A war cry against the political class

bangalore: besides a working woman, my domestic help is a middle-aged mother, wife, daughter and daughter-in-law. in the two years of my association with her, i watch with growing admiration how she packs in the roles, all of them onerous, day after day. she dare not think of shirking her responsibilities because of the deleterious effect it can have on her home so gingerly placed between calm and turmoil, or the many mouths she must feed.she is frail, her eyes anaemic and pools of grief, i wonder where she musters the nerve to keep ticking non-stop. at the end of the day, a smile lingers on her weary face. but i know this is a facade, just a valiant effort to hide her sorrows. it was as if her life was designed to stay on the dark side always. the worst was when her firstborn, a daughter, succumbed to blood cancer at age 13, some years ago. treatment was unaffordable, and the mother just stood by watching her daughter suffer and die. that incident has taken a toll on her, but she was not allowed the time or space to even grieve for her daughter... she had to pick herself up and go on for the sake of the rest of her family. now her 10-year-old son suffers from a mysterious kidney disease. and it is endless visits to the government hospital, where she is up against red tape, bribes, impatient and rude doctors --all of which she is not savvy enough to handle. there is a sense of deja vu. that iron will to take life by the jugular in the most excruciating circumstances, is fast evaporating. what shocks me is her resignation. she is not complaining. she will not speak up against the injustice heaped on her by an apathetic system that only takes, never gives. never mind, if the hungry power-seekers are preying on her. she simply complies. that is her nemesis. then there is my outside help. the same story of compliance and resignation to his fate. old, his wobbly legs are barely able to carry him. but he can scarce entertain the thought of retirement. his earnings are essential to keep the large family running. a widowed daughter with three children, a sick wife, the rent for their crammed room, the money for scant daily rations... the duo are not cases in isolation. they are a sample of india''s majority. the electorate. incredibly trusting, expecting with each passing election, nothing except a better quality of life and government largesse that should legitimately be theirs. elections come and go. they give selflessly, but nothing changes. while self-serving leaders who come soliciting votes fatten themselves on the poor. they promise them the moon and more. only till votes are cast. then the self-appointed caretakers of the masses up and out, just as suddenly as they landed from nowhere laden with enticements. the poor feel cheated, cast aside. yet they are resigned to their lot, disturbingly so. people power can move mountains, unseat governments, bring undeserving leaders on their knees. it can change the face of a nation, to the utopian face of dreams. it''s still not late to raise a war cry against a depraved political class.