We Are a Nation Of...

Welcome to another post, I guess? I really wish I didn’t have to write this, but here we are. Every time I decide to write something, it’s usually because I’m excited to share an observation or a reflection of life.

But this area of my writings is different and is almost always disappointing. I genuinely have no idea how the mainstream voices are so silent with everything that’s going on in the country. If you’re curious, here’s what I mean:

We Are a Nation of Contradictions

We’re 151st in the World Press Freedom Index, yet we claim to be the world’s largest democracy. As Masoom Rajwani once said, in the “largest democracy”, we’re proud of the word “largest” and not democracy, and it couldn’t be more true.

We’re 105th out of 127 countries in the Global Hunger Index, which tells us we’re under a “serious” hunger crisis, but who cares? We at least get food delivered in under 10 minutes, right? And guess what? We’re 130th in the Human Development Index, which basically proves there’s zero growth for any human life. And no wonder why we’re 118th in the World Happiness Report.

To make things worse, we are a nation consumed by alcohol, drugs, collective anxiety, rage, hyper-, and religious-nationalism. We’re 176th out of 180 in the Environmental Performance Index, choking on our own air while celebrating cricket centuries of stupid star players.

And yet, we call ourselves Vishwaguru.

We Are a Nation of Personality Cults

We’re a nation deprived of basic common sense, let alone civic sense. We celebrate the victories of politicians and actors, yet we fail to celebrate the victories of our own people. We idolize people who don’t utter a single word when you’re at the receiving end of inconvenience, and we idolize people who conveniently flee the country when they know there’s nothing left here to fix anymore. But of course, they magically made your life as a common man way better with their hit movies and star performances, right?

And you know what? We are the only nation where press conferences are considered “so yesterday.” And do I even have to talk about the state of mainstream media? It is so captured by the government that we now have to resort to standup comics to talk about social issues.

And I genuinely do not understand how the prime minister giving a trophy to a fellow prime minister makes it to national headlines and prime time, yet hundreds of people losing their lives over paper leaks or dying due to poor infrastructure are ignored. What’s even worse is the common man taking pleasure in that. Like where are we, really? Out of all the horrible things happening in the country that is where we find something to celebrate? Really? It’s beyond my comprehension.

And guess what? Selective cases of women murdering men make national headlines and are run for days, yet hundreds of women getting raped, molested, and murdered every single day, along with decades of systematic oppression are ignored.

And yet, we insist the problem is equality.

We Are a Nation That Taxes Like the First World

Just read this twice “The top 1% own around 40% of India’s wealth.” How bizarre and disappointing is that even? The income inequality is through the roof and we have to fight for the very basic amenities of life while paying first-world taxes. We pay first-world taxes and toll fees only to navigate third-world potholes, constantly collapsing bridges, and flooded streets every monsoon. It’s not even monsoon, yet most of our cities are already underwater.

Just as a common citizen, think about this: How hard is it really to do a pre-monsoon inspection in our respective cities for collapsing roads, electrocution, falling structures which we absolutely paid taxes for? It’s not that hard. It’s just incompetence. Multiple highways and flyovers which took years to build, and thousands of crores, have started falling apart even before they’re inaugurated. Zero consequences for this level of corruption, and zero mainstream media coverage about any of this. I don’t even know what to say at this point.

Where the houses of the poor are bulldozed just over minor defaults, yet, massive corporate bad loans worth billions are quietly written off to the friends of the government. How’s that even acceptable in a functioning democracy?

The entire population is forced to accept government-profitable decisions without having a say or a choice. E20 (20% ethanol-blended petrol) is straight up forced into our vehicles, making mileage worse and damaging the very vehicles that you and I bought while paying every tax known to humanity. And you know what’s worse? Selling it for the same or even higher price despite the blend and despite the global falling crude oil prices.

And yet, we call ourselves Vishwaguru.

We Are a Nation That Fails Its Students

Let’s talk about education, shall we? Wait, I just realized it doesn’t exist. Not at least a decent one. People spend years preparing for hard competitive exams only to hear the paper has been leaked. Zero accountability, zero consequences. In fact, the people overseeing that department are transferred to an even better post. No resignation, no accountability. I’m not even making this up. The CBSE Chairman, Rahul Singh, was transferred to the premium post of Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture. Like WTF? Is that even allowed? In any functional democracy, this would mean jail time for as long as one can think of. But here we are.

Imagine designing competitive exams as such where people spend years preparing for it, and yet, the bar to get elected as a politician is to throw a few fake promises and religious slogans at rallies. That’s it. You got social security for life. And here paying taxes benefits everyone at the top of the chain except the very citizen paying the taxes.

And the biggest irony here is, the kids of the same department heads, directors, and politicians enjoy their best lives abroad in the most prestigious institutions while we have to fight for even a basic education for our children. Phew!

Students are losing their lives over paper leaks. Protests in the capital and across the country have been going on for days, yet the education minister gets birthday wishes from the prime minister. Do you see where we are? I’m sure most of you cannot. Over 2.4 million students have had their futures compromised by paper leaks like NEET-UG and UGC-NET, yet accountability stops at a tweet. Graduate youth unemployment sits at an all-time high, forcing qualified people and postgraduates to apply for sweeping jobs.

And yet, we call ourselves Vishwaguru.

We Are a Nation Where Justice Stands Upside Down

Over 445,000 cases of crimes against women are registered annually as per NCRB data, roughly 51 every single hour, and I mind you these are reported figures, I’m pretty sure y’all know the state of reported and non-reported crimes in the country and yet we selectively look away.

We bail rapists out and put activists behind bars. We welcome and celebrate the bail of rapists and murderers while praying for innocent lives to remain behind bars. High-profile convicts, rapists, and murderers are showered with rose petals upon receiving bail while journalists and activists are punished without a trial for years.

And yet, we call ourselves Vishwaguru.

We Are a Nation That Punishes Dissent

Questioning public servants makes you anti-national. Protesting makes you anti-national. Speaking up makes you anti-national, yet having a criminal record gets you a ticket to Parliament. Accountability doesn’t exist. Consequences do not exist and whataboutery comes into play as soon as you demand it.

We are a nation where minorities are constantly questioned over their basic rights and are denied basic amenities. We are a nation where we cannot practice our faith without disturbing someone else’s. And 90% of the population can’t think critically, let alone have a meaningful conversation without reducing everything to religion, caste, or political allegiance.

And you know what’s worse? The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 have been tightened up, giving the government even greater powers to remove online content that criticizes it. If you think that’s not a threat to free speech, I don’t know what is. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it’s already happening.

And yet, we call ourselves the largest democracy.

We Are a Nation That Loves Whataboutery

Someone got raped or someone got lynched? What’s their religion? Oh, a minority? That’s fine. Where were you when someone got raped from our community? That’s exactly where we are. We never question the accused, we never question the people in power, but we blame the victim and start doing whataboutery.

This is where we are. Every single tragedy immediately turns into a competition of “what about when it happened to us?” instead of demanding justice for the victim in front of us. We no longer ask whether something is wrong. We first ask who the victim is, and only then decide whether we should care.

We Are a Nation That Stopped Caring

More than anything, I look at people around my age and I genuinely don’t recognize what we’ve become. People whose entire personality revolves around defending politicians they’ve never met, never benefited from, and who won’t give a shit when tragedy strikes them.

People who are more interested in proving the other side wrong than demanding better from their own. Somewhere along the way, politics stopped being about governance and became another religion. If you don’t know what’s wrong, you’re either brainwashed, don’t have a conscience, or you do not see anything beyond religion and religious-politics. A sign of failing nation isn’t just a failing government, but its citizens that lost the ability to think critically.