The Emerging Third India

A political leader had famously claimed once that there are two `India’s living within one country. One is called India that lives in the urban areas; another one is called Bharat that lives in the rural India and there is a world of difference between the two Indias.

Yes, there is a vast difference in Indian rural and urban lives. But in my view, a third India resides within this India and that is vastly different too.

A few days ago I had to park my car on a narrow road that led to awell-known college of Delhi University’s South Campus. After finishing my work that was at a nearby distance,as I approached my parked car on my way back, I could hear a very loud and deafening music. Soon I spotted the source of music – it was emanating from a mini truck that was proceeding towards the college. Rowdy young men were dancing around the vehicle excitedly. Following the truck in another vehicle was a young neta dressed in white kurta and pajama greeting passersby with folded hands. Immediately followed a trail of SUV’s, one swankier than the other, each packed with at least a dozen such young men in celebratory mood. There were approximately 22 such vehicles – yes, I had no option but to wait and watch as it was impossible to move my car and negotiate my way back.The SUVs by their sheer large size and expensive looks could have an intimidating effect on anybody on a narrow road, and the somewhat arrogant looking young men appeared menacing enough to me to stay in my place.

Half an hour passed by. I gathered from others waiting there that this was a victory procession after the recently held Student Union of Delhi University (DUSU) elections. Movement of vehicular traffic had almost stopped,resulting in a traffic chaos. The SUVs, because of their large size, could be negotiated and were crawling slowly. The music reached levels of 150 decibels with bass notes at full caused the parked vehicles vibrated with jarring resonance (a turbo-fan aircraft at takeoff power at 200 ft is equivalent to 118 dB). The sound became more and more unbearable as the procession started inching towards the college. I planned to abandon my car and return home hailing a cab on the main road a small distance away.

Who were these young men? They didn’t appear to be young wide-eyed students. I enquired of some students who were carrying books or notebooks in their hands or backpacks. Their appearances matched the profile of the long-cherished image of polite college students. One of them humbly confirmed that they indeed were studying in that college, and yes, it was an election victory procession.They also said that they weren’t playing any part in the procession–these boisterous, somewhat-rough men over there were either their seniors whom they didn’t know or outsiders.

Young men from politically connected families, or people who inappropriately acquire wealth do not need to attend class in colleges.Power and money – one begets the other,can be really heady. Either can make one acquire anything and everything. They attend college not with the intent of studying but somehow managing a degree and make up a large cohort of like minded young people whom they believe will motivate and support each other. They see absolutely no reason why the world shouldn’t run by their own rules. The large and expensive vehicles belong to people like them. These youngsters just do not care. They care nothing if the vehicles they are driving on a colony road is sprinkling dirty rain water on a passerby negotiating a pothole.They are temperamental and prone to road rage if anybody crosses their path. They do not need to contribute any wealth back to the society, because they believe that charity is dishing out currency notes by lowering the window panes of their cars to a traffic light street beggar or near a temple. They have access to all the elite clubs and hotels.They enjoy the help of a battery of highly placed CA’s, lawyers, middlemen, and personal security to protect them.

We continue to divide ourselves in different income groups, whether in rural or urban India, as long as the gap between the rich and the poor go on becoming wider. A feeling of helplessness may creep in the children of civil society and they may start following the oft repeated wisdom, “if you can’t beat them join them”.

As our country progresses and the world looks towards us as a promising emerging nation, can we afford to encourage the emergence of this Third India? We have to be harsh on corrupt practices putting to an end to vote bank politics, A beginning can be seen. but the end seems a distant away. The apex court in a recent judgment handed out a slew of directions for curbing criminalisation of politics including asking candidates contesting elections to declare their criminal antecedents Corruption can be got rid off is by making a total shift and taking it out of human intervention and adoption technology allows us to do that. A virtual and autonomous economy- an external intelligence in business—one not housed internally in human workers. Machine intelligence and smart cyber will hopefully change the world for the better administration and the most likely beneficiary will be how the government serves its citizens.