An exclusive quality of Indians living in India is the ability to look the other way when we ourselves are severely inconvenienced or presented with irrefutable evidence of social evils inflicted upon others. That is why we suck it up when freshly paved roads in residential areas are torn up to accommodate open drains on either side where stray pups drown and people toss rubbish, leading to clogging and the exacerbation of an already untenable situation. We grit our teeth and move on, ignoring the potholed roads groaning under the weight of endless vehicles as we make perilous trips to our destinations, determinedly ignoring shouted insults, traffic jams, and inexcusable driving as people chat on their mobile phones and drive on the wrong side.
It is best to ignore these things. Like we ignore stray dogs that pose a rabies risk and cows wandering around and inevitably ending up spattered across the windshields of truck drivers with rage issues brought on by haemorrhoids, which they can’t afford to treat. Kids are getting abducted, and somebody is being raped and set alight in public and in broad daylight? Ignore. There may be crooked cops and politicians involved.
Pilgrims undertaking padayatras or thronging to immerse themselves in the confluence of sacred rivers feel free to behave as badly as they please, discarding trash over every inch of available space, causing stampedes, and blaming the government when devotees are crushed to death. Any criticism is not welcome because this is a religious matter, and we ought to be sensitive as opposed to sensible. So why bother? Besides, unlike in Gaza, we are not enabling genocide and the slaughter of children over religious claims and disputed holy lands, are we? India is better than that!
What about the poor? Those wretched folks who live in unsightly slums and practice open defecation when not begging, their umpteen babies with runny noses in tow, or sleeping on pavements to be killed beneath imported wheels. They are everywhere, ruining the reputation of our country in front of those white tourists who click pictures and make award-winning films about slumdogs who are unlikely to become millionaires in this or subsequent lifetimes.
Some of us half-heartedly read reports about the fact that there are more billionaires than ever in India, which still means there are countless people unable to make ends meet and live and die in grinding poverty despite the backbreaking labour they are forced into. Focusing on issues like population explosion, unequal distribution of wealth and resources, corruption and governance, inadequate health care, social injustices, etc is bound to give one a migraine. And what can we do?
We have our own problems. Most of us are neither Ambani nor Adani, and we need to find maids who will work for a pittance, send our kids to a school that does not charge an arm and a leg and both kidneys, make enough in this depressing economy to allow us to holiday at some exotic locale guaranteed to make the Insta fam jealous and buy more expensive trifles we don’t need. We carry on, uncaring that we can’t afford to go on this way. Ignoring pressing issues is a hard feat, but we manage it. Because that much at least, we can do.