Why United States of South India (USSI) is a failed ideology

In the last few months, many of my friends shared with me, an online article (and various narrations of it) which demands the creation of a separate country called United States of South India (USSI). The article has gained widespread popularity, thanks to its partial data driven facts and baseless perceptions which will convince any south Indian with limited or no knowledge about the macro-economics of a country or even the political agenda behind it, that this is a great idea. Further, I saw that there are twitter handles and Facebook pages with a large subscriber base supporting this sham. If you look closely, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that this is a funded faction. But what really surprised me is the fact that people are falling for such fake ideologies so easily. I was alarmed when the article made it to my family WhatsApp group and to my surprise, my uncles who served in PSUs for 3 to 4 decades fell for this. Few even went a step ahead and started sharing their own perceptions and imaginations of a separate powerful (?) and peaceful South Indian country. I couldn’t believe that educated masses bought this idea at its face value. It didn’t surprise me that liberals are capitalizing on such things. These assumptions and imaginations, can have devastating consequences on the national Unity and has the potential to even destabilize our economy.

Here is my attempt to debunk this dangerous myth that “United States of South India” is a great idea. It is just a fabricated veracity by a certain political wing for personal gains and more importantly, in real, it will be a recipe for the greatest political disaster of the 21^st century. 

The “We-pay-more-tax” belief

The article spoke at length on how Karnataka, Maharashtra and TN pay more taxes to the center and how we are not getting the same back. This is purely misleading people. Firstly, people should understand how the federal structure works. In real, there is no single country on this planet where the fiscal burden is evenly distributed. And this theory is totally flawed because it is dependent on so many factors like geography, terrain, industries, human resources etc. The fiscal burden can never be equally spread across the states. And, not just states, it varies widely and largely from city to city. For example, in Karnataka, Bangalore largely or even in its entirety solely pay taxes to the center, thanks to its IT and manufacturing boom. But, Maharashtra, has Mumbai paying a lion’s share of direct taxes, and there are Pune and other cities too. So, the “We pay more tax and hence we have to get back more from center” rhetoric is unimaginably stupid. 

On the other side, it is more to do with rich-poor gap than states giving taxes and getting benefits in return. Post liberalization era has only widened this rich-poor gap. The government from 2004-2014 had a great chance to bridge this gap by being more cautious of its economic policies. But it neglected this completely and is now busy coaching its xenophobic dimwits to mislead the aam aadmi of this nation to believe that we pay more taxes but do not get anything back. In fact, the current government has done remarkable progress in bridging the rich-poor gap by developing the very neglected regions of the country so that they depend less on us and eventually sustain on their own. Instead of whining, please feel happy that you’re helping your brethren on the other side so that they eventually stop asking us for help. I understand the frustration that there is no immediate returns! But it does not mean that we divide the country into two! Feel proud that we are paying more only to make our country prosper. We are only more powerful as United India. Do not succumb for mislead propaganda like north and south divide.  

Superior Federals

A good friend from a certain communist state always made fun of the political and socio-economic problems on the other side of the country stating that we are superior federals and we use the federal powers to the best of “our abilities”. His focus was always on “our abilities”. By that, he meant South Indians, which he was always proud of. When he was once drunk, he said that there are only five states in India, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and North India. My every attempt to make him understand that executive or the financial powers of the states vary with each other and so the fundamental rights of its citizens was in vain. When he told me that during the recent floods in his state, his parents were rescued by army jawans, I asked him “You superior federals do not even have an army of your own that a Jawan from the other side had to come to your rescue”? Finally he got the point. 

I stated this story because there are millions out there with the “we are superior federals” mindset who consider themselves more powerful and self-sufficient in every possible way! Imagine the situation where an Army Jawan says he’ll rescue only people from his state or a surgeon who says he’ll operate only patients from his region. Forget the citizens with this mind-set, our very own chief minister asked in a public addressing “Why should I develop this region. You guys did not vote for my party”. This is the situation in south.

Imagine the situation of South India, if Vajapayee decided to build highways only between Delhi-Bombay-Kolkata and called it Golden Triangle instead of Golden Quadrilateral just because south did not vote for his party. Pay close attention and you’ll realize that this “Superior Federals” theory is something that Liberals are trying to infest with different narratives in innocent minds. Do not fall for it. Love for your state/region/province is very good. But it never should be above your love for the nation. 

A new country is no joke

Have you ever wondered how much did it cost the exchequer when Andhra Pradesh was divided? Just a new secretariat building in Telangana for the government offices to function cost 1200 crores INR. The new capital of Andhra Pradesh is planning to incur a Capex of 51,000 crore INR of which 14,000 crores will be spent on just construction of roads. Extending the existing railway lines of Amaravati by a little more than 100 km is estimated at 10,000 crores. I want you to understand, my dear friend, that the major chunk of this is all your money. If this is the scene of a new state, imagine the cost of building a new country. Carving out a new country is not just about building infrastructure. A new form of government, new executive and judiciary, new laws, intelligence and trade establishments intellect bureaucrats to run governing bodies; all these do not happen on their own. By the time your dream country USSI (United States of South India) come to a stable position that you are expecting, you would probably cease to dream. So, stop daydreaming about USSI. 

Being a true Indian national, your political inclinations and love for your province should only help it develop and prosper. Such disguised assiduous ideologies are not only treacherous in nature, they are gibberish and lead you to believe in claptrap doctrines. Put your analytical thinking hats on and nip the partisanship in its bud! Diversity is our biggest strength. Don’t let it turn into a weakness, because there is always someone who is waiting to capitalize on it.

The Wall - part-2

Please click here to read Chapter-1

Chapter-2

Ajay could not believe what he had just witnessed. He took a step back and gestured Sanjana to come silently and see the horror for herself. They stood at the entrance of the backyard and just stared at each other in shock. Facing the wall, Mrs. Rajeshwari continued the conversation…..with imaginary Sundara Bai. Not just her voice, as Mrs. Rajeshwari switched characters, there were significant changes in her voice modulation, body language and her actions! Ajay had never seen such remarkable biological differences emerging out of the same body. Sanjana was shuddered! All these days, Sundara Bai was just a fictional character. And they did not get the slightest hint of this horror for two long months! They were dumbfounded of what had become of Mrs. Rajeshwari. 

It took a week for the psychiatrist to understand what had happened to Mrs. Rajeshwari. After knowing her early days at Bombay, assessing her medical history, her daily activities and with inputs from Ajay, psychiatrist concluded the case.

Dissociative identity disorder.

The Psychiatrist explained his mother’s case to Ajay.

“DID or multiple personality disorder is a mental disorder characterized by at least two distinct state of being in same person. Presentations, however, are very much variable between the characters.”

“But doctor, how could my mother….”

“There are lot of reasons why this can happen to a person. I believe, in your mother’s case, it is depression. Prolonged suppression of her feelings from a very young age had already disturbed her mind to a very large extent. And the loneliness that she experienced here worked as a catalyst. A tiny spark by Shanta Bai, your maid, is all it took for her to create Sundara Bai in her mind and eventually manifest out of her own body.” 

“Doctor, Can she come out of this?”

The doctor tried to be as assertive as possible.

“If the mind can do this to your own body, it also suggests that there is positively the same potential for healing… Because they are exhibited out of the same mind”.

“Please tell me that my mom will get back to normal”

“Well, most people do. But the timeframe cannot be ascertained specifically. Few get well within months and a few others take years! For the treatment, we’ll put her through a couple of therapies - psychotherapy will improve her mental well-being. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) which will help her combat the triggers that lead to the manifestation of Sundara Bai. And with a few medications, of course. But most importantly, the supportive care from you is very vital for her wellbeing”.

In the therapy room, where Mrs. Rajeshwari opened up slowly about her loneliness, how it affected her and how she buried her feelings deep inside her so that her son is not distressed, Ajay was standing outside, haplessly listening to the words of love his mother was showering on him even from her subconscious mind. Sanjana’s silence was a reflection of her regretful acknowledgement of what she did or did not do. When his mother talked about her suicidal ideations, he broke down. That was the moment of realization for him; that moment of epiphany which led him to get to the right perspective of what his mother actually longed for. At that very moment, he decided to do all he can to get his mother back to her usual self.

Over a period of time, the therapy sessions started showing results. The medication helped her increase the uptake of serotonin in the brain. She got back to her senses slowly. She started listening to her favorite bhajans. Her medication course was finally over and her circadian clock started functioning at normal schedule.  It took a profusion of time and effort for Mrs. Rajeshwari to come out of it. Sanjana resigned her high paying job and diverted her entire energy and attention for mother-in-law’s well-being. Ajay was equally getting involved in his mother’s well-being.

After a long time, a terrible constraint seemed to settle down. Without quite knowing what had happened, Mrs. Rajeshwari came back to life. Everything had changed. Yet nothing seemed so apparent except the wall at the backyard. Ajay knew that the wall would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Epilogue

Two years later….

The monsoon had just stopped with a mix of burst and lull. It was a very pleasant evening and the verandah was flocked with school kids taking mathematics tuitions from Mrs. Rajeshwari. The cool breeze that blew brought in a wave of freshness and filled the entire verandah. Along with the wind, a book glided smoothly and halted in front of the century teacher with its pages open. She picked it up, glanced through the content and saw the name on the book.

“Tarun, come here. You have done this math all wrong”

“Yes maam”

“If Sundarabai had ten mangoes with her and she gave two to her neighbor, how many are left with her?” 

The insidious disease which slowly poisoned Mrs. Rajeshwari’s life was insanity – Whether it was the insanity of her own delusion or the insanity of snobbery by Ajay and Sanjana is debatable. Neither Ajay’s wild consumerism nor Sanjana’s subjugation helped Mrs. Rajeshwari. Unfortunately, this abandonment of the parents at their declining years has become a savage indictment of almost every modern household of contemporary India. 

Whether it is unreasonable for parents to expect care and compassion in their twilight years or parenthood ought not to be regarded as a liability that children have to repay – Is for us to decide

The wall - A short story

Prologue:

“It is very difficult for me to be alone for an entire day. Let me at least teach mathematics to children in the evenings. This severe headache is because I am giving absolutely no work to my brain” 

Mrs. Rajeshwari spoke in almost muted voice. 

“Mom, it is all in your mind. Just get out of the mindset that you are alone. Trust me, your headache will vanish. There are thousands of mothers who are alone and they do not complain. I am meddled with my own problems in and outside of this house. Do you want me to quit job and be with you just because you feel lonely? You are alone for a couple of hours for a day. But you are not outcast or abandoned…. Are you? After all, what have we not done to you? There are hundreds of those Bhajan CDs that you like. There is TV. You have newspaper, novels and what not. I dunno what is stopping you from exploring all these” bellowed Ajay, who was in a hurry. As he picked up his laptop bag and was about to leave, he felt that the holler was unnecessary. He felt pity and tried to console his mother.

“Maa… Sanjana has already cooked breakfast and lunch. Eat on time, take your tablets without fail and take a power nap. Watch TV for some time. She will be back by 5PM. You’ll be alright mom. Don’t think too much” 

He kissed his mother good bye, got up and walked out of the house. Sanjana was already waiting near the car.

“What is it”? She admonished

“Arghhh! The same old make-believe solitary confinement of mother”

Sanjana gave an unpleasantly prominent look. Ajay tried to ignore and a few seconds later the car zoomed out of the gate and the couple left for their daily chores….

Chapter-1

For Mrs. Rajeshwari, life had turned one-eighty after her retirement. Her husband’s early demise had forced her to take the lead at a young age. On one hand, after decades of serving as a high school teacher, shaping other kids’ lives, taking responsibilities and driving her own family, she was expecting a sense of relief that she will get to live the life that she wants to. On the other hand, her own son and daughter in law were not realizing that she had just retired from work, not from life. They made it implicit that she had struggled all these years and now that she has retired, all she needs is rest.  Not that they were apathetic. They took her for periodic medical check-ups, never forgot her birthday, facilitated her pension and gave it to her without fail. She had the luxury of TV, internet and so on. Sanjana took care of all the cooking at home. Shanta Bai visited every day to clean and do the dishes. But involuntarily, they were not receptive to her genuine feelings!  So even beyond all these comforts, there was a sense of privation which always bothered Mrs. Rajeshwari – Loneliness.

Back in Mumbai, where she had spent the major part of her life, she had so many friends. After her husband’s early demise, she had moved to a house in Bandra west. R N Podar school where she was a teacher, was just 10 minute walk from her house. In the evenings, the verandah of her house was packed with kids. She was a brilliant mathematics tutor. She had that zeal to teach mathematics to kids in simple methods. Students she tutored consistently scored high marks in mathematics. Among the kids who secured a hundred on hundred in mathematics in Maharashtra board exams, majority were Mrs. Rajeshwari’s students. Vernacular newspapers called her century teacher. At the prime of her life, she was energetic, lively and led a meaningful life. 

Sanjana, a bank manager now, was once her student. By virtue of her profession, there were frequent transfers. And this time, she was transferred to Nashik. So Ajay had to resign his IT job in Mumbai and had joined the only software company in Nashik amidst the wine and other small scale industries. Without an option, Mrs. Rajeshwari too unwillingly had to relocate to Nashik. That is where her age of loneliness crept in.

For years, the fast paced life of Mumbai had pushed Mrs. Rajeshwari to limits. The city offered a frenzied spiral of dreams; it had given a new life to her; it had given her success and fame. Her burgeoning dreams were synonymous with the city’s haste itself. But Nashik was totally conflicting with what she had experienced in Mumbai for 30+ years. For unexplained reasons, she just could not embrace living in Nashik; not because of its tempered lifestyle, but because she started to experience a sense of solitude. Within months after her arrival in Nashik, she had developed the perception of being alone and isolated. With nobody to even talk to, locked in between the four walls was something that had disturbed her to a very large extent. 

The doorbell rang and she was sure that it is Shanta Bai.

“Come in Shanta Bai… At least you are there to talk to me. Why are you so late today?

“Arrey Maaji, in the next road, just behind your house, there is a lady; just like you Maaji. Husband died, Son and daughter in America. She had arthritis. So they operated and they put some metal knee for her Maaji. Some modern operation which cost her lakhs of rupees. But the surgery was not successful only. Her knee pain increased after operation. Now she cannot even walk outside."

Paap teni! She was talking to me about her pain and loneliness Maaji. That’s why I got late”

Instantly, there was a ray of hope, a sort of glimmer in Mrs. Rajeshwari’s face. She imagined the neighborhood lady's and her own life to be like two peas in a pod. She thought that if she can befriend the lady that Shanta Bai is talking about, it’ll definitely help both kill their boredom. She thanked Shanta Bai that the almighty himself has sent this opportunity and asked for more details.

“What is her name?”

“Sundara Bai”

“Where exactly is her house?”

“Very Next Street. Exactly behind your house maaji. If you go to your balcony and she comes to hers, you both can actually talk to each other. Ha ha ha”

This idea appealed to Mrs. Rajeshwari. She gave this a lot of thought overnight and decided that she herself should strike a conversation after Sanjana and Ajay left for office. Even the thought of getting to talk to someone sparked a sense of excitement in her. She could not sleep the whole night. The next day morning, as usual, Sanjana and Ajay left for office. Shanta Bai came and finished her chores and left for the day. Mrs. Rajeshwari came to her balcony and stood there, facing the seven feet wall. She waited until she heard a feeble noise. She spoke in a loud voice:

“Hello, Sundara bai… I am Rajeshwari. Your neighbor”

“Hello. Are you talking to me? How do you know my name?”

A 30 second pause. *What if Sundara Bai gets back inside and fails to hear what I am saying. Oh no! This should not happen* Mrs. Rajeshwari raised her voice as much as she could.

“Shanta Bai told me about you. I am alone at home. Are you alone too?”

 “Hmmm. In today’s world, only people who are aged like me and you will sit at home”

Both of them laughed.

“Did you have your lunch, Sundara Bai?”

“Hmmm. In the beginning, I used to eat whenever I was hungry. Nowadays, I am eating to just keep myself alive. Doctor has told me that eating on time will help you get good sleep. So I forcefully eat something”

“Yeah. Same here. Eating just to be alive”. How many of you stay here”?

And so started their friendship. Over a period of time, they became very good friends. They enjoyed their varied conversations. They spoke at length about their families, their childhood and their college days, their post marriage tantrums, about their responsibilities as parents and how their kids had gotten busy in their own lives abandoning them. Their mutual conversation eased their pain and touched their mental wounds with a warm and tender acquaintance. For them, it was not just exchange of words. It was an everyday colloquium. At times, they forgot the seven feet wall between them and the tête-à-tête continued for hours together. This everyday conversation was the medicine that kept Mrs. Rajeshwari and Sundarabai alive and away from their otherwise secluded lives. 

A couple of months passed by. Ajay and Sanjana did take notice that the mother had almost stopped whining. Mrs. Rajeshwari informed Ajay and Sanjana of her shenanigans with Sundarabai at the backyard. Ajay thanked god that the rewarding effects of this talk became a compelling incentive for his mom to stop being lonely. He told his mother that she can talk to her neighbor at her will and that he or Sanjana would never object it. He also promised to check if he can do something to the wall so that they can have direct face to face conversations. Over months, it improved the psychological and social functioning of his mother on its own. In other words, it was a natural recovery for Mrs. Rajeshwari from the solitude.

It was Mrs. Rajeshwari’s birthday. Like every year, they decided to make her birthday, a special day for her. Ajay and Sanjana thought of surprising mother by coming home early, celebrating her birthday and taking her out for dinner. They left their offices early, purchased cake, sweets and savories from the famous store and reached home. As always, Ajay opened the doors with his keys. As he entered, he heard Mrs. Rajeshwari’s feeble voice busy in a conversation. He suddenly realized it could be Sundarabai, love thy neighbor, who was a blessing in disguise. A thought spontaneously came to his mind; Inviting Sundarabai home on mother’s birthday would make both really happy and that it would also put an end to their month long acquaintance. He thought this is also the best opportunity to thank Sundara Bai.

As he moved towards the backyard with his mind reasoning on how to strike a conversation with SundaraBai, he noticed something very unusual. That strange, bizarre and a totally unexpected scene freaked him out. He halted abruptly. 

“I tell you Sundarabai, you should really visit my Bombay once…”

“I like the way you say ‘My Bombay’. Rajeshwari, you miss Bombay very much. Don’t you?”

“Yes. Every day! I wish you could walk. I would have asked Ajay to take both of us to Bombay one day”

A chill ran down Ajay’s spine. Facing the seven feet wall, Mrs. Rajeshwari, herself was doing the two sided conversation. There was no Sundarabai in real. Sundarabai was a character created by Mrs. Rajeshwari in her mind.

… To be continued