Friday, March 25, 2016

Vultures and the Blank Cheques

This time the blog has a unique and unusual title. It may sound illogical and hilarious but the blog is on a serious topic. It took me many days to finally write this piece. Let me start with the definition of the word Vultures.

Vultures are, "Vulture is the name given to two groups of scavenging birds of prey: the New World vultures, including the Californian and Andean condors; and the Old World vultures, including the birds that are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains."  according to Wikipedia.

As for blank cheque,is a Negotiable instrument (technical term for cheques, drafts, etc) where the name of the Payee may or may not be written, the sum of money to paid is left blank but is signed. It can therefore be en-cashed for any amount the en-casher feels like.

Now, that both these terms, Vultures and Blank Cheque have been put in the right context. let me progress.

Many unfortunate deaths occur in this country for various reasons like accidents, mob violence, suicides, etc. There may be public reactions but the people in politics are generally oblivious of them. Their concern  kicks in only and only when these deaths bring with them an opportunity.

Without being judgemental I would highlight my point. A young boy committed suicide in HCU. Many boys and girls are committing suicide in academic institutions in this country including in IITs, NITs and various other such places. Failure of the institutions and the families of the children doing such act should have been the subject of discussion.

In another incident a man was killed by a mob for alleged consumption of some kind of meat. All killings which happen for political, religious or any such other reasons need condemnation including what happened in Delhi in 1984. It also must be remembered that in villages and towns, the reasons advanced for such acts are merely fronts put up to justify the act while the actual reason could be sheer settling the old score.

In yet another incidence some boys tried to carry out a memorial function for a person who was  hanged by the state (illegally and wrongly, so they claimed) not after Kangaroo court verdict (which is the case always in the countries from where these boys and girls and their political masters draw inspiration and it is must note point) but after verdicts at all levels of Judiciary and after exhausting all channels of appeals and pardon request. They also used this occasion to raise not the anti government but anti national slogans (remember anti govt slogans is legitimate opposition to the govt  but slogans against a nation in that nation is sedition any where in the world).

Irrespective of which end of political spectrum one belongs, very logical action for all of us was for case one demand that the problems in education institutions resulting in frustration among students which leads them to commit such acts like suicide must be identified and acted upon. As for case 2, it was a pure law and order issue and no action except demanding that gulty must be brought to justice was in order. As for case 3, it needed thorough investigation and each of these students should have been tried as per the gravity of their act and law should have taken its own course (remember all these students were well past teen age, way beyond Juvenile justice act and were fully aware of what they were doing).

But if logic is a way for human beings, Vultures are not humans, they fly high and have a very sharp eye to detect any food in the wide swath of their vision. As soon as the detect food they swoop down from no where and hunt the food or eat already dead animal etc.

This is what precisely happens. The vultures sense the opportunity. They all individually or collectively swoop down on the target and that is where the behaviour of these vultures in human shape is different from the vultures of the animal kingdom.

Human type vultures are looking for opportunity to convert an event, any event having smallest of potential, in to a Blank cheque which can be en cashed immediately for petty gains, (however much unfortunate the incidence may be) or for encashment at an later time. The nation, the propriety or the correctness may be damned.

The moot question is, is it a new phenomenon? it is really not, such vultures in human shape existed for all the generations but it is only this era that their presence is noticed in large numbers and they seem to be rushing from one blank cheque to another with out worrying about the consequence of their acts for the public in general and the nation in particular. Some even create an event where none exists and then try to encash the cheque of the opportunity.

God save us from these birds of prey or rather birds of preying on events to make them Blank Cheques. The blog looks cryptic? that is how it is intended to be.

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