Chapter 35: "Two months to elections, three back to back scams involving both the major parties, several small scaled scams by state governments and…yet, exit polls haven't changed." Khushi threw the news report on table and sulked.
Picking the discarded file Arnav said, "You seem awfully surprised that people didn't have a change of heart. I thought it was obvious?"
"Are you asking me or telling me?" Khushi grumbled.
"Telling you?" Arnav flipped through the pages and hid a grin behind the flurry of papers. Khushi groaned.
"I think these polls are wrong," Khushi groused. "It has to be, right? With the way things are going…"
Arnav shook his head. "I don't think the polls are wrong Khushi. Unless someone commits a giant election fraud across the country, these numbers may as well be a reality. Don't tell me you were going to see a drastic decrease in seats won by major parties at the state and center? When did you become so nave?"
"How can people re-elect the party who has partaken in a major fraud against the public?"
"People don't choose party Khushi, they choose leaders. It's the rolling up of these leaders we have a problem with," Arnav shrugged.
"Did you expect something like this will happen?" Khushi slumped back on sofa and peered at Arnav. Arnav looked at her unblinking as if he was tethering on exposing something covert. "Just…spit it out Arnav." She said harshly, patience thinning.
"Meera Nanda got arrested almost one month ago and the ministers she named in her debriefing with the CBI have been sacked. But the same ministers will still contest during next elections and probably even win. I don't have to tell you how because you already know that." Arnav haggled. When Khushi responded with a nod, he continued. "Interior villages equate a national party to freedom struggle. They equate another party to a radical movement. It's the picture painted years ago and the color has stuck. It's a general statement in civilized conversations to bitch about politicians. How many people really know what their local MLA is involved in? We hear big names, parties associated with scams Khushi but you and I both know that half a dozen people cannot pull off something big-"
"Even scams have their own food chains. And the one who gets caught is the one who is made the scapegoat and is the largest legal liability." Khushi finished on his behalf. Arnav smiled in return.
"But Arnav…" Khushi looked at him flailing her arms. "The extent of their crimes is out there…for the public to see and react. Why aren't they reacting?"
"Here we have a trend Khushi. It goes something like this: an incident happens, governing bodies don't react, government ignores, public outrage, social media becomes violent, media becomes judge and executioners, government continues to ignore and all the while victims' families suffer in silence. Public outrage dies with next worst thing in line or a huge budget Bollywood movie or a win a cricket match and all there is left of the outrage is the whimper of true fighters. Till this pattern continues to exist, we, the people, are just bunch of head count during census."
"That isn't the problem is it? When every time someone talks about progress, I feel like assaulting them." Khushi shook her head. "I remember three months ago reading in a newspaper about how progressive India was welcoming new Blackberry in a tech savvy city while an adjoining article had a woman being hunted for honor killing in a nearby village(1). Both the places are less than hundred kilometers apart and the diversity of the transgressions are astronomical." Arnav couldn't figure out Khushi's tone. He refused to accept it as her resignation towards the ongoing incidents.
"The cities flourish, overpopulate and decay while the villages are still stuck in middle ages: both figuratively and literally." Arnav mentioned it as a state of fact. "We have to fight against cyber terrorism on one hand and on the other had we have the never ending war between castes and tribes. Poverty is a century old problem Khushi and it was foremost promise made by Indian parties during freedom struggle – eradicating poverty and illiteracy. We are in sixty seventh year of independence and neither issues are solved."
"What they need is exposure Arnav and no one wants that. It isn't uncommon for political parties to hire PR firms to popularize their propaganda (2). But it does beg the question: what about those who don't have money to buy newspaper or know how to read? Inner villages are considered as vote banks and they continue to rot under the shade of a large mushroom and never get it due. And then there is…" Khushi trails as her eyes are stuck on one of the TV screens in front of her. "Akash," she whispered. Arnav looked up from the file he was reading and ignores Khushi fumbling around the sofa searching for the remote. He watches the man in television for almost a minute in silence taking in the confidence in his stance and the people he is associating with. Like all his previous public addresses, Akash had yet again chosen a village to publicize his propaganda very much like an answer to all of Khushi's questions from moments ago.
"…a leader is as much responsible for a citizen's all around wellbeing as he is towards the next generation. The problem we have been trying to fix has been rooted so long ago that our grandfathers wished it would get solved in their generation itself and pave way for a better tomorrow for the future legacy. Their future is us; you and me. Here we are and we are facing same issues, same stigma, and same opposition from government from…same government…" His words were drowned in applause and Akash looked momentarily annoyed with himself for being carried away. He held his hands in a plea to stop clapping every time he mentioned something against government. The banner on the screen was splashed in bright red. "Changing political scenario…fresh young faces of electorate" The applause faded into white noise and he picked up from where he had left off. "Outside the boundaries of these villages, the cities continue to thrive, pollute, extort resources from villages and yet it fails to react to the issues our country is facing at grass root level. It is time for villages and smaller towns to take control of their own and start the change that the country so desperately needs. There are-"(3)
"Why did you turn it off?" Khushi asked, rattled and tried to snatch remote from Arnav's hands.
"Let's get back to work Khushi," Arnav said plainly ignoring mildly laced anger blooming on Khushi's face.
"Why?" Khushi bit out harshly. "It's not like anything is going to change anyway. Innocent people are going to get hurt or permanently damaged and everything is going to remain the same." Khushi slinked from couch and walked towards the open window. Arnav wondered if she was intentionally trying to maintain a physical distance between them. "We could have helped Akash," she said softly.
Arnav sighed and ran his hand on his face in a vague effort to smoothed the frown. "Khushi you know we cannot-"
Khushi let out a small grunt of irritation. "I know what we decided Arnav. But here is a newsflash: IT ISN'T WORKING. You were right before about the pattern, you know?" Khushi's voice was softer now. Arnav didn't dare move his place from sofa. He wouldn't impose her space now. She would have to come to him. "Like how every public outrage has reduced to mere whimper, everything we have done in last two months is now a distant memory. Yes we will sway some votes. Yes some may not win this election. Yes we made more enemies in past four months than last one and half decade. Yes, Rathore hates our guts. Yes, I really like Akash to win this thing. But in the end…nothing changes."
"You want Akash and his associates to win? They can swing the government if that happens you know? And if he wants to win all the seats they are contesting for, it can't be achieved in legal way." Arnav's voice had an edge to it.
Khushi chuckled mirthlessly and walked back to the sofa. "I particularly don't care about it, at this point."
Arnav looked at her wearily. "We can't not do anything Khushi. I can't let him do this. He would comprise too much now for the win and for implementing the ideas he has and they would twist his arm in future. He thinks he will be able to overcome all that and do what he originally intended to do and…he won't be able to."
Khushi clutched his hand and squeezed it hard. "Where are we now?" Arnav asked eventually.
"Payal leaked Bhanu Pratap's involvements in Dhananjay's conviction and the fake NGO he had set up. The dynamics between father and son is at its lowest. But I don't see any damage with his political relationship with Prasenjit Sarkar and Krishna Kumar. Sarkar is the smart one of the three and he knows there are group of people slandering almost every political party out there. He hasn't scented it back to us but he is on the trail. And Malvika is investigating death threats on us. Changes made in bureaucratic roles aren't able to influence the outcome of decisions, so it doesn't matter anymore who is in power and who isn't however it could prove us useful after elections so I am not too worried in that regard. I have pulled out most of the aides to MLAs and few MPs, gotten them relocated. The rest would be taken care of soon after elections." Khushi summarized.
"What happened to that-?"
His words were cut short by the harsh ringing of the doorbell. Arnav looked at Khushi and shrugged. Khushi collected the papers strewn around them as Arnav attended the door.
"This came in courier," Arnav said handing an envelope to Khushi. A photo slipped out of open envelope contorting her face to that of open horror.
It was a photo of Shyam Manohar Jha hanging in his jail cell with the three lawyers and Rathore standing at his foot. It was the same photo that was given to Rathore months ago by a man calling himself as "Shyam".
Khushi reached out to Arnav and drew her to him. He settled his head on her lap and closed his eyes. A lonely tear made its way from the corner of his eyes and disappeared in the cotton of her sari. In silence, he grieved.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY EVERYONE!
References:
(1) Out of India (eBook) by Stephanie Nolan
(2) Open Magazine - Modi Mythology
(3) Virtual town halls vs. Reaching out to people in interior villages
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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