When I named my blog “Common Man”, the only impelling reason that motivated me was to write for the masses. My idea was to write on topics related to the lives of the office-going middle class in a language so simple that one need not be a fan of Shakespeare to understand it.
But gradually I have realized that it is very difficult to find a ‘true’ common man these days. No one wishes to be tagged as a “Common Man” in my age! The common man has become so very uncommon!
So, this blog is my quest of finding the real common man.
But who is a common man?
The one who watches a lean and thin Amitabh Bachchan beat 15 baddies and jump off a 20 storied building and still believes or the one who buys ‘Boost’ just because it is the secret of Sachin Tendulkar’s energy?
Yes, he is the common man.
He feels patriotic when Sunny Deol shouts anti-Pakistan slogans. He bursts crackers when India wins a cricket match and weeps when it loses. He is the one, who spits on streets but still wants his city clean!
Yes, he is also the one who breaks the signal if a cop is not around but is first to complain about the deteriorating traffic conditions.
He is the one who saves 3 rupees in a bus if the conductor is not noticing but is also the one who would spend thousands on clothes, and yet argue with a rickshaw puller for 2 rupees.
So does the common man just have negative traits? As I see them, they are not negative traits; rather, they are the ‘common’ traits that make a man common. And yes, this is just one aspect of him.
A common man is much more than that.
A common man can do wonders when provoked. He is our nuclear scientist, he is the astronaut, he makes the highest runs and centuries in cricket, he wins medals at Olympics and he is the one who would lay down his life for the country.
He is the cricketer, film star, journalist, farmer, government servant, soldier, and entrepreneur and of course the politician.
He is the one who votes and makes the government. Yes, the super powerful common man decides the ruler of this over 100 crore strong population.
He is the one who braves floods, earthquakes and famines and still emerge victorious.
He is the one, who bears the brunt of religious riots, but still loves and saves his neighbour belonging to a different faith.
A common man is the one who celebrates Diwali, Holi, Eid and Christmas with the same spirit.
He is the one who takes to street with candles to protest when feels helpless and let down.
He is the one stands up yet again in the face of every terrorist attack. He is the one who gets killed in bomb blasts. He is the one who has strength of the will to come out of his house immediately after any such massacre and even lend the helping hand, and his is the spirit which our politicians so profoundly refer to as the “spirit of India”. He is the one who is targeted by every adversity and he is the one who still manages to live on.
He is the one who has written this blog and he is the one who is reading it.
Proud to be a “Common Man”.
(The views expressed by the author in the blog are his/her own)