Politics / Poverty
On ground reality can hit hard
At one point in my life, I dreamed of being a political journalist and a thought leader. After about ten months, I realized it could not fill my pockets and keep me financially secure. During these months, I read many books and tweets and stayed on top of political news. During the last two years, I have given up on it completely.
I was sorta disillusioned by the options offered to the electorate and had a moment of real self-awareness regarding the flaws in my past beliefs. However, the election season has brought back some lost interest in politics. Thanks to the subscription, I have started watching hour-long videos/interviews on YouTube (without ads).
Prashant Kishor’s Biggest Fear
One of the audience members in the video above asked Prashant Kishor about the biggest hope and source of despair in the Indian political landscape.
He said that the source of despair is the lack of empathy of the Indian middle class towards the have-nots. This seems like a non-sexy remark, but you can feel it only when you see it.
Though his thoughts have been running in the back of my mind, I saw them come alive when I went to have lunch at Carnatic Cafe in Lodhi Colony. Several underprivileged kids asked everyone waiting outside Carnatic Cafe to buy them something.
Due to my casual dressing style, these kids did not approach me for help. Maybe they thought that I could not pay for stuff. If I do a rough calculation, my expenses on that particular day could have fed them well for a few days.
No amount of sloganeering or statistics will account for the desperation of these kids. No international summit or Ram Mandir can quench the thirst or satiate these kids' hunger loitering around during the most important years of their lives.
But I stood there and watched how others were responding. A family man decided to buy something for these kids. However, the women of his family resisted and discouraged the man from buying things for them. A well-dressed couple tried to get involved in the situation. But soon, the dude backed off after realising he didn’t have much money.
Of course, allocation of personal resources is sometimes a zero-sum game. Money lost to charity reduces the financial potential to nurture a relationship or a family. And those are the hard, cold facts. And we need to live with these facts.