I moved to India a couple of years ago, and boy was I excited! I was hoping that I would be a part of the “growing” country I’d heard so much about, a part of the “New India”. 5 years down the line, I have to tell you all those rose-coloured glasses have been ripped right off of my eyes.

I’ve come to understand that this lovely, diverse country, has been handed over to fanatics and hooligans. They’ve taken to deciding what the people are supposed to do; what to eat; how to dress; what to watch; what holidays to celebrate; how to celebrate; whom to be with; whose voices will be heard; whose will be suppressed. The list goes on and on, and frankly is quite exhausting.

This country was diverse from the beginning. So many cultures and traditions, and so many of us have ancestors that came from other countries and made this one their own home. All these differences integrated to become India. I had only heard of the times we celebrated our differences. Maybe there were small issues between people, but these were the result of political manipulations and sling-fests than among the citizens themselves, or so I had heard.

The youth of today are supposed to be the hope of tomorrow. But this saying is being molded in a different way here. Instead of teaching them to stand up against such malpractices, they are being taught and in fact encouraged to practice and follow the opposite. For example, couple of years ago, people eating beef were persecuted in the most horrific way, most of the times ending in death. My question to these haters would be, how can those who causes harm to their fellow humans, preach about loving and protecting cows?!

We are, sadly, still a country struggling to catch up with the other countries in terms of basic needs delivered to the people; minimum wage; food, shelter, drinking water, sanitation, education, jobs; infrastructure. We pay a lot of taxes, but our country’s leaders can’t seem to use those funds to make sure we stay in the race. Despite all of these pressing problems, the public’s attentions are being diverted to such petty issues such as misplaced honour; religion; casteism etc.

One day, I was watching one of the news channel’s debates; Transgender rights, Fringe groups, and a Malayalam song that apparently ‘insulted’ the Muslim community. All the topics clearly showcased how pathetically and progressively intolerant we have become.

Shanavi Ponnuswamy is a transgender whose application has been rejected by Air India, due to belonging to the 3rd gender.

Valentines Day, fringe groups who crawled out from under their rocks, says that it is hurting ‘their values’!! These hooligans terrorized and caused losses to numerous businesses in our country. How are these fanatics protecting our values if you are hurting your own people? This is not protecting anything… This is Terrorism!!

An actress and a director booked because the Malayalam song talked about the love between Prophet Mohd. (PBUH) and his wife. The list could go on and on, much to my chagrin, and these are only some of the issues that have lasted in my mind.

I have a new born, and most often my husband and I are always caught in the question: How can we bring up our child in a country that seems to thrive on harming their own people? How do we equip him to deal with hatred, misogyny, intolerance? How can we help him retain his humanity? How can we tell him to see the good in people and teach him to treat everyone with respect when, he shouldn’t expect the same in return?

How?