The smallest glitch, if left unattended long enough, will eventually snowball into an uncontainable blunder. This simplest of truth has more often been discarded much to the bitter inconvenience and consternation of the general public without the wherewithal to surround oneself with fawning officials, protective gun slinging escorts or expectant hangers-on. The society has seen more than its fair share of disruptions and chaotic upheavals, perhaps much more than is necessary or inevitable. While the social problems have been an inconvenient part of our life for as long as one can remember, there has been a perceptible increase in its potency and ferocity in recent times. Perhaps the public, even for the most trivial of a hitch have come to the conclusion that if there is enough public hue and cry, or rather mobilize supporters to raise enough noise, then the state administrators will try to pacify them, no matter if the issue is worth giving any importance or have merit. The uncomfortable conclusion could also be due to the fact that the state administrators have, as a practice rather than an exception, kept in abeyance issues that should have been accorded immediate attention and solution.
On the other hand, a peculiar pattern in all these madness has been emerging- that the worst social problems and disruptions in social life starts peaking up in tandem with the peaking summer. For over a decade now, most, if not all, the protracted issues, problems and disruptions have been rising in fervour and pitch during the summer, and as things stand at present, the trend is set to continue, what with the ever increasing temperature and decreasing essential amenities adding to the level of frustration albeit unobtrusively. While the shortcomings of the government- both at the centre and the state has been debated, discussed and dissected umpteen times, it would be mere short sightedness to jump to conclusions on the single premise that every fault lays with the government, or more specifically, people running it. What we need to take into consideration are various other factors hampering the dispensing of an ideal administrative system. The first and foremost one being the impatient or desperate section of the public who fuels the system of bribery and corruption in the society which leads to favouritism, nepotism and an unending race to amass undeserved wealth and riches which in turn leads to entice more onlookers to join the game and try their luck at the game. The end result- governance becomes an exercise in securing one’s future and establishing financial dominance over the common people which will be utilized to buy back the power and influence which will keep most of those at the helm of affairs of the state in the loop. For these people, chaos and mayhem is a very effective tool to entrench their position and enrich themselves.
The only way to get out of this spiralling social quagmire is to realize the futility of the idea of exclusivity and divisions on communal, cultural or ethnic lines while admitting to the truth which so many of us are blindly fighting against. Unity is the way forwards, and for that, understanding, acceptance and empathy should be developed.
