Ashamed to be an Indian

I woke up today morning and glanced at the newspaper and the headlines shocked me. I was deeply disturbed and agitated upon reading it. I am in Pune, so not sure if this made headlines in other parts of the country.

An IAS officer (deputy collector) was burnt alive by some goons from oil mafia in broad daylight. He was on duty and was inspecting the oil adulteration allegations against some stockists in the Nashik District of Maharashtra.

I am horrified, scared and worried. I have the usual hatred for the system, politicians, the bureaucracy, the inefficient policing, the rampant corruption et al.  But there is something more which has made me cold towards this country.

Just reflect upon the gruesome incident that occurred today.  Greed to make more money which gives arise to illegal practices, cooking up numbers in balance sheets, bending laws is still tolerable. But how do you explain this. How can someone kill another person (and that too burning alive) to make some extra bucks.  And this is not an isolated case.

Some son of a bitch kills someone on not being served drinks.

Sometime back an IIM guy working in Indian oil in UP was killed for the same reasons.

An MLA rapes a Dalit woman (Banda rape case)

Some Railway Protection Force personal throw a passenger from a moving train.

Sometime back an elderly person driving a car was killed by a biker and his fellow friends in broad day light in the national capital in a road rage incident. He was hit by rods and hockey sticks on his skull by these bikers.  The most disturbing part is that these bikers were not seasoned criminals.

I can still bear the 2G scams and the likes. But incidents like these leave me restless.

We as a society are transcending boundaries which separate the civilized and the uncivilized.  It’s like a moral degradation. I am not sure what’s wrong or how do things become normal.

Where are we heading. It’s a rotten system we are living in and living precariously. We may not realize it but most of our lives may appear all hunky dory. But mind you, its just an illusion. As long as you mind your path and be oblivious to things around it will be all OK. Moment you take notice of the rotten part of the system, or come across “their” path, you would be wiped out. That may sound like straight out of the movies and very disillusioned but that is how i feel now.

Perhaps Gandhi ji had figured it out. See no evil, say no evil, and hear no evil. Perhaps he was giving out a clue on how to live in this country.

RIP Yashwant Sonawane.