My seat was right behind his in the Route 107 mini bus. Dressed nattily, he took up two seats. Since the entire left hand side of his slight frame was engaged in managing an industrial-sized package, he had to hold up his tab-phone with his right hand. After ignoring a few photographs of his Facebook friends in picturesque locales, his index finger paused at a meme of Goddess Kali, bearing promises of spiritual merits rendered on ‘share’-ing. He did. More memes, photos and posts scrolled up. Then he stopped at another meme which showed the spectral impression of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bust superimposed on a huge onrush of sea waves. The text urged to ‘share’ it for the sake of India’s development. His index finger hesitated for a few seconds, then complied.
Identified either as the ‘Bhakt’ (devotee) or as the Indian version of the fascism-ready
‘Mass Man’, (s)he unfortunately doesn’t inhabit specific ghettos and commute via designated bus routes.
(contd...1039 words)
academia.edu PDF link: https://www.academia.edu/30606454/Have_You_Seen_an_Indian_Mass_Man_
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