Aug 27: Day 1 of my fast, day 913 of our chain.

How does one explain to them that it’s not their cultural identity that is a problem, but their hollowness, internalized bigotry, and obnoxiousness borne of insensitivity that are the root causes of their social alienation?

#ChainFastingForPeace

#FastingAgainstFascism

#ResignAmitShah

#FreeSanjivBhatt

#ResignModi

Aug 28: Day 2 of my fast, day 914 of our chain.

New India: Where “being Vishwaguru” means unaccountability, domination and impunity. Where “peace” means trolling and terrorizing those one doesn’t/can’t understand. Where “respect” and “status” are conflated with the speechlessness caused by extreme obnoxiousness.

Finally a taste of the pride and glory the likes of Nehru could never give us…

#ChainFastingForPeace

#FastingAgainstFascism

#ResignAmitShah

#FreeSanjivBhatt

#ResignModi

Aug 29: Day 3 of my fast, day 915 of our chain.

New India: Where we get so attached to narratives that justify our bigotry that any evidence to contrary becomes a reason for more bigotry. Self-fulfilling prophecies on steroids!

(With thanks to Chirag Shah for sharing these screenshots.)

#ChainFastingForPeace

#FastingAgainstFascism

#ResignAmitShah

#FreeSanjivBhatt

#ResignModi

Aug 30: Day 4 of my fast, day 916 of our chain.

I wonder how Gautam Adani feels moving into third place on the list of the world’s richest when the common citizens of his country are sinking in increasing numbers into such poverty and helplessness that suicide becomes the only recourse.

Does he ever feel shame, that most exquisite sentiment known to those who possess a conscience, empathy, and a basic sense of fairness?

I wonder if Adani has ever fasted. On the fourth day of my fast, I think it would do him good to take a break from whatever unsatiated appetites drive him to such extremes of greed, and think of what he owes to others.

#ChainFastingForPeace

#FastingAgainstFascism

#ResignAmitShah

#FreeSanjivBhatt

#ResignModi

Aug 31: Day 5 of my fast, day 917 of our chain.

The India that loves Modi does so because they want a cheerleader, and like a seasoned actor, Modi knows how to entertain his audience.

Showy clothes, careful grooming, hours romancing the camera: eyecandy – done.
Mann ki baat, NRI rallies, nonstop election rallies, photographs everywhere, a toothless, fawning media: personality cult – done.
Temples, cows, vedas, bhajans, overt religious symbolism: majority appeasement – done.
Anti-Muslim violence, surgical strikes, routine scapegoating of minorities: Hindu “empowerment” – done.
Taali-thaali, diya jalao, har ghar tiranga: partying with power – done.

But all this fun comes at a cost. There are no more statesmen and women in charge. India is in the hands of its greediest. This is a hate-addict’s India that wants instant gratification at any cost. This India belongs to wily opportunists who have no patience for in-depth learning or truth or justice. Everyone wants to get rich, fast. With the result that most are getting poorer, unhappier, and more helpless. And the poorer, unhappier, and more helpless they get, the more they crave a cheerleader. For temporary relief.

So again, enter Modi, of course. Securing permanent power by offering temporary relief from permanent (Modi-inflicted) misery. There is absolutely no impetus left for him to improve the lot of the people. There are no special skills, conscience, or accountability required other than playing dress-up, speaking in empty platitudes, and looking the other way when his followers commit heinous crimes. Master stroke!

Caveat: works only on people with a strong herd mentality who let themselves be played so they don’t have to think.

#ChainFastingForPeace

#FastingAgainstFascism

#ResignAmitShah

#FreeSanjivBhatt

#ResignModi

Sept 1: Day 6 of my fast, day 918 of our chain.

I have been a bit slower today, and found myself lingering after a near decade on the timelines of some old, pre-FB friends and relatives. Their profiles looked squeaky clean, with nothing that could even remotely suggest political turmoil in their country of birth, just talk of dinners, travel, restaurants. Very pleasant, very non-confrontational, …and very aloof from those suffering from horrific injustices taking place in their names. My timeline looks loud and disturbing and borders on the ribald, while theirs are uniformly nice.

For an involuntary moment, I felt guilty, like a little schoolgirl caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. It is unsettling to not fit in. It felt as if I owed the world an explanation. And then I remembered what Naomi Shulman wrote about her mother:

//Nice people made the best Nazis.

Or so I have been told. My mother was born in Munich in 1934, and spent her childhood in Nazi Germany surrounded by nice people who refused to make waves. When things got ugly, the people my mother lived alongside chose not to focus on “politics,” instead busying themselves with happier things. They were lovely, kind people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away.//

I guess I’m happy with my timeline the way it is. My conscience feels cleaner this way.

https://amp.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2016/11/17/the-post-election-case-for-speaking-out-naomi-shulman https://amp.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2016/11/17/the-post-election-case-for-speaking-out-naomi-shulman

#ChainFastingForPeace

#FastingAgainstFascism

#ResignAmitShah

#FreeSanjivBhatt

#ResignModi