Hartal

Like anyone who has visited India after few years (3.5 in my case) I can rave about the progress India has made in the past several years. I can write pages about all the changes that have happened since I last visited. I can pour my heart out about the cell-phone-explosion, broadband-explosion (my village has broadband...yay!) and all the several thousand buildings that are being constructed all over the city. But...what is on my mind is Hartal.

We kept our trip here a secret until we showed up at home so it was a total surprise to everyone. I did tell my cousin so that he could arrange for a cab. Just as we landed in Cochin, the dude sitting next to me goes "There is a hartal today. You know right?" Hmm..No, I do not. "Oh ya, there is a hartal so try and get home by 6am", he goes on. What the heck...

So after baggage claim and customs we walk out and I am looking for a cab driver holding a placard with my name. Unable to find anyone I start walking around and find my cousin. After the initial greetings he delivers the same hartal news and says we are stranded in Cochin until 6pm. I suppose my surprise entry at home had to wait for another 12 hours.

This blog is really not about my visit...

Hartal in my opinion is a crime. It is a crime against humanity. Human beings are not meant to sit and vegetate. The reason our race rules this earth is because they get "shit done"! We can thank Mahatma Gandhi for inspiring us to go on Bandh/hartal/hunger strikes for everything that we are unhappy about. And since the precedence has been set we now shamelessly flaunt it. Gandhi's approach was a failed stratergy. India became free but it left us weak. We were told to pray, stay hungry and tolerate violence and that is exactly what we did. A nation of 350 million were made to believe that the British left because of our hartals. Now a nation of over billion believes that...our freedom fighters were willing to do anything for their country and that is exactly what they did. They were asked to tolerate violence and they did that. They were asked to stay hungry and they did that. Our leaders then and now are too weak to face any issues head on. We should have kicked the british out instead of walking with them until the doorstep and sending them off with parting gifts. It wasn't meant to be a farewell...it was supposed to be a retreat for them. Today our leaders follow the same stratergy. Whether it is terrorism from across the border or dispute regarding state borders we go on hartals and hunger strikes...

India's progress is in spite of our leaders and their ways and it makes me wonder...how much more a billion people could have done if we had aggressively kicked the British out and not included hartals in our domestic agenda. A lot more...a lot more.

Kerala qualifies for a special mention here. Hartal here is a way of life. People are so used to it now that they know exactly what to do and which is to accept it...accept it gladly and vegetate all day. Rediff.com states Kerala lost Rs.2000 crores due to over 100 hartals in 2009. Ironically, the high court banned bandhs and it was upheld by the Supreme Court. Nothing changed for Kerala...well, not entirely anyway. Now bandhs are called Hartal and they have the exact effect. Kerala with all its natural beauty, 100% literacy and resources has nothing much to show progress wise. All credit go to the leaders here and of course to the people of Kerala. Leaders are nothing if there are not followers. Keralites have come to be the biggest enablers for hartals. It is sad...just sad.

We have serious issues in Kerala and India. Hartals are not our answer. A nation of billion people cannot sit idle. We are not "fighting" the british anymore. Staying home in protest only hurts our pockets. Wake up India...wake up! Don't enable our leaders...make them for once...lead!

Jai Hind!