Karo ya Maro (do or die)

"Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last" said a poet in reference to the British colonial rule over India. I remember reading the poem in school with my teacher explaining the background and the imagery. For us, India was always a land of milk and riches, our impregnable borders guarded by the mighty Himalayas and the vast oceans to the south. The borders were once violated by the British who chained the golden bird, plundered of its wealth and claimed that the land which had been the cradle of civilization could not stand before the wealth of single European bookshelf. We forgave them of their ignorance and when the entire Western world was busy killing each other in the great wars we gave them the mantra of passive resistance.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, said the saint Gandhi. Maybe you will remark why do I bring forward the example of Gandhi in these tiring times. Today, we who are baying for the blood of the forces behind the dastardly act that the nation had to bear in the last few days.
We tend to think of Gandhi as someone weak, passive who would offer his other cheek to be slapped again. Should we wait for another such heinous crime against as nation? No, definitely no. For one should realize that Gandhi carried within his persona an immense force that none British officer dared to slap. Gandhi said, "Karo ya Maro" (Do or Die). Thats not a pacifist speaking but a reactionary, only the words were of a diplomat.
Its time yet again, the eagle pinion is chained down at last. Yet again, the invaders violated our sea borders. They have again and again violated our mighty Himalayas. Its time that we react. The eagle is groveling in the shame of the recent attacks against Bombay. The eagle slapped again and again, beaten to death. The eyes clouded by the mud slinging our politicians engage in. The claws blunted (corruption in our governing agencies which let lathi wielding constable face the ak-47), the feather disarrayed (noch khaya, the politicians have divided it into different shades and despoiled it of its vitality). Only a quivering voice emanates "Enough is enough".

Enough of killing.
Enough of maiming.
Enough of crying
Enough of vote-bank politics
Enough of shutting our eyes to terror
Enough of turning deaf the bullets
Enough of crying in silence
Enough.

Gandhi gave the imagery of the three monkeys with the message "Do no evil, hear no evil, see no evil". Gandhi never shut off the evil of the colonial subjugation rather he reacted. Its time now to follow his precept "Karo ya maro" (Do or die). We have died, its time to make the other pay.

I am really sad to say this but I believe the terrorist must be having the most difficult time in choosing their target. We have permitted ourselves to be slapped again and again.

They came for the Kashmiri Pandits, I did nothing.
They came for the poor commuters (Bombay/Mumbai train blast) , I did nothing.
They came for the politicians (indian parliament attack), I did nothing.
They came for the feast makers (Diwali bomb blast), I did nothing.
They came for the freedom lovers, I did nothing.
Then they came after me.

Nobody did anything.

Its time that I have to act. I have to inculcate such strength that the enemy thinks before raising their hand. I who has the economic might, the military strength, the conviction of 1 billion plus has to act and not be an impotent.

I don't even mention the politicians. We don't need them.
They are not expected to do anything except providing entertainment on the television, insulting our martyr's parents "dogs" and peppering our banal lives with samosas and rabri.

I am angry the way Taj has been attacked. The Taj Mahal hotel is unlike any other 5 star hotel because its a symbol of the Indian spirit rising against the colonial which said "Dogs and Indians not allowed" at the Hotel Watson. It a symbol of the every proud Indian who says to the West that "yes we out-best you and defeat you at your game". I am not a Mumbaikar, my only association with Bombay was two holidays with my parents to the dream city I made more than 12 years ago. I remember clicking my first ever photograph of my mother sitting in a cafe in the Taj Mahal hotel, with a rose on the table. Its memories like these of ordinary Indians which have been hurt. Bombay is a city of dreams, dreams of a break in glamourous Bollywood to owning a chawl in Dharawi. A dream lived by millions, a dream which has been shattered before. A dream which we Indians have learnt to rewove each time it was broken.

But this time we have woken up. The dream was ripped apart and not only dreams but memories were scarred. And Indians have woken up. Mr. Terrorist, mumbai ka kumbhakaran jag gaya hain. Bhagjao (Run away).

So what should we do?
1. Wake up, rub your eyes. Hear and see the evil. Visit the sites of events and demand action. Shout in public places. Be it a bus, a cafe, a road or school. Demand action, not from the politicians, not from the police but from the sleeping public. Engage

2. The media should stop reporting on the politicians. Forget them, they have the z plus security, they are not dying. We are.

3. Engage the poor. We have to be united. It was sad that the media forgot the carnage at Victoria terminus, CST in favour of the rich blood spilled at the dens of riches. It was shameless that even after Shyam Benegal(Rajya Sabha member) highlighted the error to Barkha Dutt, nobody listened.

4. Vote for "no confidence in our politician".

5. File RTIs regarding every public exercise. Make them accountable.

6. Demand a tax refund from the IT department for failing to use our money well.

7. Follow the law. Its true we have utter disregard for law in our country. Small things like following traffic lights go a long way in inculcating discipline.

8. Become a role model to your children. Don't throw garbage on roads. Don't steal public services.

9. Refuse to bribe and publicly shame the perpetrator.

10. Make the "rules and regulation" visible. Put placards on each and every public property, the rights of the public to use that property and is associated duties. And the punishment on misuse.

11. Think of a national spirit. Not religious, not regional, not lingual, not cultural but something else. Our nation lacks a saga of national birth out a common cause. The freedom struggle was checkered by many forces pulling the country apart. The nation is yet to be imagined as one. We wrote in the Preamble, "We the people of India" and not "We the Hindus(Brahmin, Kshatriya,...), Muslim, Christians, ..., ". It time it becomes "We, India". Maybe the bombay massacre is a wake up call to stand united as one. One whom no one can dare slap.


Karo ya Maro (Do or die). In terms of what the nation can do immediately.
1. Present evidence in a international open forum and take action to any extent against any foreign power. US did it against an imagined enemy, with false evidence. We should have mounts of evidence and have a real enemy before us. It time to make it pay.
2. Strengthen the country's intelligence agencies. We are good dreamers, we write grand reformatory reports but are bad managers. Its time we implement some of the reports.
3. Strengthen the police. Make the police visible on the street. The India police has an aura of fear around it. We have been taught to avoid the police at all levels. The feeling is perpetuated by inaction and widespread corruption in our forces. The police has to become approachable, has to have a public face which a small child can trust.
4. Shut up. Stop talking. Act. Do or Die.

Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last

To India - My Native land

My country! In thy day of glory past

A beauteous halo circled round thy brow,

And worshipped as a deity thou wast.

Where is that glory, where that reverence now?

Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last,

And groveling in the lowly dust art thou:

Thy minstrel hath no wreath to weave for thee

Save the sad story of thy misery!

Well let me dive into the depths of time,

And bring from out the ages that have rolled

A few small fragments of those wrecks sublime,

Which human eyes may never more behold;

And let the guerdon of my labour be

My fallen country! One kind wish from thee!

- Henry Louis Vivian Derozio