Statue of Unity: Indian politicians' affection for massive sculptures is an insult to the intelligence of common people

It is a sobering thought that India’s leading politicians actually believe they are serving the public cause by building statues of celestial gods and human demi-gods. In their minds, these edifices are a frontline benediction to the millions who wake up every morning thirsting for these alabaster and granite offerings. The bigger, the better. The latest in this grotesque love affair is the world’s tallest 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel rising into the night sky in Narmada, Gujarat, supposedly a beacon of hope. Hope for what is not known and is up for grabs. And hey, what do you know? It is four times taller than the statue of liberty. [caption id=“attachment_5472601” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image of the Statue of Unity. Twitter/@DG_Doordarshan[/caption] It is customary, when such exercises are completed, for the critics to speak about how the money spent on the dead statues could have been used for orphanages and hospitals, these two being the staple alternatives. In this case, a paltry Rs 2,989 crore went into the park and premises and allegedly set several million hearts aglow with pride. That as many as 75,000 tribals across 72 not so advanced villages were displaced and not evenly compensated is a sidebar and one of those eggs we break to make the omelette. Patel was instrumental in ending the run of princely states and forcing these local royals to dissolve their fiefdoms. So if he is looking down upon us from above, he must be saying: What on earth is this statue for and why was this money not spent on anything else? Forget the hospitals and the orphanages and all the schmaltzy options, why not for science and research and technology and creating our own social media platforms? Why not for another 10,000 toilets and 50,000 jobs and a university for several thousand brilliant young minds? Truly why not? What is this mammoth statue going to contribute to the nation? The creation of other more meaningful entities, even if they are not hospitals and orphanages, like the Vallabhbhai forest reserve for tigers and other endangered fauna or the Vallabahai Clean Air in the Capital Institute would have been so much more edifying. But all this is mutually exclusive and separate from the foolish premise that the BJP in this case is giving the people what they want or need or demand or are exultant over. It is an insult to the public intelligence that those we elect to power assume we 1.2 billion Indians have this ridiculous affection for statues and believe implicitly that it somehow improves the quality of our lives to have these iconic figures soaring into the sky. At what point in our cerebral development will it be known that we, the people, are not foolish? That we are not pleased or desperate to give our vote and support to you because of an inanimate statue. In the statue stakes, we have an Olympian gold medal approach. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister now wants to kick in with a statue of Lord Ram at 200 metres. The race is on and we sheep to say nothing about it.