How people become sheep - bleat
How people become sheep - bleat
Sherlock Holmes, in his most recent avataar in the BBC TV series, quoted Winwood Reade and said 'while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty. You can, for example, never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant.' The original avataar also said the same thing but I think this guy has become more famous.
Put that into context of the recent Indian elections and it suddenly becomes slightly clearer as to why Narendra Modi is a fan favourite to become the next Prime Minister. (updated he won an overwhelming majority)
In all the years since I have attained political puberty, I haven't seen such mass hysteria about a PM contender. I am talking about people genuinely believing in the person and voting not just indulging in intellectual masturbation (there is that too).
While I do believe that this hyperventilation about Modi (or NaMo as he has been popularized on Social and other once upon a time famous media like newspapers and TV channels) is more a construct of the veil that social media provides, there must be something that brings together literate individuals in support of the man.
I don't like him - there you go, I said it. I have a particular distaste for the man, for his party and the ideology both of them stand for. I have been asked, called names, abused and unfriended (oh my God the biggest FB threat you can get) for not voting. I have maintained that I have chosen to follow my conscience rather than fall into the trap of conforming to the latest trend that is the flavour of the day. As a beef eating atheist, I cannot vote for a party which supports a certain religion and wants to ban cow slaughter, the incumbent needs to get its act together and the start up is not making economic sense.
But then, I seem to be in the minority here - people are lining up to go gaga over him. And that is where the herd mentality comes in.
By himself, the man has avoided all references to the intolerant aspects that RSS and its ilk bring to the table. He has left those aspects to be taken care of by the others in his party. He has thus got two sets of people supporting him - the original hardcore supporters who would love to turn this country into a Hindu Pakistan (and who take pains to say Muslims do this in Saudi Arabia so we should do the same in India) and then the other ambivalent set who are now willing to overlook the unseemly aspects because they have a new pin up hero who looks like he has shed everything that is horrible about him and now talks only development - the catch phrase which makes the middle class jump out of their seats and ignore everything else when they can salivate at the proposed money earning possibilities.
These are people who are, by no means, communal. The lip smacking combination of growth and development form a heady mix so tantalizing that the everything around can be ignored. Who cares if a few people get massacared, if I can buy a new house, isn't it?
Add to this the number of well known personalities who have come out in support of Modi and suddenly it has become cool to support him.
Updated after counting -
The hullabaloo has died down, Modi is indeed the PM and I realise what it means to be against the majoritarian view. Everyone on FB, whatsapp and any other social media is at pains to point out that I am wrong.
Since when did dissent become heresy?
One of the first things that Modi did after winning was go to Varanasi and do some puja amid the usual fanfare that accompanies such an event. Such public exhibitions do little to ensure that he would work equally for people of all religions.
While Modi keeps talking of equality for all, what misses the point is that there needs to be communities and sections of people who need special focus and special help so that they can be brought up from penury. An overarching equality for all will miss these people and push them deeper into the morass that they are already in.
As I end this, there is something that I want to reiterate, in a democracy it is important to recognize the nay sayers. The majority (not getting into details of vote shares) that Modi has does not mean there will be or can be no one who can speak against him. My issues with Modi as a PM does not have anything to do with anyone else's views of him and it will remain irrespective of how many seats he wins.
Sherlock Holmes, in his most recent avataar in the BBC TV series, quoted Winwood Reade and said 'while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty. You can, for example, never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant.' The original avataar also said the same thing but I think this guy has become more famous.
Put that into context of the recent Indian elections and it suddenly becomes slightly clearer as to why Narendra Modi is a fan favourite to become the next Prime Minister. (updated he won an overwhelming majority)
In all the years since I have attained political puberty, I haven't seen such mass hysteria about a PM contender. I am talking about people genuinely believing in the person and voting not just indulging in intellectual masturbation (there is that too).
While I do believe that this hyperventilation about Modi (or NaMo as he has been popularized on Social and other once upon a time famous media like newspapers and TV channels) is more a construct of the veil that social media provides, there must be something that brings together literate individuals in support of the man.
I don't like him - there you go, I said it. I have a particular distaste for the man, for his party and the ideology both of them stand for. I have been asked, called names, abused and unfriended (oh my God the biggest FB threat you can get) for not voting. I have maintained that I have chosen to follow my conscience rather than fall into the trap of conforming to the latest trend that is the flavour of the day. As a beef eating atheist, I cannot vote for a party which supports a certain religion and wants to ban cow slaughter, the incumbent needs to get its act together and the start up is not making economic sense.
But then, I seem to be in the minority here - people are lining up to go gaga over him. And that is where the herd mentality comes in.
By himself, the man has avoided all references to the intolerant aspects that RSS and its ilk bring to the table. He has left those aspects to be taken care of by the others in his party. He has thus got two sets of people supporting him - the original hardcore supporters who would love to turn this country into a Hindu Pakistan (and who take pains to say Muslims do this in Saudi Arabia so we should do the same in India) and then the other ambivalent set who are now willing to overlook the unseemly aspects because they have a new pin up hero who looks like he has shed everything that is horrible about him and now talks only development - the catch phrase which makes the middle class jump out of their seats and ignore everything else when they can salivate at the proposed money earning possibilities.
These are people who are, by no means, communal. The lip smacking combination of growth and development form a heady mix so tantalizing that the everything around can be ignored. Who cares if a few people get massacared, if I can buy a new house, isn't it?
Add to this the number of well known personalities who have come out in support of Modi and suddenly it has become cool to support him.
Updated after counting -
The hullabaloo has died down, Modi is indeed the PM and I realise what it means to be against the majoritarian view. Everyone on FB, whatsapp and any other social media is at pains to point out that I am wrong.
Since when did dissent become heresy?
One of the first things that Modi did after winning was go to Varanasi and do some puja amid the usual fanfare that accompanies such an event. Such public exhibitions do little to ensure that he would work equally for people of all religions.
While Modi keeps talking of equality for all, what misses the point is that there needs to be communities and sections of people who need special focus and special help so that they can be brought up from penury. An overarching equality for all will miss these people and push them deeper into the morass that they are already in.
As I end this, there is something that I want to reiterate, in a democracy it is important to recognize the nay sayers. The majority (not getting into details of vote shares) that Modi has does not mean there will be or can be no one who can speak against him. My issues with Modi as a PM does not have anything to do with anyone else's views of him and it will remain irrespective of how many seats he wins.
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