CONVERSATIONS IN MY HEAD - DIARY ONE
A good number of times, in the course of a day, I have different conversations in my head. Sometimes, the topics that run into each other are so divergent and unrelated that if they weren't happening in my head, I'd probably doubt the sanity of the "conversors". For the sake of uniformity, I'll call my gist mate Ara. Most of the time, Ara is a male, but as the conversation progresses, he sometimes becomes female.
So I was driving with Ara yesterday morning. As is our custom, we were listening to the radio, and having our convo. We seem to talk to ourselves more than we discuss with others. Suddenly, Ara tugged at my short sleeved t-shirt.
"Did you hear that?" He asked.
"What?"
"I just heard luck and good governance said in the same breath."
"Ok? And?"
"What do you mean 'and'? Tell me what you think."
Without missing a beat, I opened my mouth and told Ara I didn't agree. "Why's that?" He asked.
"A society or country is ruled by one of its own. What they put out is what they get back."
"So you mean the leader of a people is either their cane or their candy?"
"When you put it that way, it's more friendly. But that's exactly what I'm saying", I replied.
"Take our society for example. We have been having leaders generally considered as bad. Does that mean we are all bad people?"
"No."
"Aha!" Ara exclaimed, like he had been waiting for me to say that. "You just contradicted yourself. So, we are not all bad people, but we have hardly had any good leader. Your philosophy is standing on one leg."
"My philosophy is sitting solidly on a comfortable chair, sipping from a glass of chilled chapman. Let me ask you this. How many 'good people' will allow their 'well brought up' children wade in the so-called murky waters of politics?"
"Hmn . . ." Ara did not give me an answer. I continued, regardless.
"They pump them up with good morals, the right behaviour, proper etiquette, and all the desirables in a socially acceptable good person. But, they are not released to make the difference they could have made. They either go back to work in daddy's company, shielding them from getting involved with the 'dirty ones' or they are fixed in daddy's perfect friend's company, or an uncle's. So, they walk out of an air-conditioned bedroom, supplied with power from daddy's stand by generator, into an air-conditioned car daddy gave them as a graduation gift and hop into their air-conditioned office in daddy or uncle's office complex. They repeat that cycle every day of their cool lives."
"When I hear you say that, I begin to think these 'good people' are actually the bad ones."
Just as Ara said that, a car cut in front of us on a slight traffic queue. It wasn't even a build up, it was just a slowly moving traffic. We both glanced out the window at the offender. He had a smirk on his puffy face. He looked like one of those spoilt kids. I exchanged a knowing look with Ara.
"You saw that plain and clear right? Is that a 'good' person?"
"I think he's drunk on privileges."
I shook my head and as the the traffic moved faster, I put my foot on the throttle. Within seconds, I was in front of puffy face. I looked at him as I passed and gave him the most condescending smile I could form. I saw the anger in his face. Who cares? I zoomed on and continued my chat with Ara.
"These 'good' people spend their entire lives moving from the comfort of one cool environment to another, even if for a good part, they are responsible for creating the coolness for themselves. They do not feel the heat the common man on the street feels, so they can't even question the government. In their opinion, those in governance are either performing well or the people don't mind. If they did, they would throw them out of office."
"But they feel it", Ara chipped in. They have to pay for and maintain their sources of comfort. That's money they could use more profitably."
"They don't feel it. If they did, they would have formed an elitist party and fielded their products to stand elective positions. They are fine with the gap between the haves and the haves-not. Afterall, that's why they have the 'privileges'. In saner climes, things like good roads, potable water and constant electricity are not considered gifts to the people. Here, we hail those in governance when they fill our pot holed roads with sand and open the taps of their boreholes for us. We dance and sing their praises when we should be snatching the shoes off their feet. They are part of our problem."
"Look at it this way. If you have a tank of muddy water, pouring in more muddy water will only make more mess. To dislodge the mud and the water, you need to pump in clean water."
"Exactly! I would hi-five you right now if I wasn't driving."
So I was driving with Ara yesterday morning. As is our custom, we were listening to the radio, and having our convo. We seem to talk to ourselves more than we discuss with others. Suddenly, Ara tugged at my short sleeved t-shirt.
"Did you hear that?" He asked.
"What?"
"I just heard luck and good governance said in the same breath."
"Ok? And?"
"What do you mean 'and'? Tell me what you think."
Without missing a beat, I opened my mouth and told Ara I didn't agree. "Why's that?" He asked.
"A society or country is ruled by one of its own. What they put out is what they get back."
"So you mean the leader of a people is either their cane or their candy?"
"When you put it that way, it's more friendly. But that's exactly what I'm saying", I replied.
"Take our society for example. We have been having leaders generally considered as bad. Does that mean we are all bad people?"
"No."
"Aha!" Ara exclaimed, like he had been waiting for me to say that. "You just contradicted yourself. So, we are not all bad people, but we have hardly had any good leader. Your philosophy is standing on one leg."
"My philosophy is sitting solidly on a comfortable chair, sipping from a glass of chilled chapman. Let me ask you this. How many 'good people' will allow their 'well brought up' children wade in the so-called murky waters of politics?"
"Hmn . . ." Ara did not give me an answer. I continued, regardless.
"They pump them up with good morals, the right behaviour, proper etiquette, and all the desirables in a socially acceptable good person. But, they are not released to make the difference they could have made. They either go back to work in daddy's company, shielding them from getting involved with the 'dirty ones' or they are fixed in daddy's perfect friend's company, or an uncle's. So, they walk out of an air-conditioned bedroom, supplied with power from daddy's stand by generator, into an air-conditioned car daddy gave them as a graduation gift and hop into their air-conditioned office in daddy or uncle's office complex. They repeat that cycle every day of their cool lives."
"When I hear you say that, I begin to think these 'good people' are actually the bad ones."
Just as Ara said that, a car cut in front of us on a slight traffic queue. It wasn't even a build up, it was just a slowly moving traffic. We both glanced out the window at the offender. He had a smirk on his puffy face. He looked like one of those spoilt kids. I exchanged a knowing look with Ara.
"You saw that plain and clear right? Is that a 'good' person?"
"I think he's drunk on privileges."
I shook my head and as the the traffic moved faster, I put my foot on the throttle. Within seconds, I was in front of puffy face. I looked at him as I passed and gave him the most condescending smile I could form. I saw the anger in his face. Who cares? I zoomed on and continued my chat with Ara.
"These 'good' people spend their entire lives moving from the comfort of one cool environment to another, even if for a good part, they are responsible for creating the coolness for themselves. They do not feel the heat the common man on the street feels, so they can't even question the government. In their opinion, those in governance are either performing well or the people don't mind. If they did, they would throw them out of office."
"But they feel it", Ara chipped in. They have to pay for and maintain their sources of comfort. That's money they could use more profitably."
"They don't feel it. If they did, they would have formed an elitist party and fielded their products to stand elective positions. They are fine with the gap between the haves and the haves-not. Afterall, that's why they have the 'privileges'. In saner climes, things like good roads, potable water and constant electricity are not considered gifts to the people. Here, we hail those in governance when they fill our pot holed roads with sand and open the taps of their boreholes for us. We dance and sing their praises when we should be snatching the shoes off their feet. They are part of our problem."
"Look at it this way. If you have a tank of muddy water, pouring in more muddy water will only make more mess. To dislodge the mud and the water, you need to pump in clean water."
"Exactly! I would hi-five you right now if I wasn't driving."
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