Day 7 : Government - the new East India Co. of India

India is a genepool of awesomeness. Diversity peaks here. The Konkan belt is not an isolated place where only one kind of people live. Here you will find people from all backgrounds. The indigenous tribes all along the coastline, the tribes and settlers from other parts of India and the rest of the world. Many from the Middle East came here in search of money and trade. Jews found themselves here. The Portuguese were here. All these people didn’t just live here but they also ended up contributing to the historical pages of this land.

In the morning hours of mist, the sea keeps rushing along the shore. In the distance a bullock cart rushes forward through the volcanic rock. An man makes his way along the stones to reach the puddles near the sea. He bows to the sea, bows to the sun and then leans forward and slowly sits down to relieve himself. The puddle being his tissue or jetspray or whatever you may. On the other end, the bullocks wait patiently as their master fills the cart with sand. A pair of Indian breeds of cow moo past. They stop and search for their young ones who walk in the distance. The bull patiently waits for the cow who has a slower pace. Once closeby he makes sounds to invite the younger ones to find food. They all gather up on the edge of the shore where the village folk throw their trash. The crisis of too much means that they have enough leftover rice to eat.

An elderly couple walks past carrying wood which was washed up on the shore. The bees fly around in groups, its mating season. The dogs sniff the land to find their possible mates.

All this happens on a shoreline which is nobody’s property so far. The elderly couple, who are the native of this land, never claimed the sea and the shore as the government and corporates do. The boardroom meetings where projects are planned totally miss these people. For them its an empty piece of land. It needs to be pillaged. These are seperate realities. One is the indigenous reality which is devoid of ownership and the other is this colonial reality which wants to everything. In fact this project is no different than what the British did in India. These new governments, be it any political parties, are the new East India Co. They are the new owners of the land- using its resources to built their offshore properties. The British didn’t do things differently. The land was divided between castes, religions and tribes and what was left was a ruling elite who controlled and expanded their colonial tendencies. Indian government is just a new version it. The indeginous don’t have a land of their own. Its owned by private businesses and Forest Department. Barbed fences run all throughout the land where no one lives. The locals are not even allowed to use the dead wood to keep themselves warm. The local ministers have amassed immense properties. The numbers are staggering, its a mouthful.

We are in a deep spiritual crisis here. The ones sitting above are thinking of themselves as kings and acting as one. They don’t realise that they too will die soon like me and you. Where will they take this wealth? Even the Egyptians ended up storing wealth which went nowhere. We live in the Garden of Eden. This is it. There is nowhere else to go. We all have to think of an internal revolution. We are nobody’s in front of God’s will. We have to accept this simple truth.

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If you can help me by contributing for this walk, then please do, I could start a kickstarter or manage crowdfunding through some other website, but none of those options are available to me here in India. So, I will be dependant on your donations. You can contribute through paypal - here’s the link. I will send out a personalised postcard if the donations are above $30 and if it’s above $100 then whatever comes out of this walk - a book, a documentary or anything else - you will be the first ones to receive it.

Thanks for your continual support. I am truly grateful!