India enacts “To Kill a Mocking Bird”

Mockingbirds do not harm anyone and they only do good by singing and copying the sounds that they hear. It is a sin to shoot a Mockingbird and its is also a sin to troll one. India learns this in 2017 when social media manipulated bigotry gangs up against an innocent young student.

The young student fits perfectly as our Mockingbird. A moment where India searches within itself to find the upholders of morality to stand up as an “Atticus Finch” even if the whole world goes against him.

India is learning a lot from Social Media. Even the Pulitzer Prize winning ” To kill a Mockingbird” finds its place in 2017 India with a virtual enactment with various individuals coming together on social media picking each character of this beautiful story that can also be viewed in the Black & White 1962 Gregory Peck starring film “To kill a Mockingbird”. The only difference in our Desi (slang for people of the Indian subcontinent made even popular by a porn website) contemporary version, is that it is 2017 and a lot of our current analogies happen online.

Gurmehar Kaur, Inspiration for the Mockingbird blog

This blog is inspired from Gurmehar Kaur the brave young Delhi student who fits perfectly as our “Mockingbird” and also “Scout Finch”, daughter of “Atticus Finch”, a lawyer with high moral values who choses to do the right thing even if he has to go against an angry mob. The analogies maybe a bit vague and I leave it to the reader to choose. But I will be providing recommendations on who I feel fits these characters perfectly in our contemporary Indian version:  “It is a sin to troll a Mockingbird”.

Who upholds morality like an Indian “Atticus Finch”?

I have a few suggestions in mind. But I am just an amateur blogger and this is just my biased recommendation on the first names that come to my mind. Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments section.

• Arvind Kejriwal: Needs no introduction. Consistent track record of upholding morality.
• Mohan Guruswamy: Following on Facebook since almost 2 years. Glad we have people like him thinking about our country. Brings in multiple perspectives on various issues.
• Peri Maheshwar: Very influential with the young crowd. That brings him to our list.
• Kapil Mishra: Actions speak louder than words. I can totally see Kapil Mishra going all the way in the night to save someone from a mob. Lot of people may have the intention, but this guy would go do it even if it means doing it all by himself.
• Narendra Modi: I am a Finance guy and I love diversification so much that I bring an exposure to our right wing with its best asset . Our honorable PM of course, who could be playing a Dark Knight according to alternative facts. Bringing in the sticks to a motivate while the other above four would bring only carrots along. When a PM does not speak out on certain issues, he is in a way giving away the privilege of being “Atticus Finch”  to some one else.

Who is young and brave like “Jem Finch”?

“Jem Finch” is the brave brother of “Scout Finch”, and son of “Atticus Finch”. He gets hurt trying to save his sister. A brave kid inspired from his father, always rushing out to save the weak and calm tensions when his aggressive little sister “Scout Finch” gets in trouble at school.

This character can go to Dhruv Rathee, the young lad doing his best. He would surely make the Indian “Atticus Finch” proud. Kanhaiya Kumar too could qualify for defending JNU from the mob. Will also nominate Ram Subramanian for his great work with informative youtube videos.

Analogy for the violent “Bob Ewell”

Bob Ewell, “The “God fearing” father, who gets aggressive with Atticus Finch and his family for defending the Black suspect. I could log on to Facebook or twitter and write down a long list of people in India who would love to play the character of Bob Ewell. All you got to do is to get drunk and harass people based on your preconceived notions, refusing to listen and stoking the emotions of an angry mob to help you out.

Even after succeeding in getting the black suspect “Tom Robinson” killed in an encounter, he persistently continues to act upon his success in getting away with an immoral act to wrong again. Only this time when he attacks the children, he is stopped by the mysterious shy character “Boo Radley”.

“Tom Robinson” the victim: Scapegoat for hatred

Tom Robinson is the innocent victim who is affected in early 1900s America for being a Black man. A quick easy suspect for a crime based on his race, in-spite of medically not being capable of committing the crime. A JNU Phd student named Umar Khalid, fits perfectly as our Tom Robinson. I say this because, it really feels wrong to see a Phd student from JNU get targeted by a mob that is completely judging him by his name and religion. The other JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar faces a lot of brunt too, but still lesser than Umar Khalid though both of them pretty much stand up for similar issues.

The dynamics in India presently, is a simple example of divide, intimidate and conquer. Just like how in the film “To kill a Mockingbird”, Bow Ewell tries to get rid of the black man first and then tries to hurt the sympathizers to the plight of the Black people. The Indian “Bob Ewell” starts with the easy target, Pakistan. Then he moves to the Muslims in our own country simple because they share a religion with our enemies in Pakistan. Then he moves to the Hindus who sympathize with any injustice to the Muslims. He also groups the Hindus based on class, caste, region, wealth etc to further divide them. Students at University fall easy prey as many notions and perceptions are molded here. The Indian Bob Ewell hates children and these University students for being an innocent mockingbird. It despises him and he will let it be known.

Who could be the mysterious heroic “Boo Radley”?

The final character in the study is the hero or the one who saves the Mockingbird. Who gets to be our Indian Boo Radley? The shy quiet guy often misunderstood by the society who is quietly doing his part in saving us. Some one who just wants to do the right thing without getting bothered with the publicity and the attention that will disrupt his normal life.

Really hope that more people in India realize that a real hero is usually someone like Boo Radley and not some one more bombastic like our Shaurya Bhardwaj Shifuji. A real hero loves doing the heroic act and not actually marketing it all the time.

The real hero is like the Indian Army and not like the Bollywood actors who play such roles. The real hero makes a tough compromise to not revel too much till the job is done. To not celebrate a surgical strike that was conducted under a strict code of vengeance to honor a fallen comrade and not for blood thirsty intentions.

To remember always that its a sin to not only kill but to also troll a Mockingbird. But apart from the Indian army, who else can be Boo Radley?

Final Nomination: Man behind the Mask of SuSu

The final nomination for our Boo Radley goes to: Unofficial: Subramanian Swamy. Have read so many of his posts since the past 2 years but am yet to know who he is. Keeping a private identity does help you to live a normal life. Nobody bothers you at all.

I don’t agree to everything he posts, but he has done his part in standing up for the innocent. He does this bravely without delay consistently every day too many times to be taken as just a silly spoof. Commendable for an individual do do it consistently with such dedication when no one else would. If I was a ruling politician, I would love to have an opposition like this page. Keeping things simple and fun.

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