"...carrying the hopes of a billion people..."
"...of a billion dreams... "
"...the Blue billion... "
"...comprising one-sixth of humanity... "
"...billion pigtails... "
"...billion no-gooders..."
"...of a billion dreams... "
"...the Blue billion... "
"...comprising one-sixth of humanity... "
"...billion pigtails... "
"...billion no-gooders..."
"...billion blah-blah-blahs..."
Now when did you last come across such a dreary phrase? Chances are, I bet, yesterday/today or the last minute! Lines like these have caught our e-media’s fancy ad infinitum ever since we crossed 100 crore in 2000. The phrases are used indiscriminately for exaggerating the burden on any one of our always-flattering-to-deceive national sport teams on the eve of “battle” (like, say, the Cricket team before embarking on their tour of Australia or before the final of the T20 World Cup final). The intent here is to create an illusory hope or “weight” in the minds of the people of the occasion.
Besides being statistically inaccurate, the phrase is also monotonous and a hyperbole. I utterly despise it as it is plain hogwash simply because not everyone is concerned whether the sports team raked in the moolah in the World Cup or sent its arch rival packing. Surprisingly, having 20% of us below poverty line and the same percentage illiterate never deters morons from using such phrases. Is being a billion-strong something to be proud of, given how the people in our country fail to get two sqaure meals a day? If the phrase is to be understood in detail, it goes to say that the entire population, including infants, the hospitalized (unconscious), the ones who do not follow the sport at all and the largest group of our nation - the ignorant, are all automatically included in the category of I-really-hope-our-team-wins-coz-that-gets-food-into-my-mouth.
Now when did you last come across such a dreary phrase? Chances are, I bet, yesterday/today or the last minute! Lines like these have caught our e-media’s fancy ad infinitum ever since we crossed 100 crore in 2000. The phrases are used indiscriminately for exaggerating the burden on any one of our always-flattering-to-deceive national sport teams on the eve of “battle” (like, say, the Cricket team before embarking on their tour of Australia or before the final of the T20 World Cup final). The intent here is to create an illusory hope or “weight” in the minds of the people of the occasion.
Besides being statistically inaccurate, the phrase is also monotonous and a hyperbole. I utterly despise it as it is plain hogwash simply because not everyone is concerned whether the sports team raked in the moolah in the World Cup or sent its arch rival packing. Surprisingly, having 20% of us below poverty line and the same percentage illiterate never deters morons from using such phrases. Is being a billion-strong something to be proud of, given how the people in our country fail to get two sqaure meals a day? If the phrase is to be understood in detail, it goes to say that the entire population, including infants, the hospitalized (unconscious), the ones who do not follow the sport at all and the largest group of our nation - the ignorant, are all automatically included in the category of I-really-hope-our-team-wins-coz-that-gets-food-into-my-mouth.
The gullible (a.k.a the masses) are easily influenced by such instigation and skip work, college, school and lose out on “really” contributing to the country in order to watch the match. One day of productive labour is lost or reduced, which counts; given how frivolous instances like sentences in film songs force bandhs so often. Raising the expectations to such levels often results in violent and foul reactions from the people whenever, say the Cricket team, fails miserably as if the team really let us down and sunk our national pride. As you see, in our cricket-mad country, you have nobodies burning effigies, posters, shouting slogans and coming out on the streets at the drop of a hat. Add to that our over-efficient media who covers each one of those nobodies in the name of 'breaking news' - which has to be taken literally in such cases. Frustrated mobs begin to think that we are finished as a nation and there's no pride in being Indian anymore.
So the nex ttime you read such 'bullion', ignore it like it were a ciggarette stub or paan stain on the footpath.
So the nex ttime you read such 'bullion', ignore it like it were a ciggarette stub or paan stain on the footpath.
