(I know this blog isn't funny. Not to me or you, it isn't. Just remember it won't be us who will have the last laugh either)
The Supreme Court couldn’t have been have been more correct, when it went on record to state that India is the only country in the world, where communities are striving to assert their backwardness. Be it the O.B.C. reservations, or the Gujjar fiasco in Rajasthan or even the Woman’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, they all want a slice of the pie. What our politicians don’t realize is that reservations have long ceased to be a tool for social change and have been reduced to a political gimmick to appease votebanks.
I have a Schedule Caste friend whose father is an IAS officer, his grand father was an IPS officer, and he has secured admission into IIT Delhi on quota. When I confronted him with the fact that as his family had prospered in the past three generations, wasn’t it time for him to jump the quota divide and let other less fortunate members of his community get an opportunity. His answer: “You upper caste guys have enjoyed advantageous positions for the past thousands of years and you expect us to be happy with just 60.” This is what our short sighted politicians don’t realize. Reservations are like a lolly-pop once given to a baby, can never be taken back. Imagine India 100 years later, the families of my friends and likes would fill almost all positions of Bureaucratic, Diplomatic and Political Power in this country, and would enjoy such a clout that I find it hard to believe that this nightmare is ever going to go away.
I fail to understand, that when ever this Reservation Debate arises, it centers on premier institutes like IITs, AIIMS and now St. Stephens. The recent decisions by Principal Thampu like cutting 10%of seats from the General Category and reserving them for Dalit students, lowering cut offs for them by 25% and if that was not enough, the famed interviews that made sure that you had the attitude and aptitude to be a Stephanian, was being scrapped. Why doesn’t he just put up this signboard on the college gate-
“Class 10 Certificate- Obsolete
Class12 Certificate- Unnecessary
Caste Certificate- Mandatory”
Our generation might not have witnessed India’ freedom struggle, the Partition, even the Emergency, but keep your eyes wide open guys, because you are witnessing the reversal of the Indian Social Pyramid. And guess what? Chances are you and I will find ourselves at the bottom of the pile one day, pleading for reservations….
I have a Schedule Caste friend whose father is an IAS officer, his grand father was an IPS officer, and he has secured admission into IIT Delhi on quota. When I confronted him with the fact that as his family had prospered in the past three generations, wasn’t it time for him to jump the quota divide and let other less fortunate members of his community get an opportunity. His answer: “You upper caste guys have enjoyed advantageous positions for the past thousands of years and you expect us to be happy with just 60.” This is what our short sighted politicians don’t realize. Reservations are like a lolly-pop once given to a baby, can never be taken back. Imagine India 100 years later, the families of my friends and likes would fill almost all positions of Bureaucratic, Diplomatic and Political Power in this country, and would enjoy such a clout that I find it hard to believe that this nightmare is ever going to go away.
I fail to understand, that when ever this Reservation Debate arises, it centers on premier institutes like IITs, AIIMS and now St. Stephens. The recent decisions by Principal Thampu like cutting 10%of seats from the General Category and reserving them for Dalit students, lowering cut offs for them by 25% and if that was not enough, the famed interviews that made sure that you had the attitude and aptitude to be a Stephanian, was being scrapped. Why doesn’t he just put up this signboard on the college gate-
“Class 10 Certificate- Obsolete
Class12 Certificate- Unnecessary
Caste Certificate- Mandatory”
Our generation might not have witnessed India’ freedom struggle, the Partition, even the Emergency, but keep your eyes wide open guys, because you are witnessing the reversal of the Indian Social Pyramid. And guess what? Chances are you and I will find ourselves at the bottom of the pile one day, pleading for reservations….
1 comment:
Hey, you kinda echo my views. Read my post about the same at http://alchemistpoonam.wordpress.com/2007/08/12/a-slice-of-reservation-pie/
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