The Crooked Timber Of New India
I stumbled upon a YouTube video featuring Mr. Parakala Prabhakar, interviewed by few of the last esteemed journalists left in our country today: Mr. Karan Thapar. The discussion delved into the current state of politics, economy and social fabric of our country.
Mr. Parakala Prabhakar is a political activist, economist, scholar, and author. Parakala, if you are unaware, is also the husband of the current Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. This adds an intriguing level to this discussion.
Parakala’s unapologetic honesty and unwavering stance against the Modi Regime is profoundly shocking, yet not entirely unprecedented. It was really compelling to see a man speak truths in a world of men and women intolerant of criticism in any shape or form. My decision to to pick his book, “The Crooked Timber Of New India” was with a desire for a deeper understanding of our polity, economy and progress as a nation.
In his book, he speaks in length of the failures of the Modi Government, particularly the false promises to reduce unemployment, abolish corruption, demonetization of currency notes that broke the backbone of our economy, mishandling of COVID-19, amongst others. In a chapter, Parakala skillfully employs the “Rabbit-duck illusion” as an analogy to depict the state of affairs within the ruling party. I found it very clever and insightful.
Mishandling of COVID-19 by the Central Government is unforgettable. It is marked in history, as they conveniently prioritized their crony capitalists over public good. The illusionary schemes were merely for show, nothing helped citizens. Poverty was at an all-time high since 1990s. 75 Million were pushed to poverty, and the government did nothing but praise itself for “2.5 Cr Jabs”. Parakala shares one story of a young boy victim to the poverty of the New India, and then shares a powerful quote by Gandhiji which made me feel hopeful of a future leader that would bring about change like this –
“Whenever you are faced with a difficult situation, imagine the poorest of the poor and see if your decision brings a smile to their faces.”
Another fascinating chapter was: “Egocracy: Digital Freedom and Data Privacy”. Parakala deeply examines the rising internet shutdowns, concerning accumulation of data from Big Tech Companies collected for government use, pervasive erosion of privacy, content moderation, removing posts by targeting critics, and data breaches. I was happy to read a well-researched and accurate account of the state of privacy in India. It felt like a breath of fresh air to read this essay, and I was glad to realize people like Parakala exist, to fight against lost causes.
Speaking of lost causes, there is a lot of horrible attempts to rewrite and portray history. The fear of an incompetant leader swaying masses through media and his oracy, calling his reign as The New India, and what ever came before him were all but an underwhelming effect says a lot about him. In addition, the push for a singular national identity at the expense of democratic values is a cause for deep concern.
There is lot of wistful politics at play, rather than focusing on pressing issues. Obvious one is polarizing Hindu-Muslim dynamics, push for a singular Hindu-Hindi identity for being hailed as truly Indian, population control of a certain community by stoking fear about an imagined scenario of numerical equality.
After reading this book, you feel a void in your heart. Something you cannot fill, something you cannot mend. The state of affairs in India today as portrayed by Parakala makes your blood boil. Sadly, this is a harsh reality we as citizens have conformed to. Yet, amidst the despair, the solution is a call to action. Between we as a people against governments who divide us by caste, creed or religion. Against media houses who spread propaganda and cannot stand criticism of the government. It is also a battle against the people amongst us who undermine democracy and stay hidden behind an idelogy.