Bharath Bandh (India Shutdown)!!

The forlorn face, which seems to have miraculously managed to stay attached to the skeletal frame through all the trials and tribulations Life has violently and mercilessly thrown at the combined entity, said it all without even a feeble moan escaping from the mouth.  It has always been like this during the past few years, ever since we moved to this neighbourhood.  Within a day of the latest wallop bruising her body afresh, the lady would show up at our doorstep.  Without even a mumble most of the time, absolutely wordlessly, she would manage to convey to my wife the bad tidings that she had descended an inch further into structurally debilitating monetary problems and needed immediate sustenance for the survival of her brood and herself.  The requirement never runs into thousands, but is discreetly kept at a few hundreds; just enough to probably feed everyone for a few days, until the new low is painfully overcome.   In short order, every single rupee is repaid graciously, with a wan crease on the face, which goes for a smile.  Even when the body and the spirit remain perpetually stricken, pride shines through - that she is no longer in our debt and can come back again, as and when needed.

That is the story of the lady who earns her living, selling vegetables out of a few baskets on the sidewalk, near our home - a true blue representative of the `common man' in this particular context.  The latest instance of her fidgety presence at our threshold inevitably coincided with the Bharath Bandh (India Shutdown), called by various `sagacious' political parties, throbbing with overwhelming concern for the welfare of people at large, to protest a few decisions taken by the government, purportedly against the interests of the common man.  This scribe tends to believe that the opposition parties' primary and most virulent objection is to the fact that `any' decision was taken at all, despite their own best efforts to stall things, by a government which was almost ready for a postmortem.  One can empathize with them, if they thought this was unacceptable deception and a betrayal.  A moribund government, thriving with that status and tag, was being gently nudged deeper into coma by a thorny companion, masquerading as an ally.  It was going to be a matter of time before the end came in sleep, when suddenly the government exploded from its slumber, galvanized into a flurry of decisions it could have (and should have, probably) taken months ago.  All the other political parties, which were enjoying a cozy, paid holiday, engaged in a `parliament bandh', were taken unawares by the `uncalled for' burst of activity on the part of the government.  Feeling guilty that someone had gone to work when they themselves were more idle than usual, these parties could not think of any rational response other than a `politically savvy' and `dripping with concerns for the common man' call for an All India Shutdown (Bharath Bandh).  Very generous of them; all they wanted was for the common man to enjoy at least one `holiday', while they were revelling in theirs for a month or so. The only telling difference was that they were getting paid all through their idling, whereas the single day's shutdown caused enormous hardship and livelihood issues for the common man, the supposed beneficiary for their thoughtful action, depriving many daily wage earners of their income for a few days and much more.

Let us see who gets what out of such enforced bandhs:

Hooligans from various political parties, who somehow completely bypassed that part of God's assembly line which dispenses brains (something tells me this is not accidental), but got double the quantum of  `mutton' in their bodies and heads as a bargain, create panic (some buses are burnt, glass panes are broken, public and private property is destroyed/damaged and a few bystanders are injured) in the minds of people to coerce them to stay indoors, even if they can ill afford that.  This exercise in destruction and spreading fear should provide some entertainment and pleasure to the hooligans, otherwise why would they indulge in it?  One cannot think of anyone doing this other than by choice!

But there are people who just cannot sit at home, for fear of losing wages or even jobs.  Public transport buses generally vanish from the roads, leaving such commuters at the mercy of this special tribe called `Autorickshaw-wallahs'.  Usually these guys assault sensibilities with verbal jousts as well as demands for double the actual fare.  On `bandh' days, they get ruthlessly aggressive and strip people of enormous amounts of money - upto 15 to 20 times the airconditioned bus fare.  Their justification is `there are very few days on which we can make such money, why would anyone grudge them that'!!  Obvious beneficiaries of bandhs.

Those with cars manage to reach their destinations faster on this day since there is virtually no traffic on the roads and breezily comment that they wished the roads were as good always.  However, they do realise that they run the risk of being pelted with stones or some other brand of arson.  

There are some other beneficiaries too, apart from the autorickshaw-wallahs.  I came across at least a dozen cases in which the employers chose to ferry their domestic help from and to the latter's residences, because otherwise they would be left holding the baby, literally!  One such employee beamed to me `Sir, I came by car to work today'.  Good for her! Those people with important ad hoc chores or emergency fixes did the same - got the required help brought home or elsewhere in their own vehicle and paid handsomely for the services.  One such workman was heard saying he wished there was a bandh everyday!  May be this is the constituency the organizers of the bandh are wooing.

Then we have those unfortunate small vendors, who have to sell all their perishable wares every day and make their margins in order to get their meal through the next day.  Theirs is a difficult life on normal days, but it gets terribly complicated on such days.  They think they have some advance notice of the shutdown and try to make an extra buck by bringing additional stock to sell on the day.  But, customers also plan for the shutdown and fail to show up, leaving such vendors to incur unaffordable losses.  This was what happened in the case of our lady mentioned in the first para.  Actually it was even more tragic.  She was prevented from keeping her stock on the sidewalk by the same hoodlums, who collect protection money from her, but had taken the new avatar of enforcers of the bandh, thanks to the mandate from the ruling political party!! Due to direct threats, she had to abandon her unsold stock and run helter-skelter.  The next day she came home for the loan.

Organizers of these bandhs can claim to be visionaries interested in the long-term benefits accruing to the common man from such bandhs, even if there is inconvenience in the short run.  What long term benefit are they talking about??  All the measures against which the bandh was organized remain in place.  Industry associations send out routine bulletins indicating production losses amounting to billions of rupees, due to the bandh.  God only knows how many people would end up losing their livelihood consequently.

Even judiciary tentatively agrees `bandh' is a legitimate instrument of protest in a democracy.   So, it looks like there is no getting away from that.  However, we should ensure that these bandhs take place without the element of force and without pushing ordinary men and women over the precipice.  I am an advocate of all such disruptive rallies and bandhs being held in pre-designated Rally Arenas, away from towns and cities; these should be fully televised to engage those interested.   That would be real democracy for a change.  But then, for the organizers, they may not seem like success stories to brag about.  Is a change in outlook possible?  I guess not, because politicians know that public memory is so short that by the time the next shutdown comes (pretty soon, eh!) this one will be long forgotten.  

So, unfortunately, our representative `common man', the vegetable vendor lady, has no option but to make repeated trips to our neighbourhood, beaten black and blue by every bandh, seeking solace in a small loan for her survival.   Long live democracy in India!!