Have you noticed how we, as a people, constantly live with fear and anxiety? So much so that we've come to accept it as a part of our life.
The first place where you see this obsession is on TV. TV news is an overdose of violence, cruelty, hate crimes, bomb blasts, terrorist threats, communal riots, domestic brutality, border conflicts, wars, murder, dacoity, extortion, kidnapping, road rage, caste crimes. Something horrible is always happening somewhere. It could be next door or in Bihar or Kashmir. Or even in Parliament. But TV brings it home, makes it a part of our life and conversation. Earlier, bad news shared time with good. Now it's so overwhelming that it has elbowed out the good. And we're so obsessed with it that when there's not enough, TRPs drop. So the channels are on a desperate hunt to find you enough scary stuff to watch. It's our daily fix of dread we can't live without.
It's the same for the press. There's bad news everywhere. The front page celebrates the big ticket stuff: News that can scare the shit out of you. 13% cent inflation. Non stop violence in Kashmir. Jammu on fire. Rs 35,000 crore salary rise for Government employees who never work, in fact have never worked-- which will worsen inflation, increase fiscal deficit, make home loans more expensive for you and me. Add to that economic slowdown, a crumbling stock market, doubling of power and water bills, falling gold prices, rising food prices, fuel costs, joblessness and crimes. More property taxes. More service tax. More VAT. Drought. Floods. Harvests wiped out. Homes too. Everything's on panic mode.
Want worse? Try the net. Normal, fun sex has long vanished. It's now all about S&M, paedophilia, sodomy, sex change, snuff movies, trafficking, transvestites, cannibalism-- extreme violence equals extreme excitement. That's the new high. Technology has bred more fears and anxieties too. Identities stolen. Bank accounts broken into. Credit cards hacked. Morphed pictures. Reject the advances of an office colleague and you could end up seeing yourself in a group sex picture on a popular community site. Technology in the hands of clever rascals is as dangerous as dirty bombs in the hands of obsessed terrorists.
The rich are scared too. Of tumbling stock markets, extortionists and kidnappers, pre-nups and alimonies. They are scared of tax raids. They are scared their businesses could go under in the current economic scenario. They worry the rupee may further fall. They're anxious their savings will erode, their properties lose value, their businesses collapse under the weight of increasing costs and rising taxes. They're losing sleep because the wealth they've stashed away in tax havens overseas is now under greater scrutiny.
The poor are scared because their lives are today even less secure. Their slums keep getting broken down. The builder-politician nexus has gotten stronger. They've nowhere left to appeal. Daily needs can't be met from their meagre earnings. They're the first victims every time there's violence on the streets. They have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. They can't even beg any more. That too is now a crime. Every time there's a theft or a robbery or a bomb blast in the neighbourhood, they're the first to be picked up and thrashed for the police are always in a rush to find scapegoats. The media's on their back. So who gets the short end of the stick? The poor who have no home, no fixed address, no ration card, no vote and thus no protection from anyone. No one's ready to defend them in the courts pro bono. No one wants to write about them any more. They're the invisible citizens of our new India who live in constant fear, not knowing what tomorrow may bring.
The middle classes live with different fears. I know because I belong there. Some of their fears are historic. But most are born out of knowledge. They are educated, clever, informed and thus more exposed to the miasma of dread that overhangs our lives. They fear environmental damage, climate change. They worry about the way we are cutting down forests, wasting energy, killing off other species, destroying our habitat, looting nature, desecrating every inheritance handed down to us by our forefathers. They're also worried about what the future holds for coming generations. Their intelligence is their curse. They cannot sidestep their sense of responsibility.
Who are the lucky ones? Pharma companies for sure. Stress related diseases are on the rise. Security companies. They are the fastest growing. Doctors. Psychiatrists. Yoga teachers. Spiritual leaders. Godmen, tantriks, numerologists, astrologers, palmists. Extortionists, criminals. Lawyers. All those who feeds off your fears. Religious leaders. Politicians. Scamsters and frauds who sell you short cuts out of your conundrum of panic. And entertainers, like us, who offer you the easiest escape route. Fantasy. That's why we Indians are so good at music, art, movies, literature. They are no longer part of our cultural inheritance. They are now part of our survival toolkit. We, who live on the edge, love pure escapism.
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