In a world where
~ trillion-dollar tech companies are led by highly educated Indians,
~ even the hungriest Indian dreams only of “bachon ko padha-likha kar bada banana hai,”
~ we are no longer caricatured as snake charmers, but respected as surgeons, coders, and CEOs,
~ the global chessboard is reconfiguring as China and the US wrestle for dominance, offering India a historic opening to lead, or at least be part of shaping the future using its demographic abundance, strategic location, and historic ties with all parties,
~ AI is upending entire industries, making lifelong learning and constant re-education not just ideal but existential,
…our national discourse is trapped between puncturewallas and chaiwallas.
Image: ChatGPT 4o
That’s where we are.
That’s the range of imagination on offer.
The PM and his RW cultists mock Muslims with accusations of fixing tyres for a living.
The opposition and their left-liberal SM warriors point out that the PM once claimed to have sold tea. And is rather proud of it.
“You puncturewalla.”
“LOL, you chaiwalla.”
“No, you.”
“Haha, you.”
“Puncture.”
“Chai.”
“PUNCTURE!”
“CHAI!”
“Nananananana. I can’t hear you.”
“Chai. Chai. Chai. Chai.”
If this were a film, the audience and critics would have panned it for stretching credulity.
And yet, here we are.
Real life, not satire.
A country of 1.4 billion. Reduced to a joke.
What a fucking tragedy.
