Now that the sound barrier has been boldly breached, not just by Gen Z but Gen Alpha as well… we can safely assume India’s collective laryngitis issue has been dealt with as well. Indians have broken 12 years of maunvrat. Citizens have rediscovered their voice boxes… and dimaags
We love Gen Z… but what to do with Gen G (Geriatrics)? Dekho Bhai… one thing the Cockroaches and Dimaagi Naxals have changed forever is the political narrative of India. Nobody can overturn what started at Jantar Mantar on June 6 and then rapidly swept across the country. Today, the ground reality is so dramatically altered, we can pinch ourselves, blink and ask incredulously, ‘’Yeh kya hua? Kab hua? Kaisey hua?’’ Has a miracle taken place? Can India’s youth claim the credit for it? The answer, without frills, is a simple ‘Yes!’
What exactly this win means in asli terms, cannot be quantified — it’s way too premature to arrive at dramatic conclusions. But morally and psychologically, it’s a triumph. Is it the start of a thought revolution? Will the Cockroaches and Dimaagi Naxals succeed in their stated objectives (better education for our children)? Or will the initial euphoria and the heady smell of success, derail the fired-up leaders and their fervent followers? Tasting victory on this scale can either bolster the original lot and inspire them to get on with the work to seek educational reforms they so vociferously demanded, or they can get swept away by the tidal wave of fame, adulation, hero worship. At the moment, we shouldn’t deny them their moment of glory — they did what millions wanted, but didn’t have the guts to articulate. As they say in colloquial Hindi: Sarkar ko hila diya.
Now that the sound barrier has been boldly breached, not just by Gen Z but Gen Alpha as well… we can safely assume India’s collective laryngitis issue has been dealt with as well. Indians have broken 12 years of maunvrat. Citizens have rediscovered their voice boxes… and dimaags. Pertinent questions are being fearlessly tabled by countless infuriated and frustrated Indians, asserting their basic constitutional rights from a government that is clearly on the back foot. The history of India will reflect this seminal moment as being the one that separated the pre-2014 era from the one Gen Z gave birth at Jantar Mantar.
What can explain the government’s folly? With all their brain power, financial resources, intelligence networks, undercover operations, threats and other intimidatory tactics, not a single marketing genius pointed out the obvious to netas: A vibrant young India is being run by exhausted geriatrics. A deliciously youthful nation is at the mercy of men and women in their 70s and 80s. Most are visibly old, senior citizens hopelessly out of touch with today’s rapidly changing world. Stuck in the hoary past, unwilling or unable to accept change, their outdated views of what young India wants, have finally caught up with them. Anachronistic, ancient and obnoxious, their preachy attitude and icky platitudes are backfiring on them. Gen Z and Gen Alpha… both are done with Gen G. Their advice? Go home, naana-naani, daada-daadi. Aaram karo. We need more than you can possibly deliver.
But also remember — we will not spare you! Sab yaad rakhengey. Where does that leave the bewildered, middle-aged generation? We can’t suddenly reverse time and join the Cockroaches and fight the good battle at the barricades. Neither can we proudly call ourselves ‘Dimaagi Naxals’’ and pose difficult questions to the sarkar. But we can speak up! No age limit for that. No cut off point. For more than 12 years, most of India was on mute. This in itself is such a powerful statement of how an autocracy functions while pretending to be a democracy. Faced with all manner of threats and punishments, false cases and fake allegations, a powerless mass of people across the country chose to suffer in silence, allowing the sarkar to grow more and more despotic, encouraged by the fear psychosis it had systematically and knowingly unleashed. The blatant abuse of power and privilege went unchecked, unquestioned… and soon, apathy set in. If this was our fate…accept the worst and say nothing. Those who sang hosannahs to these netas were richly awarded. Those who objected, were sidelined. Propaganda disguised as patriotism became palatable, even profitable.
Till the cockroaches crawled out of the woodwork. And the manzil shook. The future of the manzil and its occupants is at stake, as we cheer school kids across the country, demanding what is rightfully theirs — quality education. A young girl from Jharkhand put it best when she said, “Jharkhand is 25 years old, but still feels like one.”
Enrolment into government schools dropped by 2.6 crores last year. Twenty-five government schools shut down every day in India. Where are these kids supposed to learn in order to contribute to the Prime Minister’s Viksit Bharat? ‘’Ashikshit’’ kids, without water, benches, classrooms, toilets, blackboards and qualified teachers are being lectured to by leaders who may be semi-literate themselves. The Supreme Court was recently told 326 MPs and 14 CMs have criminal cases against them. Instead of addressing this, and the biggest problem, facing our children by announcing immediate reforms in the education system, our Prime Minister grandly launches free coaching classes! This is called an ill-thought-through, knee-jerk response to a major crisis. Worse, a new IT cell is set up by the BJP and that cell is filled with abusive, crude, bigoted members with the most warped ideas about constructive communication.
‘’Don’t play delay tactics with us,’’ said the Cockroach Party’s poster boy, Saurav Das, while warning the government over FIRs against students. ‘’School theek karo!’’ is the war cry of the Dimaagi Naxals. How ironic that our Prime Minister who loves word play and depends on speech writers for his bon mots (forcefully delivered thanks to a teleprompter) inadvertently coined ‘Dimaagi Naxals’. Overnight, what was designed as a putdown became an identity, a badge of honour. Let’s not get too carried away and start rooting for Cockroaches and Dimaagi Naxals to run the show. They are certainly not the alternative. If anything, we need to be better watchdogs of how both entities conduct themselves in future. Some rude, aggressive Gen Z types are already giving a bad name to the entire generation by behaving like brats holding a privilege card. Nobody needs to mollycoddle this lot, busy throwing tantrums and demanding unreasonable concessions. Khaamosh, already!
‘’Khil Raha Hai Desh Ka Mukhda’’, blared a front-page headline for a clean energy conglomerate. Kaunsa mukhda? We want to choose!
