Every once in a while you learn new lessons. Lessons that burst the little bubble you have been living in. Lessons that show you the reality of life, no matter how ideal you wish life was.
(Disclaimer: This is not a post about poverty, a lot has been said on the subject. I don’t think I could add anything new.)
I learned such a lesson today. It was not a pleasant one. I realized that no matter how advanced our society becomes, no matter the progresses in technology, no matter what the constitution says; no one is ever equal. I have always liked to believe that everyone, no matter how rich or poor, coming from whatever background, enjoys the same rights. The right to live, to eat, to speak, to use public resources; these rights are for everyone. But as it turns out, they are not.
Let me narrate a little incident for you. It was a very busy road during rush hour. It was wonder how cars could move at all on this road. And yet, today, it was empty. Not one vehicle in sight, not even a pedestrian. While I was wondering at this marvel, I heard the gruffy voice of a policeman call out to me. “Get off the footpath and into the trees”, he said. “What?!”, I thought, and continued walking. Another policeman from the opposite direction came and tried to usher me into the trees. By now I had realized that there was VIP movement and the police and army was clearing the roads. I tried to reason with him, tell him I was late for school and needed to get there to collect important documents. It was the reply of this policeman that infuriated me. “There is PM movement and all you care about is your stupid school?”, he said to me.
Well, what else am I supposed to care about? That some guy is going to the airport with his brigade of bodyguards? Even if this ‘some guy’ does happen to be the prime minister, what give him the right to bring city life to a halt? I had to wait another half an hour before his highness Mr, PM graced us with his platoon of black cars. I was angry, and so were more than a hundred other pedestrians who had been stranded, unable to go about their daily work. There were workmen, late for their jobs, professionals, trying to reach the office on time, and it seemed Mr.PM did not care about any of them. All that mattered was, ‘his security’.
Have we really reached a junction where elected representatives do not care about the people who elected them? (I just realized how hopeful and funny that sounds). Are they so distrustful, that they don’t want to even see the people who elected them? So paranoid, that they fear getting shot at while in a bulletproof vehicle moving atleast a hundred kmph? And most importantly, who gets to decide whose time is precious?
The concept of VVIP’s, VIP’s and well, just P’s goes against the very foundation of equality; which in turn is the foundation of a democracy. Why can’t, for once, a so called VIP, wait in traffic, like the rest of us? Why does life have to halt every time Mr. PM steps out of his home? Isn’t the public who elected him just as important?
Dreamers in the Sky 