Is it impossible to be good in India?

I’ve often wondered if it even is possible to be good in a country like ours. Mind you, I am not actively looking to get in trouble with this statement (This alone should show you what I mean). India is known to be a land of dreams, a land of culture and a land of… democracy. All through my years growing up, I have faced one question and one question only. Why can we not be good? Is it really so far from comprehension to be good, and to do good with politics?

Plausible answers to this question (/s)were often:

a. We are good. Look at how the government has done so much for us.

b. You can’t do anything about it. Just think about other things.

c. Bro… you’re literally just being such a liberandu. Just, like, chill bro. Look at our leaders, they’re the most learned people in the country. God has his hand on us, so like, just take your liberal posse elsewhere and just like, fucking chill bro.

To these somewhat wonderous answers, what could possibly stand as a good, worthwhile counter-statement? I’m mostly at a loss for words when it comes to this. When able and conscious citizens of a nation turn towards the easy, oblivious arms of an apolitical way of being, what do you do to feel better about the complete lack of awareness?

This is where social media and individual devices come in. For years we have seen a pattern being formed and politics turn into this blame-game carnival where it is never really your fault, and instead, your opposing entity’s flaw. Some even compare this to a very toxic relationship. I cannot refuse that.

So, when the fractional population takes onto their own ways of revolution, there still is this hand of the government present. Whether you know it or not, it is true and - yeah fuck it, you know this. When a concerned citizen writes criticising something the government does, either the post gets taken down or the one who made it. This form of control comes with power and entitlement, again, much like a toxic relationship. However, running back to my initial question (and a humble reminder for you that I am not seeking to criticize the government, just asking a simple question I have had for years), is it truly impossible to be good in India?

Perhaps the answer to this is simple. There may as well be no ‘good’ in a land of endless rights and wrongs. We follow a systematic structure of chaos that even we were unaware of. We’re a population of 1.36 billion people, and although most of these people seem to belong to one particular section (cough — a majority — cough) (also since we are so fond of the division of people as per various factors), we all think differently. For example, you, my reader, could quite possibly be thinking of answer C. from my initial musings of potential reactions, and I would be thinking of the complete opposite. Human psychology is fairly easy to comprehend when you understand the weight of each brain out there and the way personalities are shaped.

The vast realms of public policity and global PR and imagery are more often than not a very deadly cocktail. When one worries moreabout how tey look and less about what it is that they do, it only spells for disaster. It was only this morning that I came across an article that said how independent reporting shows India is at 44 Lakh cases every day, whereas mainstream media reposts only 2.2 Lakhs. Here;s a couple thing that cross my mind, ethically.

• Is it a good thing underreporting cases and deaths? does it help in curbing panic in the public, puts the potential cases of insanity and paranoia at bay for a while?
• Isn’t is unfair to not account for the millions of lives taken and the resources drained with 4.4 Lach cases each day? Why must we ignore reality and continue living with rose-tinted glasses?
• Lastly, people deserve to know the truth, don’t they? People, anybody, really, deserve to know the reality of what’s happening out there. Whether it is 5 cases or 4.4 Lakh, we need facts and not a parental-figure-like government feeding us lies to keep us down.
• BONUS point: Is it really good then? It is one thing to be open with your citizens, but to hold back information they deserve to know is just saving your own back. There may as well be fear of the inevitable accountability the government will have to face, given its actions towards the ongoing MEGA crisis we’re under right now.

Being good or bad may be subjective. But common sense and the truth remain as they are. Hopefully unharmed. Tell me, is it really impossible to be good in this country?