Talking Shop: Changing the rules

"I have learned about honesty

and that truth matters. Don't

take shortcuts or play by your

own rules. Success doesn't

count unless you earn it fair"

— Michelle Obama

Last week, I went to compete in a carrom tournament along with a beatifying missus. I was all but home and dry in the final game when I was told I was defying a stated rule. I pointed out politely that both national and international norms permit what I was doing and not to distract me mid-way through a killer shot. I was bluntly informed by someone who had been close to me: "Where you are sitting today, our rules apply." I realized I was perhaps in yesteryear's Iraq or today's new-found Afghanistan. I consternated for a bit and walked out, conceding a match that I was winning hands down.

Like a good boy, I mumbled apologies to the opponents for my hiatus and ventured home. Why? For one, I don't like unnecessary tumult and I never bend rules. Two, I never cower down to bullies, especially those with less than ample grey matter. Three, I can get antsy when the situation calls for it. That day, I didn't want to get antsy. When people get angry, bad things happen, and I don't want that.

Unfortunately, though, across our brave country, this new and definitive diktat and 'only-our-rules-apply' syndrome is calling the shots. Much as this grim reaper of a referee bestowed upon me an outstanding gyp at a carrom table, our leaders are also betraying their wannabe mentorship of their make-believe realm. If a carrom referee can play truant, who can blame the bigger umpires who rule our lives, especially those with greater powers? That set me thinking, and here I am, flogging the keyboard and flagging the grey matter that powers me.

What of referees?

I don't really know these arbiters or adjudicators, almost as much as I cannot comprehend if it is this approach that makes those with even very minute powers wield them crassly. In today's debilitated world, we are literally playing a board game, with many in power abusing their office and causing mayhem, making a mockery of the fabric that has bound our society and communities for decades. I don't have solutions, but I do have some intrepid and rancid questions.

We seem to suddenly be divided on the basis of caste and creed. State governments are suddenly falling helter-skelter at the twist of a twiddle and an indefinite tee. The blessed freebies bandied out to millions by all political parties for years are being called handouts now, even though everyone indulged in this largesse. We are turning a blind eye to the complete massacre of our cultural and lineal heritage. Why are we not coming together as the nation that we were, barking at and ousting those that defy even basic tenets? Why are we not making these divisive forces face the music?

Perhaps because of rancour and arithmetic—while rancour forces us to tread with care, mathematics betrays a deeper agenda and empty words from our leaders have triggered a global fall from grace for the country, dramatically so. Our country has fallen on various parameters, be it religious tolerance, education, corruption, all-round health, freedom of the press, economic growth, currency reserves, national debt and exports.

What comes next?

Nothing good or cool, I am afraid. It can't, unless immediate steps are taken to stem the rot and the mid-way changing of rules and long-set norms. For the changing of rules and our new-found norms to handle any issue of concern is having a deadly impact on the outcome, with most of these issues ending up as national and international parodies. Let me cite a few examples to explain just how deep the rot has gotten.

Who can forget the (mis)handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially the Second Wave last year? Our approach toward this deadly wave made us a mockery across the world, especially when after lakhs of deaths and lines of bodies outside crematoriums and burial grounds, Parliament was informed that there was never any lack of hospital beds or oxygen. Then we have the growing religious disharmony, which is being blatantly stoked by sects and bhakts of all color and creed. Look at what happened after this year's Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti and Eid festivities—these normally peaceful festivals witnessed more than a dozen incidents of communal violence and vandalism.

Rather than deep-dive into every other incident that is reverse-thrusting our progress, let me just list some issues that have brought us to this pass. We have the remission of the prison terms of the 11 convicted of heinous gang-rape and murders in the Bilkis Bano case. Who can forget the mowing down of peacefully marching farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, with a minister's son allegedly at the wheel? And now, we have a very real possibility of farmers agitating again, as their demands are far from being met. The less that I say about the border skirmishes with China the better...

Finally, we have an economic slump that we refuse to accept even exists. Our Foreign Exchange reserves are shrinking, falling further by US $6.687 billion in the week ended August 19, 2022, to US $564.053 billion, as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In a death-knell for our once independent media, large Corporate houses have now taken over most of our Fourth Estate. Even put together, all of the above are not even a trailer of the new movie that is being viewed worldwide, to the accompaniment of guffaws and cat-calls.

Deep-seated changes

The change in approach and rules is beginning to run deep, and the only way out is to change them right back before greater damage is done. Things are bad, but everything is not lost. To give it its due, the Government has been attempting to stem the slide, with a flurry of initiatives being announced to liberate society and the economy from our self-imposed shackles. These moves are an attempt to spur growth and increase our national and international presence. In turn, the RBI has tweaked the repo rate twice in the last few months and more is expected soon. These are things to celebrate.

To end this column, let's revisit our repertoire of quotes and see what Sophocles said: "I would prefer to even fail with honor than to win by cheating." It is time to rewrite the rules.

PS: On a completely different note, a special mention has to be made of our just-retired Chief Justice NV Ramana. Having served his term astutely and admirably, the Justice went off in his inimitable style. On the penultimate day of his tenure (last Thursday), his Honor heard 28 cases in one day, four of them being critical issues—the Bilkis Bano remission case, PMLA (ED), the Pegasus imbroglio and the PM Security Breach issue (Punjab) earlier this year. On Friday, Justice Ramana was back on the bench the whole day; hats off and more power to this legal legend who has done India proud.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal