India Positive Read online

  INDIA POSITIVE

  Chetan Bhagat is the author of eight bestselling novels and three non-fiction books, which have sold over twelve million copies and have been translated in over twenty languages worldwide.

  The New York Times has called him ‘the biggest selling author in India’s history’. Time magazine named him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Fast Company USA named him as one of the 100 most creative people in business worldwide.

  Many of his books have been adapted into films and were major Bollywood blockbusters. He is also a Filmfare award-winning screenplay writer.

  Chetan writes columns in the Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar , which are amongst the most influential and widely read newspapers in the country. He is also one of the country’s leading motivational speakers.

  Chetan went to college at IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, after which he worked in investment banking for a decade before quitting his job to become a full-time writer.

  The views and opinions expressed in this work are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him, and the publisher is in no way liable for the same.

  Text copyright © 2019 Chetan Bhagat

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

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  ISBN-13: 9781542044165

  ISBN-10: 1542044162

  Contents

  India Positive

  I NDIAN S OCIETY , I NDIAN C ULTURE

  How Blind Bhakts Can Actually Harm India’s Democracy

  Anthem Order: The Intention’s Good, but Imposition Isn’t

  Blame It on the Rain

  Why We Need a Ram Temple in Ayodhya

  The Great Opinion Wars

  Too Many Holy Cows: Let’s Just Stop Mixing Religion and Law

  Creaming the People: Caste-based Reservations Need to Be Recast for the Sake of a More Just Society

  Hypocritical and Impractical: With the Porn Ban, the Government Has Flaunted Its Control Freak Instincts

  Anatomy of an Internet Troll

  What the 2G Non-scam Tells Us About India’s Don’t-care Attitude to Corruption

  ‘Look, I’m So Secular!’: The Rise of Virtue Signallers on Social Media

  Official India Hates Fun

  Fifty Shades of Intolerance

  Will You Spend ₹80 to See India Win a Dozen Olympic Golds?

  P OLITICS , I NDIA-STYLE

  The Rohingya Are Human, Too: How We Can Deal with Refugees and Still Keep India Safe

  Shorts First, Soul Next?

  We Are All Anti-nationals: The Equation D+M>H Explains Indian Politics, but D+M+H Is a Better Combo

  To Get Poll Maths Right, BJP Needs to Remember Three Numbers

  In these San-sad Times, Call a Virtual Session of Parliament

  Netas, Do Us a Favour: Don’t Swap Favours

  Terrorism and Extremitis

  Gujarat’s Perfect Verdict: How Gujaratis Managed to Keep Both BJP and Congress on their Toes

  Self-goals a Bigger Threat to BJP than Rahul

  What the Shattered AAP Dream Tells Us about Ourselves

  Uri Changed One Thing: India Is Never Going to Compare Itself with Pakistan

  The Parable of PK: Having a Loud, Indecent Neighbour Calls for Out-of-the-box Solutions

  I NDIANOMICS

  28 Per Cent GST? At this Rate, India’s Movie Biz Will Be a Flop Show

  Don’t Let the 2014 Euphoria Turn into Despair

  Cracking the GST Puzzle

  The Government Is Bad at Running Hospitals, Let’s Have Modicare Instead

  Sell Air India for One Rupee: Right Now, It’s a Giant Black Hole Relentlessly Sucking in Taxpayer Money

  How to Tax with Love

  ‘Suit-boot Sarkar’ Doesn’t Want the Rest Suited and Booted

  Free Basics May Not Be Totally on the Mark, But Don’t Trash It

  It’s Time to Analyse OROP with Our Heads, Not Our Hearts

  The Three New I’s of Indian Politics

  Y OUNG I NDIA

  What Out-of-control DU Colleges Can Learn from Uncool IITs

  Indian Institutes of Politics: Lack of Autonomy for Universities Is a Killer, Literally so in Rohith Vemula’s Case

  Indian Institute of Autonomy: Don’t Kill a Model that Works

  Letter to Kashmiri Youth: Even If You Don’t Like India, Here’s Why Your Best Bet Is to Integrate J&K With It

  Concluding Thoughts: Staying India Positive

  India Positive

  So it is 2019, and here we are on the verge of another big Lok Sabha election. It’s different this time, isn’t it? While there’s some election fever, there’s none of the frenzy of 2014. The pre-election analyses, predictions and rallies are in full swing. Each political side is making its promises, of course. They are also trading barbs and attacking their opponents. And yet, it is no 2014. The rise of Modi and his promises of ‘acche din’, the anger of the people towards the Congress government, the first-time mass use of social media, and the fact that these were the first general elections after anti-corruption protests reached the streets, meant that Indians were heavily invested in the 2014 elections. ‘We need change’ seemed to be what India was trying to say. And a commoner chaiwallah like Modi had spectacularly come to power, securing a massive mandate. The people celebrated—they had done it!

  After all, this was change, wasn’t it? The PM changed. The ministers changed. The party ruling the country changed. People power had spoken! Time for ‘acche din’ now! Bye-bye corruption, and hello, new progressive India!

  The excitement of the 2014 elections carried over well after the polls. The honeymoon period of the new government was pure euphoria. When the Swacch Bharat campaign was launched and Modi came to the streets with a broom, many swooned. This was change indeed, they marvelled, look how India is changing now!

  Let’s cut to 2019. Ask people to be as excited as they were in 2014 about the government, and they will most likely give you nothing more than a smirk. Tell them to scream for change, and they are more likely to shrug their shoulders.

  Yeah, things are different, they will say. But nothing has really changed, has it?

  In fact, when I travel for my motivational talks, I sometimes ask the people I meet: ‘How is life radically different for you as an individual under this BJP government versus the previous Congress government? And how much of that is due to the change in government?’ Often, they struggle to find genuine answers. Here’s how a typical conversation goes:

  Me (talking to people in a Shatabdi train compartment): So what is different now in 2019 vs 2014?

  Passenger 1: There are more smartphones, cheaper data and more internet content.

  Me: That is true. But the BJP had little to do with this, as it is a worldwide phenomenon and would have happened even under another government, right?

  Passenger 2: There’s a lot more online shopping.

  Me: Same, not really particular to this government.

  Passenger 3: We have new currency notes!

  Me: For sure, this may not have happened without demonetisation. Have to agree on this one.

  Passenger 4: We have GST.

  Me: Yes, but it affects businesses more. How about you as an individual?

  Passenger 4: For me, GST is merely another name for indirect taxes I used to pay earlier.

  Passenger 5: We also have some more metros, better roads in a few places and new airports.

  Me: Okay!

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