From teenage I have been anti-political. And to date, I am
an apolitical animal. Politicians make a political statement by a rally, a
hartal or a bandh. Me, I am not too fond of these since they inconvenience
people.
As a young man, I thought that the Japanese way, of a band
of black cloth as a form of protest, was a good idea – it troubles nobody yet
it conveys the unhappiness of the workers against a management decision. Nobody
suffers. Production and profits continue unabated.
Thank God, there are many apolitical animals out there and
with due diligence in my old age, I have learned of many more ways to make a
political statement without inconveniencing others.
For example, you can march for science or run for gender
equality, switch of lights at a particular time to show solidarity with the
concept of sustainable development, throw a bucketful of ice on yourself... the
diversity of the forms of protest can be very diverse; there is a large
multitude of them.
So, though my friends and relatives still believe that I am
anti-political, I am no more an apolitical animal. I protest. I show solidarity
with others. And I use a large repertoire of ways to make a political
statement.
For example, when I wake up in the morning, I stretch and
yawn and at times curl back to try and sleep to show solidarity with the dogs
that are maltreated by human beings. Then I go and brush my teeth and bathe to
protest against the unclean politics practiced by the Indian parties. I comb my
hair in memory of the mass extinction that took place 65 million years ago that
lead to faster evolution of creatures that had hair. Then I walk to the kitchen
to protest against pollution caused by fossil fuel burning. On some days we drink Earl Grey tea as a
signal to the British that we have forgiven them for doing what they did not
know they were doing,..
There are umpteen ingenious ways to make a political
statement, my apolitical friends. In fact, you can make your life a series of
political statements by doing things that are totally unrelated to the issue
that you are protesting or solidaritising – if I may take liberty with words.
Now to make your life more meaningful and socially,
culturally, historically relevant, all you need to do is to find issues to make
political statements, so that the whole of your waking life becomes a political
statement.
Wait for the next
post: how to find issues for showing solidarity or to protest.
