Bandh day protection for BEST buses. Protection from the people who work hardest on strike days.
Grassroot Bhaiology: Striking on a bandh day
It's like switching on the lights in the middle of the night and discovering cockroaches having a field day in your kitchen. The day of the bandh is the day when our goondas come out, reveal their faces and learn how to burn buses.
According to a friend of mine from Chennai, a businessman, who's dad was an old AIADMK MLA and a Union Leader in the Nilgiris, there's only one way to clean up the system in India and that is to stop the goondas at the ward level. I guess it's common sense but then, common sense is probably worth repeating.
The guys sitting in Mantralaya may wear clean clothes, but they are nothing without the musclemen they control at the street level. Ask Mamta Banerjee about that, she named her party Trinamool or Grassroots just to counter the muscles power of the marxist goons. But when she flexes her muscles, there's an outcry.
Over the last 3 weeks in Kerala, there's a huge debate and a media war against the communist killing their own people who quit the party or political rivals.
Both the Marxists in Kerala and Mamta is Bengal are surprised why there's a sudden outcry against a few goondas who are only doing what they have been doing peacefully for generations.
But wherever you go in India, it's the goondas at the ward level who control our democracy and maybe one way to clean it all up is to start enforce the reforms at that level. Only B Grade movies capture it well and also explains why people love them so much, the hero is always bashing up the local goonda and then finally gets to the man who wears pure white
On the lighter side, you can read, laugh and buy "Bhaiology" T-shirts that superstar-ise our friendly neighbourhood Mumbhai history sheeters. Click here. I borrowed the title for this post from their brand name.
Meanwhile here's a popular icon used at the Ganesh Kripa Society protest site, led by Medha Patkar. It is also very similar to the symbol used by Narayan Rane's son for his social work organisation - Swabhimaan.
