HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY?

                     Valentine's! Love is in the air. A lot of us (especially single people) don't believe in the practice of celebrating Valentine's Day; but then a lot of us do like to have a day to celebrate love. So as an average Indian teenager,  you must have read a hundred posts on love and the lot.

                    But is love the actual thing in the air in India? I had the wonderful opportunity to be present at the book launch and panel discussion on 'The Partition of Hearts - Unmaking the idea of India by Harsh Mander,  which had eminent panelists Ms.Pamela Philipose and Mr. Apoorvanand, moderated by Ms. Natasha Badhwar. The book was introduced by Mr. Hamid Ansari who quoted the author, "India is being unmade - one lynching at a time".

                     The book throws light on various hate crimes and acts of performative violence that have become rampant in the country. It is not the mere presence of these crimes that is problematic - it is its celebration, legitimisation and valorisation in the present political discourse that is deeply troubling.
                  ' The pool of indifference' as rightly pointed out by Ms. Pamela while addressing the silence of media and public is in itself  very disturbing; but even more disturbing is the applause that these hate crimes receive.

                    The political system and the political actors of the present are not being blamed as the ones who started these crimes; but they do play a part in legitimising this bigotry that we see in present scenario. This is also the right time for India to mourn about one of the endangered ideals enshrined in our preamble - FRATERNITY.

                The book or this article is not absolving the responsibility of individuals by placing all the blame on the political actors. As panelist Mr. Apoorvanand rightly pointed out, the open gundaism that we see in the society is made possible because of the subtle gundaism inside many of us. The legitimisation  of violence is somehow systematically  entrenched  in us that we as a society have almost  normalised it.  Mr Harsh Mander recollects from his experiences, "there  was a man who decided out of his frustration  due to some  recent  events  that he would  kill a Muslim to take out his frustration or even bring him some sense of achievement. He contacted a Muslim construction  worker and arranged  for his fourteen  year  old nephew to catch the whole thing on video.  The  man was murdered brutally  without  even  understanding what  wrong  he had done to receive such pain. But what was most terrifying  was," the author  continues,  "the steadiness  of the hand that  took the video. " 

                There are thousands of heart wrenching stories of lynching  victims and their families.  But it is equally  important to lend our ears to the perpetrators to understand  this  subtly entrenched  violence  in our hearts.  The lack of compassion which is a deep problem in our society presents itself in situations of lynching in the form of absolutely NO help  coming  for the victims. 

               In an era where market determines the content of our education, it might sound like a stupid idea to suggest teaching our children values of compassion and love.  Harsh Mander understands this when he says love is the most radical idea that he has encountered. In an era of intense  politicisation of basic human emotions, its utilitarian conception and politics banking heavily on selling hate, the idea that, what is morally right can be also politically  sound is very modern. 

                The picture that our nation presents on these grounds is not very positive,  infact it is one of despair.  Acknowledging  this is a step in the right direction. The author's initiative of 'Karwan e mohabbat' is a pebble  in this pool of indifference.  Let us educate ourselves about the power of love and it's ability to bring about a positive  change. What better day  to start than Valentine's? Let us forget the slogan, 'Hate Sells' and bring about  love as the norm. Maybe then we could celebrate a happy valentine's day as a nation and truly mean it!