Punjab is dotted with
little plaques that just gather dust, sometimes buried under mounds. They keep
on stressing that the politician asks for something in cash or kind and then
inaugurates the school or building or whatever they have contributed to the
betterment of the village.
It seems as a desire to leave something back, to feel
as if they are still a part of the fibre and fabric of the state, its as if
they’re identity is in danger of being wiped off if they don’t leave a monument!
I guess that’s why Punjab is dotted with gates; different sculptures all
proclaiming the name of its owner.
Some have the
most outdated notion of my state, they worry about muggings, chain snatchings,
what to wear, how much money to carry, whether she could wear jewelry and just
about hygiene and cleanliness! It’s a bit of comic sight because they stand out
with their Punjabi, language, diction that is too pure, and the way they look.
I have seen walking around with their water bottles, and the ladies carrying
their hand bags in bags that are meant to disguise but don’t and the favorite
paracetamol and Advil bottles. Everything is nice to them, but a bit dirty, and
it keeps on getting dirtier by the minute. Here, I do agree with them, we to
the outsiders are a bit hard to digest with the over flowing bins, crazy
traffic dotted with cows, rickshaw walas, scooters, men, women, beggars selling
bizarre things in your face and just a lot of daredevilry and their biggest
fear traveling at break neck speed with no seat belt and music blaring. The
other thing I find annoying and here I speak for all women all over is men
peeing everywhere and then trying to scratch and check whether they have lost ‘me.
Please, please do this in private.
All my brethren that comes back means well, they
support our industry, help us in a lot of activities, medical camps and do a
lot of charity but why not set up a corpus fund to educate the masses, to
change the mindset of the society, to be more tolerant of each other, help us
change our outlook so that we all collectively help Punjab to rise.
The Martians aren’t coming, the middle order is us,
the elves gave up, there is no magic that one can go harness to teleport all
the mess to a black hole, the magic is within and we all have that spark that
just needs to be kindled to deliver .
Call me an eternal optimist , I feel the revolution is
not in the hands of another political party that is a mix of the same old
people who are disgruntled with their older parties who are selling the same
old wine in anew bottle , but in our hands collectively , together to usher in
peace .
And , lastly , I wish that if they contribute they
would not do to fund radicalism back in the state, we need a quieter and
peaceful state !
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