Saturday 3 December 2011

Crippling Reservations....

Slavery began in the United States in 1619, and ended in 1865 after the civil war. Slaves were generally denied the opportunity to learn to read or write, in order to ensure that they did not form aspirations that could lead to escape or rebellion. After the civil war was over, school cropped up every where to teach the now free slaves how to read and write, over the years, more and more schools and libraries were set up. Today America has a black President.

India too saw if not slavery to that extent but ostracism and denying of certain rights based on castes- ism. For centuries certain caste were not allowed literacy.The difference I see in the two histories, this is purely my point of view, is the two very different approaches in the people from the two largest democracies in the world. Upon gaining freedom, the former slaves in America gave highest priority on eduction. They knew the only way to be accepted as equal, was to become equal. The down trodden in India used their past as an emotional blackmail, used it as a handicap wanting special favours in the form of reservations in schools, colleges, jobs. They never did believe they were equal. had they believed, they would have worked hard, studied just like B.R.Ambedkar and risen to heights like him. he too came from the under privileged background, yet like a lot of Indians in impoverished conditions he studied under street lamps, he worked hard, he did not use sympathy and a crutch to get ahead.

I blame Gandhi for when he tagged them " harijan", the children of God, he stamped on them a tag forever like a sugar coated poison, dividing them forever. Are other Indians, rich or poor not the children of God, if he thought he was being Kind, his kindness, killed them forever.You should have know better Mr. Gandhi, you faced apartheid first hand, liberty, freedom and equality aren't gained as alms in charity, they have to be earned.This coinage of your only made The divide  grow vaster, rather than narrow down as In America. God has blessed all of us with a brain, hands a will power, when the slaves of America, equally under privileged, humiliated, mistreated did not need special treatment, why do the people of India need it. Political leaders who emerged from that clan, seldom do anything to help their very people to rise in life. They have got them addicted to the opium of laziness." You need not do anything, you need not earn the right, you sad past it the gate pass, do no learn, do not grow, do not develop, we have got you reserved seats, stay mediocre.... "-This is what the leaders seem to say.

But then of course, how else would they fill their coffers with money they never use for the ,upliftment of their people.. they spend crores in building parks and their own statues yet what have they done to earn the Honor of statues. They remain uneducated, crass, indifferent to the plight of the poor of their caste or another...., these leaders have turned into the very people they once resented, hated or perhaps were jealous of. They have started their very own feudal system , instead of ensuring the abolition of the division line for ever. Their past is their trump card, they don't want to let it go.

Had they really cared, they would ensure there was no crippling reservation for their people They would say we had a tough past but we are not mentally handicapped, we can study, we can make a better life for us and our people in fair competition with the rest of the world. I would be offended if I was them that I need the extra head start for life , at every turn. I would want the best of teachers to teach and to challenge us to become better, out do our self. Women were uneducated, treated a property of their fathers and husbands across countries, for centuries, they emancipated on their own. They studied struggled and refused to be treated as second class citizen, they worked hard in every sector they entered and proved they were better, not just as good. Women were not allowed to drive cars at one point so should they have wept and said oh since centuries I've not been allowed so now for lifelong and all other women born to my linage I shouldn't be asked to do well on my driving license exam, you should give it to me even if I score failing marks because I'm a woman as were my ancestors.....

God has made us all equal, equally unique, equally special, no one deserve more than their calibre or more than they are willing to work for. He gave us all equal hours in the day. All castes, races, lineages have rich and poor, the class divide is equal amongst all, so why does one caste refuse to take God's gift, believe truly in their hearts that they are equal. They were outcasts earlier now they want special treatment... why not be equal, fight fair, remove the line forever.....

I believe in equal opportunity for all. I believe the slaves of America managed to be truly free because they believed they were equal. They did not piggy ride on another's

Sudha Chandran continued dancing after getting a prosthetic leg, Hellen Keller invented braille despite being blind and deaf. These were real handicaps. Equality is  state you have to believe in yourself, because life is a mirror, it reflects back at you, your own inner beliefs, act equal to be accepted as equal. You trauma was not your weakness, it is your strength, like I think every time I face a hurdle, if I could get through that phase in my life, I can't get through this too...



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