THE OTHER SIDE
Paritosh Kimothi
The same boring template is in play yet again to ‘stimulate’ support with the Vidhan Sabha elections approaching. 2027 will see Assembly polls in Uttarakhand, neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and in some other States. The diversionary circus which plays on throughout the year has been stepped up on social media and in the physical interface. Before we get to the political games and projection, it would not be out of place to cite a commercially successful model which has influenced the attitudes of people and their choices.
There was a time when carnivorous animals were projected as cruel and bloodthirsty killers by some even as the mature populace interacting with the wildlife understood natural instincts and the actions resulting from it. About three to four decades ago, Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz used photographs of carnivores in action to show that big cats had no expressions (as humans perceive) of hatred or cruelty while killing their prey. He contended that carnivores kill and eat their prey without the emotions of hatred or other negative human emotions we associate with killing. This was in addition to his direct observations. All animals including humans use agressions and one would rather suggest reading to learn about the various forms of aggression than preach about it here. Anyway, those in the know knew that animals are not bloodthirsty killers but the majority of television channels projected otherwise. The commercially successful television channels claiming to ‘inform’ the public about everything about wildlife and environment mostly project wildlife as bloodthirsty, cruel, sly beasts acting as monsters to prey upon others. They projected an image, built upon it and now most of their programmes are about carnivores killing prey and eating them with the usual dramatic background commentary and music. They have made their viewers habituated to watching this instead of other enjoyable and knowledgeable aspects of wild animals and the environment- distraction.
Coming back to what’s happening with us lesser beings in Uttarakhand, there has been a flood of sas-bahu serial type slandering by politicians including State heads of national parties on social media in recent days- not on some serious issues but on something as petty as a purported party in a dance bar. This is just a build up. Earlier there was much cheaper material on social media, which is still continuing and that is intended to influence the political choices of the public. It is actually pathetic for us even as citizens that such material is making news and being propagated in the run up to the polls. As in the case of wildlife television channels altering facts by selected projection, the politicians and some in the media too are doing this, just like they did in the past. The irony is that the two politicians from Haridwar in a social media spat are both openly displaying violation of the law and vulgar display of wealth and influence. What is worse is that the public may end up choosing one of these two. To be fair, it’s not only these two who can be blamed, because most politicians are using the same template in different forms; many of them have little to show as far as works in their constituencies are concerned.
Experts state that real issues like employment for the youth, human-wildlife conflict, disasters, lack of actual development especially when it comes to health services and education, are the real issues. Yes, they matter a lot but have we failed to get our representatives to act due to our weakness for temporary gains? While the youths in Uttarakhand spend years preparing for exams to secure government jobs, a vegetable vendor in our locality made me think. This young lad from Uttar Pradesh, probably in his twenties came to our notice for hawking the best vegetables in the locality. After a few conversations, it was learnt that apart from selling vegetables on a cart he is a gardener, driver, car washer, has stayed with a family as their full-time caretaker and domestic help, and is also pursuing BSc. He claims that the daughter of the old couple he was tending to, took him to London to do her garden work and also asked to stay there though he refused as the place was cold and nobody spoke Hindi. So, while we get distracted by social media trash and the distractions thrown in by political parties, those who want to make it big are doing their bit. It is high time the political parties also realise that they need to actually up their game or rather actually act because even ‘heroes’ get boring after some time. However, it is up to the people of Uttarakhand to make the Netas realise this, after they understand it first.
