They live in a place which is flooded with black excreta flowing through their streets, even when it does not rain. Their houses do not have gaps in between them, an aerial view of their houses sends you to prehistoric times when we were savages. They go out every morning, in a park where cows and monkeys hound the place, but instead of trees, there is an all too familiar smell of shit.
Wearing proud uniforms with “International Yoga day” written on their backs, they take long deep breaths. They are the Hindus of today, who worship Shiva and Vishnu and Durga mata and Modi.
Modi, yes, Modi. Their children see me and ask me who I voted for. They throw that question at me with contemptuous eyes, hoping to spare me of their anger. They are kind people in their hearts; they do not want to kill me because I am one of them. I am also a Hindu. They do not eat meat; they give bread to local dogs, sickly dogs who abound the place… and they make sure that cows of the locality are also properly fed.
But I fear them when they ask me the all too familiar question: Did I vote for Modi?
And back home, I ask myself, is it religion? Or is it fear as well? Or is that the sense of power that comes to you when you feel that someone of your legion is on the throne and even though you live with open drains all around you, and you already know that the roads in front of your house will never be constructed, and you also know that at best Modi is replacing bricks and empty buildings in place of trees, you worship him.
You worship him because he stands for all the hatred you really bear in your heart for the Dalits community, the “dirty” people who used to clean your shit (even though a small river full of shit flows not far from your house), and you worship him because he stands for what you really want from life—a meaningless sense of achievement. You wanted stability, prosperous life, owning a car and a swimming pool, and fancy things that everyone around you has. Yes, you voted for Modi (also: by not standing against him) because you wanted “development” at the cost of the environment.
And you know that he is not going to deliver that, because whom will you worship when you have everything? But you still worship him.
And I fear you. I fear the development. I fear how we are digging our collective graves by choosing leaders like Modi, who will suck from the bosom of the earth, everything it has and ask us to make him immortal.
Modi is not responsible. We are.
Trump is not responsible. We are.
Now, share this article to show your solidarity with ‘environment’. And take a deep breath, because you did your job. I did mine.