Exams, elections, encounters, and curse of the letter ‘E’

Political correctness dictates that some words charged with explosive emotive content be used uttering only the initial letter. F, N, J, and K are common. But E? 

The month of March holds horrible threats for children and their parents alike. This is when various board exams are conducted CBSE, ICSE and the state boards. The spell of terror these examinations cast is engendered by the belief that the future of youngsters depends on the result of these final impersonal assessments. Such is the pall of doom and gloom that some children, unable to cope with the tension, end their lives even before the examinations begin.

Parents who have unreasonable expectations from their wards also contribute to building up an environment like the inside of a pressure cooker. One can only pity their plight. With ‘cut-offs’ for admission to colleges hovering in the stratosphere, getting 90 per cent is viewed as a failure.

The sad story doesn’t end here. If the child is being propelled towards a career trajectory in medicine, engineering or law, there are other tougher tests to crack—IIT, NEET, CLAT. The path to success is full of panic attacks and heartbreaks.

Then there is the Mother or Big Daddy of them all—CSE conducted by the UPSC. It attracts candidates—like a moth to the flame—resident doctors from AIIMS, IITians and those who have been to IIMs and NLUs. Not all ‘crack’ the code of Open Sesame despite being mentored by veteran legacy coaches and unicorns. All this reminds us—if a reminder was needed—that battle is not to the strong nor the race to the swift. 

Another ‘E’ word that seems to carry a curse no less painful with it is an election. Elections are also examinations or tests that leave behind a trail of flawed-for-life failures and few successes that turn into nightmares. In theory, every election or bye-election gives an opportunity for the voters to pass or fail the contestants. But by now when the nation has entered the Amrit Kal, only the incurably naive persist with this belief. Like school, college and competitive examinations, here too the level field is an illusion. In old days, elections could be rigged, ballot boxes stuffed and snatched away.

Muscle and money power dominated the scene. Electoral reforms raised great hopes and, for a brief shining moment, it appeared the elections were indeed the festival of democracy in our land. It was not long before the clever folks discovered the loopholes to render useless the anti-defection law. Horse trading is an ugly unparliamentary word, but mergers and acquisitions are perfectly acceptable.

What a candidate or a political party loses during the election can be regained by securing a majority based on past-poll alignments and assurance of support. Engineering the formation of a government after losing the battle of the ballot has been raised to the level of fine art. Truth be told, there is nothing fine about the black magic that is practised. The dark powers that are summoned seldom work silently or invisibly. 

Those elected to power can easily be compelled to cringe and crawl by enforcement agencies dealing with tax evasion, money laundering, fraud, conspiracy, sedition, treason and much else. Even the ‘caged parrot’ can swoop like a fearsome bird of prey to maul its victim when required. But it’s the ED that has created more shock and awe in recent months. Extensions granted to interrogate the detainee in custody have time and again made the process a punishment.

The phrase ‘law will take its course’ has become meaningless as the jurisprudence of bail has been turned on its head. Even some retired judges of the Supreme Court (who have dared to criticise the dangerous erosion of rights and values enshrined in our constitution) have not escaped the charge of being anti-Indian and have been warned by no less than the law minister that they, like others tainted by this charge, can’t escape punishment. 

Before we conclude we must encounter the most dreaded of the ‘E’ words—encounter. Extrajudicial execution or elimination of a hardened criminal or a dangerous terrorist has, by and large, failed to deter enemies of the state or anti-social elements. Organised criminal gangs recruit cannon fodder to do their bidding. The E words ‘that carry a curse’ it seems are all linked like the threads in a spider’s web.

Those frustrated in schools and colleges gravitate towards profitable political pastures. There is room here for both brain and brawn. The rewards appear commensurate with the risks one takes. The winner takes all. Those who survive the ruthless, cut-throat game of thrones can and do live like immortals in the heavens.

And the rest? They meekly and silently wriggle, trying not to get trampled and avoid looking at the large animals in the room whose name begins with an ‘E’. 

Pushpesh Pant

Former professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

pushpeshpant@gmail.com