Many of you have written to ask why I gave my book the title Never Mind Yaar. After all, it is about three young girls having fun at college. What’s Never Mind, No Problems, Chaltaa Hai or Koi Baat Nahi got to do with it?
Everything.
The book, first and foremost, is about the light hearted years of college, friendship between the three girls and young love. I believe stories affirming and celebrating the ordinary, mainstream, middle class Indians (both male and female), alongside stories of extreme poverty, degradation, male chauvinism and superstition in India, help to give a more fully rounded picture of our country as it really is.
Never Mind Yaar also explores the power of united action and of organizing for the greater good. The students at Gyan Shakti College have an opportunity to organize and act but they fritter it away. Who has the time or commitment to make things happen as they should? A sigh, a grumble, a shake of our heads and we are ready to move on with a “Never Mind”. In the book, there is one person who doesn’t accept the status quo. He is determined to do something about it … single handed if necessary; and unfortunately in India, with predictable consequences. He is beaten up for his efforts.
The book shows the easy ability of youngsters to enjoy themselves and each other; for them to wonder at barriers some folks seem to put up across cultures.
Are we ever going to call ourselves Indians first and then Hindu or Muslim or the zillion other commuities that exist in India? Are our divisions along communal lines ever going to disappear? Not while we have politicians who have a vested interest in keeping them alive. One of the students explains this in greater detail in a debate. It is clear she’s done her homework as she expounds on her totally convincing theory about why we have only a minority in every community who are intolerant of others and yet, their opinion holds so much sway.
Are we going to continue waiting for our politicians to change? I believe it won’t happen unless we make it happen. Nothing seems to have worked so far. If anything, our politicians have become more blatantly communal in their rhetoric, more disgustingly self aggrandizing, more corrupt and better at bullying. They have made us accept their system as NORMAL.
Our strategy to date? Grumble, get frustrated and move on with a shake of our heads, a wishful sigh and a Never Mind, my friend (Yaar). Things will be different when our knight in shining armour, that one honest, secular, visionary and incorruptible politician, comes to power.
These Never Mind Yaar moments gave the book its title.
Read my article here on what we can do to make a start—a serious, determined, long term plan to help ourselves. It is easy, it is safe and I can guarantee it uplifts the human spirit.
