I must travel also to the darkness between the lights........

The glittering, unforgettable Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games will perhaps not be paralleled. The precision, the design, the movements, the concepts which blended unique modern day virtual reality with age old traditions, culture and history, has set the benchmark. Amidst the myriad fireworks, the Olympic Flame blazed away recorded for posterity by a million camera flashes. The pinnacles of possibility and creativity had risen yet again ..

And yet, one can only say, that below the luminosity was a peculiar darkness. When there is a global food crisis, rocketing oil prices, industries closing, inflation rates rising—the Olympics expenditure come across as a luxury, avoidable and downsizable, a celebration of achievements which possibly inspire but does not fill empty stomachs. And maybe, inspite of China’s impressive growth rate and rising prosperity, the Chinese people find their choices restricted by governance and bureaucracy. The Chinese family must have only one child, public demonstrations are banned, and the rights of the people disregarded for the so called National interests. And that is why students were gunned down at Tiananmen Square in 1989, and Tibetan Monks in 2008 were taken away to unknown destinations, never to be heard of again.

What is better? This glamour, this show, this showcasing of discipline and creativity---or the ability to protest, to change, to motivate and above all to choose? Are the Chinese better off than us? Are we smugly , complacently saying that my Bharat is Mahaan because of democracy, when it is not. Has China , catered to the Highest Common Factor and have we been chained to Freedom of Expression and factored in the Lowest Common Denominator too much.......

When China displaced villagers , and took their land to build highways and bridges and industries, did you hear any voices of protest? Perhaps there were, perhaps not---but no one heard anything. In Communist ruled Nandigram in West Bengal, you can stll hear the reverberating protests and the gunfire. Nandigram can never happen in China---but will occur repeatedly in India.

As for me , the ability to write and post this is far more important than my bank balance, the ability to decide on my life and family is more important than the ability to eat out, wear designer clothes and own a Mercedes.

Thanks to censorship, the current generation in China know nothing about the legacy of the defiant Tank Man---but we know and we can ensure that our children and our children’s children never forget him….