Incidentally or otherwise, if anyone would care to ponder over, there is this thing with trouble which come calling in the middle of the year like an unwanted guest who stays back for dinner. There has been this inexplicable and uncanny coincidence of all sorts of things that could go wrong actually going wrong most frequently in the middle of the year for a while now. It does not mean to indicate a happy, calm state for the rest of the time- just an increasingly visible and consistent pattern that was not given much thought about before now.
This year too, everything seems to be settled until yesterday when a group of students comes out on the street over some issues.
Could it be the change in the weather that drives most people to commit crimes and offences, the Government to be crowded out with scandals and revelations of misappropriation of funds, inaction and false promises. The public, not to be outdone, has been bringing up issues- some genuine and some blown out of proportion, jumping in amidst the fray that makes the whole scene rather ironically comic.
One thing is for sure- good or bad- the season for excitement and enthusiastic agitations is just round the corner once again. We can pretty much expect, without fail, an increase in the blockades and bandhs- to the point when three or four blockades are being imposed on the same road on the same day concurrently. We can then be seeing almost everyone out of their homes and into the streets to have a first-hand taste of the bandh. The rains will be bringing another set of issues from floods to accusations of apathy by the Government and delayed help- or no help as the case might be, to allegations of distributing live tadpoles, toads and other living organisms through the water supply system. A positive way to look at it would be to take heart in the fact that the water so supplied, though apparently undrinkable, proves for itself that it has not been poisoned. Could it be the logical explanation as to the question of why so many in the State have been taking to drinking from the local breweries? Social activism will be taken to with renewed vengeance by seasoned as well as wannabe social minded individuals and organisations. Power cuts have once again- raised the temperature and lowering the tolerance level of the common people, while the fortunate ones will be hogging the meagre supply of power so generously provided after allocation to the less fortunate neighbouring region has been made.
All in all, the season promises to be anything but idle. After all something is better than nothing and normal is as boring as always. For those of us in the news media and journalists, a hectic yet rewarding period. What we really have been wanting to say all along is “Keep up the good work people!”
