By Tanvir Salim for TwoCircles.net
They may call it reverse “brain drain”, but for me it is just a home coming. Coming back to a place where the basics of the surroundings are still the same except for some of the missing people who are buried with tons of dirt over their dead bodies- my parents among them too. My mother always wished that I could find a job closer by in Saudi Arabia, so that I could visit her every year like many other relatives, who were doing it to her envy. My father passed away with an urge that his son may come and stay with him in his last days. But nothing like that ever happened.
Air India rickshaw-rides in Gorakhpur. [TCN Photo]
Now here in a lonely house, I am reflecting on the possibilities, “Ki yeh hota to kya hota?” At night, it is quite, but come morning, it will be very different. The birds will start chirping, which I always missed in the urban life style of my other home town, i.e., Boston. The call for prayers from the mosques will remind you about the need to get up and pray. The bells from the nearby Gorakhnath Temple will soothe your ears and the rambling sounds of the nearby powerlooms will make you wonder what happened to the handlooms of the yesterdays. Yes, India is on the move.
It is a different life style. Nobody here thinks that it is inappropriate to visit someone without making a prior appointment. The” locals” will simply start visiting you after the “Fajar” prayer, because that is the time that suits them well, and “bahar thanda bhi rahta hai”. My housekeeper will keep telling them that it is too early for the “Sahib”, but they will not listen. They will sit and wait They want me to get into the local issues- The issue of the graveyard, the issue of the mosque where the shop keepers are encroaching the “gali”, or the issue of a school named after my great grandfather, where the management is not doing the job properly. I think that the veteran Boston politician rightly said, “All politics is local”. Yes, it is and I love it.
A view of the Muslim politics
After the state elections, the local bodies’ elections are in a full swing. I can see tremendous energy and zeal in the atmosphere and everyone wants to be a “Parshad” or a counselor for Gorakhpur Nagar Nigam. Why? Because, there is serious money involved, plus this is the stepping stone for the budding politicians. Good for them.
It is quite interesting to see that in the Muslim dominated Wards, the winner is generally a non-Muslim. The reason is simple. There are too many Muslim candidates fighting amongst each other, and hence the Muslim votes get hopelessly divided and eventually the other guy wins. Nobody is willing to learn from the history. They repeat the same mistake over and over again. These budding politicians don’t see the big picture. I tried to convince a few to drop out of the race, but they all claim that they are winning, so there is no question of opting out.
Police of Gorakhpur is firmly in control of BJP MP Yogi Adityanath. [TCN Photo]
The politics and other affairs of Gorakhur and nearby region are governed by the local Member of Parliament, Mr. Yogi Adityanath. He has been winning this seat for the last three or four terms, and most likely he will keep doing it, because he has divided the region on communal lines. It is alleged that he has been involved in many incidents of murder, riots and other activities, which is now becoming veritable requisite to survive in today’s politics. One of the local politician and a Congress candidate from Paniara, Mrs. Talat Aziz wrote to me on Facebook, “Tanvir don’t forget that he tried to kill me.” Many people are witness to the fact that she was shot from one of the vehicles that was in his caravan, and which resulted in the death of a young police officer. Well, this is a part of the bad land of the eastern Uttar Pradesh, and anything is possible here.
I am noticing that here the infrastructure is in shambles. Roads are getting narrower and the drainage system doesn’t work. People have no sense of traffic laws and breaking the law is the favorite past time of the locals. It is not that the people are bad in this region, but it is the culture that is at fault. They don’t have exemplary role models-The role models are the mafia dons and thugs and crooks. The nexus between the politician and the mafia is distinct. In the olden days the politicians used to get the muscle power from the goons, but today there is no nexus. The goons are at the coveted positions of power.
Education is becoming a big business.[TCN Photo]
The education system is highly commercialized. Schools have become a source of income for the management. Teachers are not appointed on merit, but on greasing the palms of the officials. The officials have no other choice, because it is alleged that they are simply a part of the great pyramid scheme. I have noticed that the quality of the teachers is so poor that they can’t even read or write a straight sentence. In spite of all this, it is comforting to see that the students, especially the girl students are determined to be a part of this great Indian success story. They are neatly dressed and are eagerly marching on their way to school. I met two sisters, who attend school on alternate days only. Why? They have only one school uniform between them, which they have to share.
In the nearby school, I noticed that the mothers are only bringing their male child to get admitted. They can only afford one child to go to school, and clearly their preference is the male child. The girls are left at home, and soon they will get employed as domestic help in the nearby houses. The fathers are not interested in their home affairs. Either they are busy in their daily wage jobs, or are too depressed to even think about the future of their children. Almost always, they end up at the “Kachchi shop”, to return home late in a drunkard state.
I am watching India from the close quarters. To me, it seems that although the fundamentals of this country are strong, the country has a long way to go.
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The author is a Nuclear Engineer from USA, presently living in India. He can be contacted at [email protected]