THE BIHAR EARTHQUAKE

THE  BIHAR  EARTHQUAKE

There has been an earthquake in Bihar.  All the seismologic instruments failed to forecast or even register the high magnitude quake as it occurred when the earth shook in disapproval of the despicable attempts to rip wide open ancient fault lines in Indian society. In that giant tremor some Colossuses fell from the high pedestals they had mounted, their feet of clay caving in with the upheaval.

What does one make of this? Commentators have been profuse in their explanations, their post facto vision as always being 20/20. Few gave credit to the farsightedness of Nitish Kumar who turned his back on hate politics well before Modi strutted across the All-India horizon. On hearing of the anointment of Narendra Modi as potential Prime Minister he had distanced himself more than two years ago from the BJP and started on that lonely long journey that culminated in the grand victory.

In an old film, Kalpana by the dancer Uday Shankar, a song stereotypes India’s regions with colourful adjectives;

veera panchanadi vasi,  -  valiant people of the five rivers

ganga jamuna ke buddhi vikasi, -the intellectually mature of Ganga and Jamuna

banga desh ke kala prakashi,  - the artistically developed of Bengal

karmakushala dakshina adivasi – the diligent people of the South

#Bihar, the land that gave the world the Buddha, has vindicated that old description of the riparian lands with an intelligent assertion of the primacy of social justice and dignity. They have rejected the insidious overtures to consolidate on religious identities; they have dismissed the overwhelming pleas to conform by voting for a party because it rules in Delhi; they have seen through the duplicity of lies and misinformation about caste and reservations; they have refuted the domination of power and money; they brought the proudly proclaimed ‘largest political party of the world’ to its knees.

Surprises do not end there. In an unusual flash of brilliance we have the aspiring Rahul say that truth prevailed, reiterating that the national motto of Satyameva Jayate has been proved once again.

Yet another natural phenomenon seems to be playing out here. Evolution through the occasional mutation starts by producing monsters.  The rest of the species when faced with abnormal deviants unite in a mahagathbandhan, a grand alliance, to pounce upon such monsters and destroy them until a hardier mutant evolves and proves fit enough to survive. This generation is being privileged to the witnessing of such an evolution.