Shan't till until I'm still

A peculiar contagion has afflicted the next generation of India's rural workers. Despite living a hand-to-mouth existence, many just don't seem to want work

Ramu Kaka and his ilk are a changed lot. India's once-loved household help doesn't seem to want to help anyone anymore, not even themselves. Many of us feel - rural-folk themselves do too - that they are hard-pressed to eke out basic sustenance, leading a hand-to-mouth existence. In some cases, that is true. In most cases, though, the reality is that the average Indian village worker just doesn't want to plunge a rake into soil to dig out gold. Vestiges of Ramu K are visible only in rare cases now, their numbers dwindling. And the way things are going, all that will be left of Ramu K would be his once-glorified footage from Bollywood, the ageing celluloid now crackling and crumpling with age, neglect and the caprices of time.

I know this is going to be a controversial column, but so be it. We can't always keep berating and banging the politicians, bureaucrats and businessman. People on the other end of the societal stick deserve their share of the stick too, especially when repeated manifestation of their wilful descent into the labyrinth are overtly and shamelessly visible.

Before I deep-dive into this subject, let me share this. Each day, on the TV and social media, we see and read heart-rending horror stories of millions perched on the precipice of hunger, homelessness and financial, familial breakdown. Such exploitation of the 'have-nots' by the 'haves' is the norm of the day, gyaanis tell us, pointing to a 'K-shaped recovery' of the Indian economy. "The rich are getting richer, the poor poorer, all due to the myopic and motivated policies of the Government," the overflowing knowledge vessels insist. Really?

My new 'best friend': Me