NEITHER JOY, NOR LOVE, NOR LIGHT...

“…the world which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light…”

Matthew Arnold’s powerful, powerful lines. Today is a weird day, my friends. It is the day of a State-Wide Bandh. Nothing moves, no one ventures outside except the foolhardy – and adventurous shop-owners. Buses operate on a skeletal service, vehicles are sequestered. And thus, on this day when nothing moves, I wake up late. I go make my coffee and sit down to read the news paper. I switch on the TV, but nothing’s on except grey everywhere. I continue to peruse the newspaper. News of Shashi Tharoor’s backing-down as a result of a US Veto boils my blood, but who am I to interfere…

And then it happens. I catch sight of another article. And my blood really boils. Every hair on my moustache quivers with an excess of moral indignation, every common-sense related neuron walks away, waving it’s tiny little neuronal fists in the air (or in the surrounding CSF, to be precise). It is a tale of woe, of sheer stupidity, of a nation so long on the alert that everyone seems an enemy, insiders and outsiders alike, everyone is subjected to a ruthless examination that is revolting in it’s closeness (both of approach and mindset).

A Tamilian. In an airport. In a country whose name I do not wish to take, but if I had to set a Crossword clue for it, it would go thus:

1A) Country of you and me? (2)

He waits for his plane, this innocent Tamilian, this Indian National. Waits for his plane to arrive, waits for the Tannoy announcements requesting everyone to board their planes. And then he feels a vibration: his phone is ringing. With legendary Indian speed, he whips out his cell-phone, recognises the number as that of an old school-friend. Pleasure makes lines across his face deepen as he answers.

The two friends talk excitedly in Tamil, about a School Reunion game (may have been Cricket). They get excited, our man arguing with his friend about the outcomes and the various nuances of the day's play.
He argues..
when he feels
cold steel fingers grip his shoulder...
He turns....
And looks
Into the eyes of a steely young Airport Official. He is politely requested to hang up, when he inquires (“Hey! Am I not allowed to talk on the phone??”), only to be told forcefully but politely to hang up, and accompany the steely young Airport Official. Shaken, our man obeys...

And is detained in the Airport strong room. Soon, a higher official walks in, sits down, demands from our shaken compatriot an explanation. Our man is nonplussed. And then the senior man explains.

It seems our man was making suspicious movements in the airport. HUH???? In reply to an obvious qustion, the senior official explains...
And soon the truth is out: the steely young Airport Official considered the rapid flow of Tamil emanating from our man's mouth to be extremely suspicious and therefore, performed the Airport Official's equivalent of a Citizen’s arrest. An explanation ensues, and soon the stupid blunder is revealed. A young official's over zealousness. And then comes the insult:

Realising the error, the senior official apologises, but not before everything has become public. He speaks to Press people, and says, “Nothing to worry. Mr So-and-so (whatever his name was) has provided an innocent, satisfactory explanation.”

JESUS H. CHRIST!! SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION???

WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO? NOT TALK IN OUR MOTHER-TONGUES?
Does Tamil sound any different to someone ignorant of the language, than Swahili or Taiwanese??? Face it, this man was hauled because he looked suspicious. He looked Indian, which is the same as Saudi Arabian and Middle-Eastern in the West, both of which are synonyms for a word which I will not use here, but if I were to set a crossword clue for it, it would go thus:

2A) Play with TT? Error is radical. (9)

This is the ultimate fear. Not being able to let anyone speak in their mother tongue because it sounds suspicious to you. Why don’t you put up a make up stall outside? So we will all colour our skin lighter and why don’t you provide us with free accent-training, so we can all speak like you? Then there’ll be no suspicions. We’ll all be one big happy family.

And this is the country we are all going to, to study and make our fortunes. My god.

MY GOD.

To paraphrase,

“…the COUNTRY which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new…
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.”

Except the armies fight by day. And they are waiting, hankering, hungering for someone to grab, someone to incarcerate, someone to subdue. This is what we have come to. See and believe.

You decide.
K.