A BALAGOPAL

Aviation Professional

[Rants&Roasts @Sydusm]

So what exactly was looted from India?

The Mughals didn't take the mountains. The British didn't cart away the rivers, the forests, the air, the lakes, the minerals. They couldn't. What they took was recoverable. What we've done to ourselves isn't.

In 75 years of self-rule, we have managed to hollow out something they never could. We were handed a country and we handed it back to smaller, pettier versions of the same masters. We called it democracy.

We called it progress.

Decade after a decade, the politician became the new zamindar. The loot just changed its paperwork. Elections became the conduit.

But the last decade. The unhinged last decade. That's when something else started rotting. Not just institutions or infrastructure or the economy. What started dying was something that others hold dearly.

Decency.

The basic willingness to see another person as a person.
Hate turned into policy. Policy turned into pride. And a man who burned his neighbour's house started calling himself a patriot.

A society that feels like an echo chamber built on a hollow. Every surface is noise. Nationalism without nation-building. Sentiment without sense. Propaganda wearing the facade of progress.

The tragedy isn't just what was stolen. It's what we surrendered. Willingly. Enthusiastically.

We didn't regress because someone forced us to. We regressed because we agreed to.

And here we are. Standing exposed and bare, looted by our own.

[Manoj Kumar Channan @manojchannan]

https://t.co/OaR04tv1zD

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@manojchannan Very insightful and thought-provoking, Col. Appreciate your views.

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@megirish2001 @wg_kumar Many happy returns of the day, Capt Girish! Wishing you and ma’am the very best always.

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@AnchitGupta9 Thank you for this interesting info in the MiG-21, Anchit. Keep them coming!

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@janam_parikh Great capture, Janam!

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@Hush_Kit Viggen.

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@sssatvahana @IndiGo6E I too am unable to web check in for my flight tomorrow morning. There appears to be an issue.

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@AkasaAir Web check-in done!👍🏼

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@AkasaAir Thank you!

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@pampereira9 @janam_parikh @jetairways @Boeing @CSMIA_Official @airindia Nice one, Janam!!

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@arunp2810 So well articulated, Adm sir! Salute!

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@SkodaIndia Krivaq
Konarq
Karmiq

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@abhilashtomy Salute to you Cdr, for naming the sailors!

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

Why is a quarter of the bottom of the screen on BBC News in India blanked off by the band? This is so for a few weeks now. Anyone knows?

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@justplanes @KoreanAir @KoreanAir_KE Great light and beautifully shot!

[Srinivas BV @srinivasiyc]

मोरबी की सड़कें, सिर्फ Red Carpet बाकी है..

[A BALAGOPAL @audiobal]

@Camel2F1 @Airfix Definitely want an Islander.

[Rajendra B. Aklekar @rajtoday]

Kurla station auto mafia on the platform. Please check & verify this. Too much freedom given by Kurla @MTPHereToHelp & @RPFCRBB Coincidentally on the first day of new @drmmumbaicr Isn't this a safety hazard for trains? @SrdsoM @RailMinIndia @RPF_INDIA