Reading Tagore's 'Where the mind is without fear' in the time of Modi and Arnab

Yesterday was the date on which Rabindranath Tagore passed away. He was trending on Twitter since the morning (a thought: what would he have made of the Twitter?)

But, now that we have commemorated the great poet on his 75th death anniversary, let's also look at one of his most famous poems, in which he articulated his vision of the Indian nation.

First published in 1901 in Bengali, Tagore translated it into English himself in 1910. Where would we stand today, on treating Gurudev's words as a yardstick?

Forget "since independence". Think of the months that went by. For we live in the present. At least some of us hope Tagore does too.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

A little over a week ago the country's defence minister Manohar Parrikar gloated over an organised boycott and effective sabotage of a company's operations (yes, that's what purposefully ordering many products with the intention of returning them amounts to), till they "pulled an actor's advertisement".

The actor's fault? When asked, he had admitted to a growing sense of despondency about what was happening in the country and mentioned that his wife asked him if they should move out. A defence of the mass action Manohar Parrikar was referring to has been: "So what? Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi too employed economic boycott against the British."

Also read - Parrikar's threat to Aamir Khan exposes a Sangh Parivar blinded by power

Because ostensibly Aamir Khan is like the British. One would imagine that if the British viceroy mentioned he was considering leaving the country the Mahatma would have sent him a garland, not launched into a non-cooperation movement. But self-appointed policers of national sentiment rarely refer to context.

Where knowledge is free

Educational appointments are being made, text books altered, a "New Education Policy" (the first in 30 years) formulated with the obvious influence of Hindu Right-wing groups in India.

"Why should their views not be considered?" the defenders ask. "Does that not come under the purview of the freedom of knowledge?"

Indeed, it should. Only, not just their views.

"What about before, when Leftists and Congress supporters held sway over education in India?" Agreed. And that was unfair too. But here's why this is worse. The appointees do not outshine their peers in terms of qualifications and achievement.

The rewriting of history textbooks reek strongly of agenda, rather than an improvement in outlining a quest for knowledge.

Also read - Modi's Cabinet reshuffle exposes the terrible lack of talent in BJP

As for the New Education Policy, the final version is yet to come forth and the new education minister is an amicably diplomatic man.

But one would like to learn which other groups he is having consultations and closed door meetings with, besides the those we read of in the news.

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

It is commendable that the prime minister has broken his silence on happenings at Una and condemned acts such as the flogging of Dalits for skinning a cow at Una.

But what is spurring such acts of misplaced vigilantism? At least five people have been killed for such reasons since Mohammed Akhlaq was lynched by a mob for allegedly eating beef, in Dadri.

Also read - BJP has gifted Mayawati a cow to milk ahead of UP polls

Dozens of people have been beaten. One may argue that Dalits and Muslims have been attacked, even killed, for allegedly killing cows in previous regimes as well.

But that's hardly an excuse. Are the prime minister's words - in response to great uproar and political agitation - enough to curb this menace? What else is being done to effect lasting social change in this regard?

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Many a promise was made during the General Elections of 2014. Perhaps a vow to bring back black money and give Rs 15 lakhs to each poor person should be treated as excited poll rhetoric and not debated any more.

However, it was understood that, while the party that is now in government was promising glorious reform, this would not be executed at the cost of the poor voters struggling to make a living.

"Perfection" is a difficult word to define, but one interpretation could be an opportunity to life with dignity for every Indian.

A word akin to "perfection" is "nirvana", equally difficult to define. Last year's Economic Survey spoke of nirvana in the context of the JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) trinity that is being implemented at a rapid pace throughout the country.

So rapid, that hardly any questions are being asked of it in the mainstream media. Hardly any evaluations being conducted for a policy package that affects crores of India's poor.

Grassroots surveys by organisations like the Mazdoor Kisaan Shakti Sangathan have found that large numbers of beneficiaries of pensions or ration or MNREGA wages have been unjustly left off the rolls, declared dead when they're alive.

Those on the rolls often get cheated by officially appointed middlemen (eg. banking correspondents) or denied of their right to a basic sustenance because the technology (micro-ATMs, Point Of Service machines) is not working or because their fingerprints don't register (many beneficiaries are manual labourers or old - so the biometric fingerprinting system doesn't suffice).

When this happens, they are also denied the alternative of shifting back to older systems (cash transfers or money orders) and left with nothing.

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

A couple of weeks ago a leading Indian TV news anchor demanded that other journalists be "taken on" by people watching his show. That such people "not be allowed to get away", because they constitute a "pro-Pakistan" lobby.

Also read - Arnab and Barkha's 'media war' is phoney

That, because these journalists tell the story of Kashmiris who are killed or students in JNU who are arrested, they also, apparently, speak for Pakistan, the ISI and Hafiz Saeed. Arnab Goswami's clear stream of reason has not lost its way. He has lost his stream of reason.

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Nothing epitomises dead habit better than a dead law. We have plenty of these. Decades since the British left, and years since the British themselves repealed some of what they inflicted upon us.

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is one such regressive law which has had a sweeping and debilitating effect. "Criminal defamation" another. The British have read these archaic laws down (civil claims still lie for defamation), but we cling to them dearly.

It affects not just politicians (the more famous cases reported in the media) but writers, journalists and nearly anyone who wishes to speak freely. Another draconian law is the one that purports to prevent sedition.

A few days ago a 29-year-old man was arrested from a train because he had allegedly liked, shared and posted "anti-Indian" content on Facebook. I'm not quite sure what Tagore would have made of Facebook either, but am fairly certain he wouldn't have approved of an arbitrary law, created by the British to bash Indians with, now being used by Indians to bash their own.

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

When you argue that India has still some way to go before it can awaken in Tagore's "heaven of freedom" you are recurrently met with ridiculous retorts.

The most common: "Would you be allowed to write this in Pakistan? What if you wrote this in the Middle East?"

Glossing over the fact of these retorts being vague generalisations, they are ridiculous because Tagore, or indeed anyone who expressed a liberal dream for this country wasn't writing about Pakistan or the Middle East.

They were writing about yours' truly. Let's hope that, as the death anniversaries pile up, we are not reduced to writing obituaries for these dreams.

Instead, let's dream again. Heads high. Mind without fear.