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Raja راجہ - awaaz do, hum ek hain

@Raja_Sw

25 Dec

Ok, am going to talk about something different now.
83.
Not the film, but 1983 – the year when India won the ODI World Cup.
Have often been asked by younger generations how it felt for Indians then.
Hence this long thread.
Pls bear with me - or you can mute me. :-)
1/

First of all, I can only speak for myself and my limited environment.
I don’t claim to speak for all Indians and their feelings/reactions.
India is too diverse and distributed a country, that too much less connected then, for me to be so presumptuous as to speak for all.
2/

The most important thing to remember is how different the India of 1983 was from today's India.
No internet, very little media out there compared to today.
Almost all of this was print media.
TV was expanding, but even then not many had access to it outside cities/towns.
3/

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Raja راجہ - awaaz do, hum ek hain

@Raja_Sw

24 Dec

One of the best things that could've happened to Govt is Covid.
What does a Govt fear most?
A mass uprising.
Covid is a natural excuse to prevent such mass gatherings.
(Remember, PEOPLE suffered from Covid, Govt didn't.
Govt doesn't suffer - it still collects taxes.
Ppl suffer.)

And to those who say "But Govt also suffered, it collected less taxes during Covid", my reply is:
Who is "Govt"?
Did the PM or his Cabinet struggle to get healthcare?
Did they lose their jobs?
Did MPs/MLAs lose their jobs?
Aam aadmi suffered.
These ppl didn't.

The public has only 2 powers:
a) Power to vote
b) Power to assemble.
a) is a grossly exaggerated power anyway, considering it's once in 5 yrs, and highly manipulable.
b) is the REAL power.
Imagine lakhs of ppl protesting outside PM's residence for months.
Can't now.
Cos Covid.

Read 6 tweets

Raja راجہ - awaaz do, hum ek hain

@Raja_Sw

2 Sep

#Thread on grief.
When I got news that my friend had lost his 25-yr old son to Covid in June, I msgd him, saying "I'm here, call me anytime you feel like it".
A few days later, he called.
Spoke for an hour, giving me all details.
Crying most of the time.
I just listened. 1/n

All I kept telling him was "I'm here, anytime you want to share."
He sends me pics every now and then.
"This was on his last birthday."
Or msgs "He would've been 26 today".
He's always apologetic.
"I hope I'm not bothering you with all this".
I keep saying "No, keep sharing". 2/n

I've realised one of the best things is to just be there for a grieving person when (s)he needs you.
Not overbearing, but letting that person know you're there.
Ppl are sensitive ki "apna dukhda leke auron ko bore nahin karna hai".
They shd feel ok abt it.
They're grieving. 3/n

Read 15 tweets

Raja راجہ - awaaz do, hum ek hain

@Raja_Sw

1 Sep

Not spent much time on Twitter today.
Too much hate gets spread here - and not just from RW folks.
Everyone's obsessed with identity politics.
Hardly any talk of anything else (except for Govt handles).

Ofc if you're oppressed cos of your identity, it's only natural that you'll want to speak about it.
It's sheer privilege to suggest identity isn't relevant, when we see so much identity-based discrimination.
And yet I sometimes wonder,,,

Discrimination is at multiple levels.
There's deep-rooted discrimination in society.
There are discriminatory laws, reflecting society's mindset.
Yes, this is a battle that MUST be fought.
But there are other battles too.
Like poverty, lack of healthcare, lack of education.

Read 7 tweets

Raja راجہ - awaaz do, hum ek hain

@Raja_Sw

31 Aug

I keep getting requests for donation help.
Mostly for medical help for little kids, whose parents are too poor to afford surgery.
Wasn't this exactly what the Govt's scheme was supposed to cover?
Or is there a catch?

So, after making a donation today, I thought I'd ask why the patient doesn't avail of Govt's scheme.
Reply:
"Sir, aisa nahin hai ki wo log apply nahin karte hain. Apply karte hain. Par unka koi na koi documents ki wajah se nahin ho paata hai, isiliye hum log ye case lete hain".

To get a quick sense of requirements to be enrolled for Ayushman Bharat scheme, I googled "Ayushman Bharat".
Official website -> pmjay.gov.in

Extremely helpful.

Read 6 tweets

Raja راجہ - awaaz do, hum ek hain

@Raja_Sw

31 Aug

You won't find me mocking any state in India.
UP, Bihar, whatever.
Mocking a state means mocking people who live there. Cos a place is nothing without its people.
Yes, I'm EXTREMELY critical of govts, and regressive thought in society.
These are what we need to fix.
Collectively.

As someone who always wants unity & communal harmony, why would I mock people of any state, and further polarisation in society?
As if we don't have enough divides already.
At the same time what I'd like is that we shed our egos, and honestly take stock of our reality.

It's a fact that some Indian states are better-off than others on various social & economic parameters.
There could be a whole host of reasons for this.
Why not analyse these - see what went wrong in some states, what other states did right?
Learn, and try to emulate success.

Read 13 tweets

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