The following is the latest short story that I wrote. This one is really short; I posted four short stories in this blog so far and this is the second shortest one. Less than 5000 words.
Forward
I want to make it clear that I did not write this story to encourage US to start a war against India. With that being stated first, I’d like to give the background of this short story. Back in 2002, when the Bush administration openly started discussing the possibility of attacking Iraq, I was rather surprised that so many American journalists supported the idea. I understand that war stories sell and that news and magazine articles that exaggerate potential risks imposed by foreign countries and advocate wars against them drew readers’ attention; unfortunately, too many of so-called ‘journalists’ today write too many of this type of articles and commentaries. However, even experienced journalists who’d been to all over the world including the Middle East championed this war, and that, to me, was a bit surprising as well as disappointing. Given their knowledge and experience in the region, I expected that most of them would be critical of the administration and would simply write that this was nonsense. Yet they didn’t and it puzzled me for some time. But after I spent six months or so in India, the country located right outside of the Middle East, I started learning about the region in a different perspective; India has the second biggest Muslim population, so it also helped me to understand more about Islam, the dominant religion in the Middle East. As a result, I came up with a possible explanation as to why so many experienced, educated and intelligent journalists, who spent some time in the Middle East, advocated Iraq War. It is a simple explanation actually and it inspired me to write this short story. But, once again, I want to emphasize that I do not endorse, advocate or recommend US to attack India, nor do I support any wars enthusiastically.
Now that I gave the background of this short story, I’d like to discuss the content of it briefly. Some readers, in particular, those in India might feel that this story is overly critical of their country when characters discuss politics and culture. More specifically, one of characters has nothing positive to say about India. There are two reasons for this. One is that I wanted the story to be politically relevant, even though it might not make some readers feel comfortable. The other is that the reason why he is so critical directly relates to the whole idea behind this short story.
Lastly, I’d like to mention that I used two websites http://en.wikipedia.org/ and http://www.rahulmehta.com/ as references.
My Contribution
At Asia Plaza
Man sat at the bar at the hotel ‘Asia Plaza’, one of five star hotels in New Delhi, India; he held a glass of beer and declared calmly in American accent, “I’m glad that I contributed to this.” He implied War on India that started three months ago; he had been writing commentaries to recommend and justify it for the last fifteen months. “Are you?” asked the woman who sat next to him; this voice was also calm and monotonic. ”Yes. I’ve spent some time in Baghdad during Iraq War, and this feels like the beginning of it. Things were relatively quiet at the beginning, but soon, we started hearing about journalists getting kidnapped. A couple of months later, suicide bombings started. And soon after that, the country was totally out of control. More bombings, shootings and killings. I stayed there until shortly before journalists started getting kidnapped. My guess is that we can spend another month or two here, but we should really get out of here after that; it’ll be just like Iraq. I take my job seriously, but I’m not suicidal; I don’t want to take unnecessarily high risks. Many of those of us in the media business working here will be getting kidnapped and beheaded. Soon, this country will be just like Iraq several years ago.” Two spoke as if they were discussing the design of a new combustion engine; just hearing the tone of two voices, others would not figure that they were discussing possible loss of tens of millions of lives, if not, more. She was just having a glass of water; she asked, ”Then what? What’ll happen? Well, what do you think will happen or should I ask ‘what do you think should happen since you’ve been advocating this war?’”
”This county has about 1.2 billion people today. Half of that need to go. This planet has too many people. This will lead us to not have enough fresh water. Depletion of natural resources is inevitable. Air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and noise pollution will get worse exponentially. Deforestation and loss of ecosystem will become unavoidable. And more. Global climate change, Unhygienic living condition, elevated crime rates around the world and increased levels of warfare due to scarce resources and crowding. That’s the beginning. It’ll get worse and worse. This planet won’t be livable. China has been controlling its population by setting appropriate laws. It’s been successful. The population has not started declining yet but it’s largely due to the increase of the average life expectancy there. Birth rate itself has been declining; it’s a good sign. In foreseeable future, China’s population will start declining. But this country?! The population is increasing and the government is doing nothing about it. Of course, faithful or fanatic Hindus, Muslims, Sheikhs and all the rest can’t think of making fewer babies. They’ve been saying that having a child is blessing for thousands of years and they will not change their minds for another couple of thousands of years.”
”What’s your take on sex education? Use of condom? Use of pills? Things like that? Maybe that’ll help to curve the population growth?”
”I presume that you’re allowing me to expand on the subject by answering your question. Literacy rate in this country was about 60% several years ago. Now it’s close to 65%. That’s a significant improvement over a very short period of time, but 65%!? Never mind sex education, never mind teaching people consequences of overpopulation. It’s too late. If you think logically, what’s the only solution here? Solution to the problem of overpopulation?”
”The answer is …”
He paused for a second and stated peacefully, “Genocide.” Both kept silent for a second and he continued, “Am I being immoral? Am I being godless? Perhaps, but look, you have PhD. You worked at the world’s leading investment bank as a project manager. You belong to the top 0.001% of the world’s population in terms of intelligence. Tell me, is there any other solution? Is there any way to save this world other than wiping out half of the population in this country? And I ask you this. Please do not think in terms of moral values, ethics, teachings of Jesus Christ or Buddha. I ask you to think purely mathematically.”
”There might be, but this solution seems most practical and implementable.”
”That’s right. They ought to perish.”
The whole time, two spoke serenely. They were predicting that so many lives in this country could be lost in the coming years, but neither seemed agitated or hysterical.
India 2012
Conventional wisdom was that countries that US multi-national corporations set up restaurants, factories and call centers would rarely fight a war with US; however, there were a few exceptions and the latest one took place late 2011. There had been a number of tense moments between US and India for the last several decades and yet another tense moment arrived shortly after the CommonWealth Games in 2010. Historically, India had close ties with Russia and Iran and that eventually developed into a minor diplomatic conflict between two countries. US finally withdrew the vast majority of its troops from Iraq late 2010 and it started looking for yet another target shortly after. India became one. Though India was a growing economy, the close analysis of the country gave confidence to Washington. To this day, India lacked industries to support its own defense; the country was able to recruit far more soldiers than US but what mattered was the modern defense technology. Many Indian companies grew to become some of the world’s biggest companies in their sectors such as steal and IT outsourcing; however, so many sectors were still behind or non-exist. There was no aircraft maker like Boeing. There was no equivalent of General Dynamics that created tanks, radars and submarines. Basically weapons were mostly imported. The strength of two militaries could not be compared; one had all the modern defense technologies and the other simply did have expect for imported weapons. US Defense industry lobbied for it strongly as usual. Media outlets followed and started unofficial campaign of the war. There were great similarities between that and the beginning of Iraq War. The consensus that India was the immediate thread to the security of US was being built up over the next twelve months. In August 2011, US base in Kabul, Afghanistan was attacked; US military intelligence determined that it was lead by India. To this day, the accuracy of the analysis was unknown; however, the vast majority of US citizens believed their tax-funded intelligence. US declared the war against India shortly after with a very strong support of its citizens and struck back. Just like shortly before Iraq War, US military built up its troops in Afghanistan near India border prior to the attack. When they attacked, they were ready. It took them three months to reach the capital and overtook it. Just like before Iraq War, it was claimed that the Prime Minister of the country was essentially the dictator and needed to be removed. The claim was partially true in the sense that, with the exception of the last Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, all Prime Ministers of India were from one family; though India claimed that it’s the biggest democracy in the world, it was very much like a monarchy. However, equating the family to other dictators like Saddam Hussein and Augusto Pinochet was simply absurd; there was really no public record indicating that Indian government tortured or massacred people. Nonetheless, US media once again succeeded in creating the consensus among US citizens that it was absolutely necessary for US to attack India.
The man at the hotel “Asia Plaza” wrote for New York Chronicle, the leading newspaper in US; his name was Tiger Ford. He was one of top journalists Chronicle hired and he was one of the most influential commentators in US. He was also one of those who approved the war.
Reproduction
The woman asked, “You just said that faithful religious people keep bearing so many children and that results in the population growth. Do you actually believe that? What I mean to ask is this; is this about religion, culture or economy?” Tiger took a short pause and answered, “Some argue that this is all about economy. There is no doubt that this is an economical problem in part. There is really no welfare system in this country. It is physically very difficult to live once you reach a certain age, and therefore, most people, that is, over 99.9% of people here want to have children who can support them when they get old. It’s very logical. But culture plays a role here as well. If you’re over, say, twenty six or twenty seven years old, you are often asked if you’re married or not. But they’re really not asking you if you’re a single or married; they’re ‘expecting’ you to be married. If you’re married, they expect you to have a couple of children. This societal expectation is cultural.”
”Then why not advocate social and economical changes in this country instead of advocating a war? I feel like I already have your answer, but I’d like to hear what you have to say still.”
“The short answer is this. There are six countries that have more area than India, yet India has a far bigger population than five of these countries. Only China has a bigger population, but the country is taking control of it now. In other words, India is the biggest contributor to the problem of overpopulation and it will be; the country has not found or implemented a solution to the problem of reproduction. The problem is really a result of hundreds of years of the country’s history and it didn’t occur over night. But, you know what? We need a solution now. Not next year or ten years from now. Today. We need a solution today.”
Tiger Ford referenced statistics and supported the argument. Though he essentially supported the mass killing, he did not speak like a madman or lost mind. He apparently spent a fair amount of time studying about India; he was very knowledgeable. He was also prepared to answer variety of questions she had. Two still spoke in the monotonic tone. If a third person observed these two, the atmosphere would’ve looked surreal because they were fundamentally assuming unimaginable pain and suffering of so many people; the death toll would easily surpass that of World War II, lives would be lost, and soon, one would literally smell blood everywhere in Indian subcontinent. Yet they appeared completely detached from what was going to happen emotionally.
Tiger Ford
Many journalists backed or favored War on India just for the sake of selling their stories. If Iraq War taught anything to journalists in US, they could sell far more widely and effectively by advocating wars than constructing sound arguments against them. In essence, they wrote stories like they wrote gossip columns about promiscuous and drug-addicted celebrities and the like; to them, there was no difference between these two types of stories. Tiger Ford, however, was a true journalist. He got journalism degree from Columbia University; Columbia School of Journalism was the top journalism school in the nation. He then moved to the Far East and got Master’s in philosophy from Kyoto University in Japan. Because he started studying Japanese from almost scratch, it took him five years to get the degree, but he did it. After he finished his study, he joined Associate Press of India and spent several years in India. He met an American expat there, got married and moved back to US in 2002. He joined New York Chronicle and became one of the most respected in the institution within the first several years. He was not just someone who got journalism degree; he was someone who actually walked on this planet, tasted different water, breathed dissimilar air and ate various foods. This gave him a certain authority. But because of that, it came as a surprise, when he started advocating the potential War on India like many sensationalist war mongering media people. Typically, those who were well educated did not favor wars. Also those who spent a fair amount of time outside of US rarely did so. He was the combination of both and readers were rather surprised to find out that he was all for the possible war.
Monarchy, Corruption and The Weak
”You want the immediate result and this is why you support the military action,” the woman stated. “That’s right,” asserted Tiger. She asked, “How does the political system in this country fit into the large picture?”
”Politicians are largely responsible for this but the damage has been done; the size of the population is too large and they will do great harm to our planet if they survive. It is very unfortunate that half of innocent people in this country need to perish to save the rest of the world. We also need to ensure that those at the top need to be removed from the power in order to keep the reduced population as it is. This country also needs real progress. We can’t keep those corrupt to stay. I certainly don’t suggest that there is no corruption in so-called developed countries. But you can’t really compare this country to these countries. Except for the last Prime Minister, all Prime Ministers of this country are from one family. Only one! That’s just ridiculous.”
”From what I read, corruption exists at all levels of this society.”
”It does. Judges are corrupt. Lawyers are corrupt. Police are corrupt. Bankers, accountants, and all the rest are corrupt. As a result, courts are dysfunctional. Police keep harassing innocent citizens; they are even violent. Sexual abuse, child abuse, and all the rest; they do whatever they feel like doing. There is no real equality, either, because the rich just buy out judges and lawyers. Now, this applies in all countries, but what’s happening here is extreme. Even today, residential areas of the poor are getting bulldozed to just build a factory or a parking space. Central Bank is corrupt; they’re essentially owned by the rich and they literally print out money and spend as they like. Education, atrocities on women, etc. etc. etc. I can keep going forever.”
As a matter of fact, he could keep going forever. He not only had very good knowledge about politics in India but also it appeared that he read quite a few academic papers on the subject. He was able to articulate each and every point he raised and discuss causes and effects as if he did these routinely. He probably did; from what she understood, he wrote a number of articles and commentaries on politics in India while he lived there. He was very prolific. His name was mentioned in the academic circle quite regularly, so he probably had great analytical skills as well. While the solution he was offering itself seemed scandalous and shocking, hearing his speaking would make it worth considering if it did not convince his readers to adapt it.
Phyllis Leed
Phyllis Leed accompanied Tiger Ford to witness the war up close. She was a novelist and many categorized her into the group of feminists, though she did not feel that it was an accurate categorization. She cited the male central society as causes of variety of social problems in many of her novels. She also blamed it for catastrophes such as war, famine, massacre, mass rape, global climate change, pollution and overpopulation. While she prolifically wrote novels, she gave lectures and interviews. She was not a celebrity, nor did she want to become one, but she was a known figure in a sizable circle of writers including journalists. She was not against the current war, but she essentially made the same argument; the male dominance led to this catastrophe. She was not the person who got emotional when she discussed various subjects, however; she always behaved in a civilized manner. She was always thoughtful and calm when she gave lectures and got interviewed.
In a panel discussion held several months before the war, she met Tiger. Though she did not agree with his viewpoint, she read most of his columns; she also read most of books he published. She was keen on what he wrote; he was a fan of her as well, though he did not agree with her all the time. They got to know each other over the next several months; they both lived in New York City, so that made their communication easier. When he was about to go to India, he invited her; all expenses would be paid if she agreed to write several commentaries for New York Chronicle. She agreed and joined him.
Though she’d been to several countries, she’d never been to India before. That was a good enough reason for her to go.
Male Dominancy
”What’s your take on this country?” asked Tiger. Phyllis gave a short answer, “I’ve been here only for a week, so it’s too early to say anything.”
”Right, but I’m sure that you read many articles and books written about this country, right?”
”I have.”
”Then, what’s your take given what you know?”
”This is yet another male dominant country, a sign of the developing country.”
”And …”
”I’m not antiwar, but my view is that wars wouldn’t need to take place if there were no male dominancy in this world. From what I recall, you kindly read a few of my novels, so you know this already.”
”Yes, I read them and I enjoyed reading.”
”You mentioned about overpopulation in this country. See, it’s a consequence of the male dominancy. It’s not easy for women to find work; in other words, they’re less independent. So, there is also a social pressure to get married, so they do. As a result, they bear children. I’m not against bearing children, that is, for us to remain our species, but if half of the population in a country are like that, its population keeps growing, and soon, it create so many problems. That’s what’s happening here.”
”What else?”
”Women are not engaging and this really stifles the development of the society.”
”Can you elaborate?”
”Sure. Male dominance often creates a very hostile environment to women. If they go outside alone, they get physically threatened. Not only that, they get physically harmed by men outside. This is why so many women just stay home. But men know this intuitively if not logically. This is why so many men end up abusing women; they have no place to escape. Where does this lead? This leads to the fact that women in this type of society are not engaging; they just stay home. I’m not suggesting that they ignore taking care of children, go out and party, but I’m simply suggesting that …”
”I understand what you’re saying. Then what?”
”Here’s an example. Suppose that there are two countries that have not adapted Internet yet. In one country, men and women are … more or less equal; on the other hand, in the other, men are dominant. What would happen?”
”The former would make a much faster adaptation.”
”Exactly. Sure, all those captured women have a lot of time, but they’re really not engaging mentally. They don’t bother learning anything new. They just want to stay home and continue doing what they were doing in the past. That’s very stifling.”
The conversation continued and Tiger recalled his time in India. He discussed about the same subject with local intellectuals but most of them didn’t seem to get. After all, they were happy with having wives serving food and watching soap operas all day long; they were not looking to have conversations with them. They just wanted to keep their personal caretakers. He felt despair back then and he started having the same feeling now. He could not find any solution to the problem back then, nor could he now. He gave up and that was when he started thinking about extreme solutions like War in India. ‘Monstrous,’ he thought initially, but he came back to the same conclusion every time he thought about this problem.
He then realized that he just let her speak; here was an intellect that bashed India and he celebrated her. It wasn’t that he was just looking for intellectual entertainment; Phyllis Leed was clearly an accomplished writer. She might not be remembered like Victor Hugo and Leo Tolstoy for hundreds of years but he was certain that some would read her novels fifty years from now. She did not just write the rubbish or sensation; her writing had substance. Her thought was relevant not only today but it would be so for many years to come. But, right now, he was simply glad that she supplemented what he wanted to convey. But this was when he realized why he invited her to come to India; he wanted to hear exactly what she said.
Worst Traffic In The Word
Tiger noticed that he was speaking faster than usual; he closed his eyes for a second, breathed in and out. He then ordered the second beer and continued. “What do you think about traffic around here?” ”Crowded and chaotic, but there is a war going on, so isn’t it expected?” responded Phyllis.
”You’re right. It is expected, but the traffic around here has been like this forever.” Up to now, he was speaking like analyzing something, but he showed a sign of frustration and looked like he had to let out what he had in mind. “No one really follows traffic rules here. It’s pathetic really. Let’s see, where do I start? They don’t understand that there are lanes; everyone ignores. I don’t think you can find any vehicle driving straight, which obviously increases chances of accidents. They don’t understand maintaining some distance between two vehicles; this triggers many accidents also. Do they ‘see’ pedestrians? No, they don’t see. You wonder if they’re blind.” He sighed slightly. She made an eye contact with him and let him know that she was just letting him speak and he continued, “Apparently, ‘noise pollution’ is not a part of their vocabulary. Every driver honks every 10 seconds or so at least, or does it seem like it. They don’t understand allowing some space here and there so that the traffic flows. If there is tiny space left, a motorcycle drives into there and occupies it. This happens even when a road is so narrow that only one car can pass. Idiotic, but they do this all the time. They manage to lock up so many roads and this makes the traffic worse and worse.” There was a short pause and she asked, “Do you want to continue?”
“No, I’ll talk about something else.”
”I think I understand what you’re saying. I get the picture.”
Tiger recalled the traffic in India when he lived there. He felt aggravated just thinking about it. He lived in the east side of the city thinking that he wanted to see how locals lived. Many in his office recommended that he live in the center of the city because it’d be easier for him to commute; he ignored. It was not a matter of the cost because New York Chronicle, his employer, paid all expenses. Shortly after he moved into a flat in the east side, regrettably, he found that his colleagues were right. Traffic was just awful. He’d been to a number of countries, but the traffic in India was worst. Commute was bothersome, but there was yet another thing that bothered him a lot. He had the habit of walking around wherever he went; that allowed him to view things more closely. However, this simple action became a great difficulty because most drivers didn’t seem to understand what ‘sidewalk’ was. Sidewalk was obviously space created for pedestrians; cars and motorcycles were parked there, but it was not designed for them to get from Point A to Point B. They should not be driving at 20km / hr or 30 km / hr, but so many drivers did. He always had to look around when he walked; he had to take unnecessary precautions.
He eventually moved to the center of the city to reduce his stress, but he still had to go visit different parts of the city; after all, it was a part of his job. This meant that he felt always aggravated, distressed and angry every time he reached a point that he did his job such as reporting and researching. As he recalled this, he closed his eyes and tried to breath slowly because he felt like losing his cool.
Bars
”Phyllis, do you like bars?” asked Tiger drinking his third beer. She just started drinking her first and answered, “I don’t go to bars everyday, but I go there pretty often.”
“Do you go there alone?”
”Occasionally.”
”This is the first time that you came to India, right?”
”That’s right.”
”So, you’ve never been to any bars around there, right.”
”Right.”
”Ok, in which countries did you go to bars?”
”A couple of countries in Asia like Japan and South Korea. I also went to a couple of bars in Holland; I went to visit Amsterdam a while back.”
“I don’t know if I went to bars in South Korea expect for ones inside hotels, but I went to Japan. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya and a couple of other cities. I also went to Amsterdam. So, we have some things in common.”
”Sure.”
“What I want to ask you is this. Did you feel threatened or uncomfortable at those places? Now, I know that quite a few bars in US, unfortunately, including some bars in New York, don’t have great atmosphere, but over all, they’re not terribly uncomfortable places, right?”
”I’d say that I can comfortably walk into many of bars alone and have a few drinks. Especially bars in Manhattan. I went to a bar in Seoul once. Atmosphere was nice. Quiet and peaceful. I know that I got there a bit early; it was around eight or eight thirty. But I could sense that it’s a safe place; the bartender was polite and waitresses looked like very decent young women.”
“Yeah, exactly. I like going to bars, so when I lived here, I went to a couple of bars. But soon, I stopped going.”
”Because …?”
”Atmosphere was terrible. I haven’t been to every single bar in this country, but I have a pretty good idea of what it’s like. A bunch of guys looking like thugs and goons, filled with cigarette smoke and loud music. I wouldn’t feel comfortable.” He finished half of the glass and continued. ”Drinking alcohol is not viewed very positively and I wondered why when I just moved here. But I understood why later on. Bars and clubs don’t attract nicest people. Later on, I just started buying beers at liquor stores, but even there, you meet thuggish guys. I didn’t like going to liquor stores. I didn’t think that guys who hanged out there would stub me but I couldn’t help thinking about that possibility.”
“You don’t like it here, do you?” asked she. He paused for a second and emptied his glass. He looked outside for a moment and then looked at her face. He answered, “I guess that’s what I’m saying here.”
Great Relief
Tiger Ford felt great relief as he said this. His ethics and moral codes told him that what he did was ungodly. He told her about social problems in India as an experienced reporter, but after he had a few beers, he could not continue pretending that he wrote commentaries to advocate the war because of those problems. He did not have pleasant experience in the country; that was really the reason. It was true that bad traffic and terrible atmosphere in bars were related to social problems; they could be viewed as such. However, his unpleasant experience in those circumstances should not prompt him to write commentaries to justify US military action on India. Yet, he, one of the most respected and admired journalists, did that. He hated India and that hatred made him write what he wrote and what he wrote spread the hatred to the majority of Americans; the consensus was created and it enabled Washington to go head and proceed its plan.
”My Contribution,” whispered Tiger. “What was that?” asked Phyllis because she could barely hear what he said.
”A few more drinks?”
”Sure.”
She was puzzled slightly but she smiled a little and this was the first time that he saw her smiling today. Weight on his shoulders was lifted now and he felt relieved and relaxed for the first time in a long time.
Short Stories (Fiction) | 22.06.2007 13:15 | 1 Comment