Human, (slum)Dog and terrorist

There is lot of discussion on slumdog millionaire including criticism that it portrays all the bad things in India. The western world may adopt a holier than thou attitude and enjoy the dark underbelly of India. But isn’t it the reality? In fact the reality is perhaps worse than what could have been depicted in the movie. At least there is a millionaire aspect in the movie which is hard to find in the real life. Did we forget films like Chakra and Paar and many others which have won national awards and critical acclaim within India? It is possible that the western world is using this grim reality for its own agenda and its intention is questionable. But then why give others a chance to point a finger at us and then blame them for not doing the right thing or in the right way. Let us recognize that these problems exist in India and they exist in abundance. So let us address those problems in a comprehensive manner so that no one will have a chance to ridicule us rather than trying to sweep the dirt under the carpet and pretend as if everything were fine. If we need to change anything we must in our heart of hearts admit that there is a problem and then only we will be able to change it. Instead of wasting our time in questioning the intentions of outsiders let us put our house in order. Let us consider the process of psychological healing that involves facing the deep rooted suppressed emotions and looking at it from a new perspective. If someone has decided to use it or play dirty it is his problem and he has to deal with it at some point of time. As far as we are concerned let us just be thankful to them for throwing light on our dark side and making us aware of its existence so that we can deal with it sooner rather than later. Our worst critics can at times be our best friends. Let us recognize the fact that the whole can't shine when a part of it is languishing in the dark.

Talking about dogs whether from slums or elsewhere another incident comes to mind in which our Supreme Court announces that terrorists are animals. I hope the honorable court is aware that Ms. Menaka Gandhi may take strong exception to such observations as according to her the animals especially the dogs deserve better treatment than the human kind. People who have exhausted all alphabets as far as categorization of security is concerned and moved beyond Z (now it is question of how many + after Z) think that a stray dog has the fundamental right to attack a small child and kill it whereas no man has the right to take the dog outside its preferred habitat leave alone killing it. Well protected, she has no idea what it feels like to face a bunch of stray and violent dogs on a lonely road especially when you are with your kids. I wonder what people like Ms. Gandhi who chooses the dog over someone else’s kid for social brownie points will choose if the choice is between a stray dog and her own child.

Even then the animals deserve more mercy than the terrorists whose only intention is to kill as many as possible without rhyme or reason or remorse. Apart from these three there is another species that aid and abet these terrorists either directly or indirectly when they are actually obliged to serve this country and its citizens. One wonders what term will be appropriate for them who are responsible for this systemic failure making us incapable of effectively tackling this menace.