Self-reliant Bharat: Is This Merely a Remake of an Old Classic?

My parents loved Raj Kapoor. The first hero of a self-reliant India, simple, endearing and trusting. I loved my parents. So, we went to see Prem Rog. The film started with an aimless tuneless song and even my father had to say, what’s he (Raj Kapoor) doing?  By the time the song, Yeh Galiyaan Yeh Chaubara (yahaan aana na dobara, ki hum to ho gaye pardesi, ki yahan tera koi nahin) began to play on screen, the master had taken a grip of the plot. The pattern got repeated in his next film. It started with the   inane ‘Main Hi Main Hoon, Doosra Koi Nahin’ song, that now seems prophetic as a description of the modern hero. From ‘Aawara Hoon’ to ‘Hothon pe Sachai Rehti ha’i to ‘Mere Sapnon ki raani kab aayegi tu’, to ‘Main hi main hoon, doosra koi nahin’ ‒ the playbacks roughly sums up the mindset of our heroes.

 In Covid times, has the Indian government (that began with aimless measures) taken a grip on the situation?  Are they entertaining us, governing us, keeping us safe or marching us to new heights (the Marshal Plan after the war) or simply changing the song. To me it seems all of the above. My friend Ravi Sonalkar’s analysis of the Rs 20 lakh crores package was as follows: (I love happy endings, by the way.)

“This is an entrepreneur’s instinct. Go for it when you are in trouble. The opportunities are, the possibility of changing the labour laws and land laws. You can see this in what has been done in Karnataka and in UP, MP and Gujarat. So, these laws can be changed without affecting electoral outcomes, and in a dramatic fashion, because of the virus.

The other opportunity is the ability to borrow huge sums, even if it affects the fiscal deficit and the country’s credit rating, as all countries will be doing it . The third opportunity is the collapse in oil prices , a big opportunity for India

“The threat is the virus.  

“And with it the collapse of global trade. That is why the emphasis on self-reliance

“All will change globally, hence every visionary will have to look at the new paradigms   The old world is dead

“So what’s the great threat, large number of deaths and a worthless rupee.

What is the upside?

That India will finally be able to play to its potential”

The other films that were popular, when I watched them, were lost and found masala films. In India’s economic story some themes kept us engrossed and entertained, like creation of the backbone of heavy Industry as ‘temples of India’. Then came, self-reliance, Swaraj. After that came, import substitution. We know what happened till we turned over a new leaf. Nowadays remakes and franchise films are in vogue. So, returns “self-reliance”. Lost and found. Old story, new film, new audience. We were being distracted then; are we being distracted now?

 Never has the story of India been human empowerment, education, public health, infrastructure and ‘off you go and do your thing’. Go conquer the world.

 Instead the highest achievement goal has been, become a civil servant ‒ whatever ‘servant’ means. No risk, only reward, only power for excelling at an exam at age 23, lifelong sinecure and then pensions at a level, young bright bread winners don’t earn.

Political intent is not in doubt. But we are a fully bureaucratised nation. The same themes repeat. Similar actors execute. Are we being governed or entertained? The one common theme has been a lip service but a total disregard for the poor.
 
 This package has tried to address them. As have all packages for 70 years. As a bureaucrat sees them. The political masters have not taken grip. They are as before, focused on the vision, not its execution. Execution also requires vision.

Rs 20 lakh crores is a lot of money. We have coined a new term for most affected fellow citizens. Migrants. From poverty stricken to ganwaar (country bumpkin) to Harijan to Dalit to villager and now, migrants. Calling our own that! Feed them free for two months, two months after due date, register them in rural self-help schemes for 100 days. Kill their 365 days’ job. They have always walked long with heavy loads on their heads, for life, water, jobs, they do so now.  Misery doesn’t talk about itself.

The 70 years of the build-up of the Bharat- India divide is now complete. The only nation in the world to call fellow citizens “Migrants”. The second partition of India.

The truth is, they were never on our radar and we need them to be where they are. We need them to be homeless in urban centres and migrate to earn 500-1000 rupees a day, in low-skill jobs, that add to our comfort, rather than earning that petty sum on their home turf. I pray they don’t return and make a call for a self-reliant Bharat. Because individually they are self-reliant. We are not.

Does this package make a self-reliant Bharat, which needs less than Rs 20 lakh crore? I don’t give answers, I raise questions. Buddha taking a cue from a verse in the Samved said, “Hear me, hear everyone, but be your own light. Aapo Deepo Bhava.”