Man buried alive in pothole: Why blame netas if we can't change our attitude

by Bikram Vohra To the politicians we elect and the coloured powders we fling so joyously into the air and dance into the night for a bunch of self-inflated egos that will do us no favours. We do it again and again and then we are mystified that they took us to the cleaners. When they are in power we bow and scrape like windshield wipers and fall at their feet making Caesar look like small potatoes after he whacked Pompey. [caption id=“attachment_2441802” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A man was buried alive in Katna, Madhya Pradesh. Ibnlive[/caption] We deserve the governance we get. We are but a reflection of our politicians so why do we complain? We put them there so whatever these gremlins do we are guilty by direct association. We steal manholes to sell and people fall into the gaping hollows. Our government does not repair potholes and people fall into the gaping hollows. No difference. Children crisped by live wires. Bridges and bridges crumbling because of poor materials. Medicines made of chalk. We allow such conspiracies. It’s our chalta hai attitude. Our leaders, bless them, cannot be any less venal. I am taking my sister to a swank New Delhi hospital in an ambulance with a flipping siren driving us crazy. Not one vehicle moves out for us to hasten our way. On the contrary, motorcyclists edge their way past the stranded shrieking vehicle. It’s our mindset, so is it our politician’s. That’s us. We find humorous virtue in our callousness. We giggle and snigger and smirk over the tragedy of others and we don’t give a crap about our own brethren so why on earth should we expect our politicians to be any different than us… they are a mirror reflection and they don’t give a crap about us. Par for the course. I arrive in Delhi in pouring rain and hire a police endorsed pre-paid cab but no cab wants to take me because it is too close… this is one in the morning. Welcome home. So a man was buried alive in a pothole in Katni in Madhya Pradesh. Much chest thumping rage and everyone displaying shock. What? I am sorry about the loss of life. It is horrifying but why shock? He fell into a pothole. Another 3000 people did the same in the past year. And seriously, you cannot blame the crew. You don’t check for bodies before starting the repairs. So suspending a couple of engineers and a supervisor or foreman is not the answer. When a bureaucrat fell into a manhole it was repaired immediately. When Latori Barman was buried alive and had hot bitumen poured over him his family will get Rs 50,000 as the price tag on his life. Cost of an Ipad or a 40 inch TV without surround sound. Don’t weep in dismay. We, the people, venerate these political luminaries and place them on pedestals and sing their praises and celebrate their victories. We cheer from rooftops and see them as salvation. We put their lifesized posters on our walls and salivate to be photographed with them. After all, as one such political hero said the other day: people join the army to get cheap liquor. With such incandescent insight on display quo vadis my country… whither goest thou.