For Those Who Can't Walk And Chew Gum At The Same Time...

A few days ago, I wrote about how, over the past decade, every phalana-dhimkhana feels entitled to opine on Sanatana Dharma. 

Today, I want to reflect on another significant takeaway from this past decade—how non-BJP supporters tend to view everything in isolation. 

Their minds are compartmentalized, each issue neatly boxed, and they struggle to address them simultaneously. 

It’s like the “Can’t Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time” syndrome that US President Lyndon B. Johnson attributed to Gerald Ford, implying that Ford couldn’t handle two tasks at once. 

 

Take the topic of Aurangzeb, for example, which has resurfaced since Chhava. 

You’ll hear these individuals ask, “You’ll criticize Aurangzeb’s cruelty but not the recent stampede?” 

Yes, both are important discussions, and both are being discussed. The recent stampede, a tragedy, will hopefully be addressed through investigation and accountability. 

On the other hand, debates about history, questions, and differing opinions will persist indefinitely. Why must it be either/or? 

 

They’ll smugly lecture us on China’s infrastructure initiatives, touting how China’s focus isn't distracted by religious fervour like the Kumbh. 

But again, it’s not either/or. It also takes robust infrastructure and resource management to handle the millions who participated in this very event. 

When a bullet train is launched, they ask, "But what about the hungry?" 

They’ll remind us how citizens in other countries with “caring governments” don’t go hungry. 

Yet, when the government flags off trains *and* subsidizes food for around 80 crore people, they still question policies, the economy, and throw around the taunt of Vishwaguru.

When a long-needed bridge finally connects villages to schools and hospitals, they ask, "But what about the poor boatmen?" 

They lament unemployment and wonder how the construction or restoration of temples will help feed us. 

How do you explain to those who championed the hollow slogan of Garibi Hatao for decades - without ever seeing the promised benefits- that religious tourism now generates year-round employment and that special occasions bring even more opportunities? 

 

These same individuals, who happily pose for photos at the Vatican, Notre-Dame, and St. Paul’s - cathedrals they aren’t even believers in - ironically question the value of faith-driven tourism. 

So, an important takeaway from this decade is the relentless sniping and constant moving of goalposts by a privileged class that once used the poor and their slogans for its own benefit - yet the poor never saw the benefits. 

That said, it is the previously marginalized groups who truly understand the present situation. There is no confusion on their part. No questioning “why this and not that” or “how that and not this.” 

They are the ones who have benefited the most. 

They received loans that the more privileged found too paltry to be of any use - because, in their time warp, they still equate employment with a desk and briefcase. They fail to see how small businesses thrive with minimal support and a little kickstart: catering units for workshops, upholsterers buying new sewing machines, contractors investing in Italian stone-polishing equipment. 

These small entrepreneurs, along with those who received a toilet, an electricity connection, or water in their homes for the first time, also paid obeisance at the Kumbh with their families. 

As they took a dip in Maa Ganga, they silently thanked the mighty river for the man in Delhi who thought of them first and last, showing them that the light of opportunity and hope was theirs to hold too.