What makes one think that he is superior to others around him? Is it because of the money he has, the political power he wields, the influence he has to determine the lives and death of others, the ability to get away with whatever one does or just because he supposedly belongs to one caste just by the accident of birth? This kind of reasoning pervades our thought, except for some real good souls. Why are men ready to demean, belittle or for that matter stereotype others based on just about anything from "CULTURE", "CIVILIZATION", "SKIN COLOR", "ECONOMIC STATUS", "CASTE", "GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION", "LANGUAGE"? And this list could go on and on of course. Few events that's been happening over the last few weeks have made me think along these lines.

The doctor's strike in Maharastra to me is a classic example of a group of people in position to decide the fate of other people exploiting their power, which is basically derived from the responsibility that is placed on them, at the cost of life of the poor. How else can one explain the doctors across the state going on a strike for such a long time on what can be explained as an unfortunate incident? For those who don't know what i am taking about, here is the gist. A doctor was beaten up by a man and some of his relatives when his mother died in the hospital. However regrettable the incident might be, is it worth putting so many lives at risk by going on an indefinite strike? Can you imagine this happening in Apollo or other big private hospitals? Why is it easy when it comes to poor people who cannot go anywhere else but the govt hospitals? How can people take a moral high ground just because they take up some profession? Was it not their choice to take up that profession? Anyone who knows a little about any ecosystem will recognize that for a society to perform well, it needs a certain number of doctors, certain number of engineers, certain number of people in every other profession. So, how can one profession be better than the other when the society needs each one of them as much as the other? And in a highly populated, poor developing country like ours (alas, some people tend to live in denial that just telling that India is poor offends them, however true it might be), where the number of doctors to population ratio is so low, going on a strike is pathetic to say the least.

Or let us take Justice. Take Bihar. Over two months back, there was an absolutely horrendous crime that was committed which hit the headlines. But as usual the news lost its value on the same day. So, i never heard of it since then. The news was this. I will give the act first, and the reason next just to show the level of social injustice prevailing in India right now. There is this guy in Bihar. A group of people came to his hut, beat up this guy, pulled him out and burned his family (wife and five children) with the hut. All for what? This guy was supposedly from a "lower caste" and he gave a complaint in the police over a dispute on some buffalos with a fellow from a "higher caste". How can one even begin to contemplate the magnitude of this crime over such an inconsequential dispute? Does ideas as specious as caste and religion warrant killing another human being just because he might not share your identities? The other case is that of the murder of Jessica Lal. Murder in front of so many, in a public place and for what? And what does the justice system do? The killer is let off because there isn't enough evidence. But one can be optimistic from the fact that people have started demanding justice and the police have opted to have a relook after the protests. The media will still make it an issue only if its sellable. Jessica Lal was and the poor guy from Bihar was not. Hence the difference in coverage and hence the difference in outrage from the public varied between the two cases. However this is just the beginning and one cannot do away with the injustice that has pervaded all walks of life in our society for millenia. I hope the public outcry in the Jessica's case have a trickle down effect and the poor man in Bihar will get justice sometime soon in the future........

With all this, just ponder over how great and revolutionising the following is,

"Thani Oru Manidhanukhu OOnavillaiyenil Jagathinai Azhithiduvom"
" Lets destroy this world even if one man goes without food"
- MahaKavi Bharatiyar