As an Indian citizen, I perceive that my understanding of Indian politics is minimal. When I engage in reading or watching the news, certain instances evoke anger or sadness, prompting me to ignore it altogether. Consequently, I often find myself at a loss when people discuss Indian politics. Does anyone else feel the same? How can I try to make a well-informed perspective and genuinely comprehend the nuances of Indian politics in an unbiased manner?
India has 3 classes: the voting class, the middle class and the rich class
Indian politics is (understandably) heavily biased towards the voting class, so if you're not from that class then discussing politics is just a pastime
Here's a quick 101:
The North votes on religion. The South votes on caste/language. Both are useless, if you ask me. Why should a random politician try and save your God or your caste?
Development is just a hogwash everybody talks about. Relatively South saw better development despite all this with more urbanization and job creation earlier. It got a headstart. You just need to have traveled extensively to observe and understand this for yourself. North is trying to catch up now which is a good thing.
Try to become rich in life. Achieve one or two levels higher than what your family earlier lived like. When you have the money and resources you stop becoming the voting class waiting for freebies and benefits. You stop thinking about what the government is going to do for you. None of the schemes have any effect you on your daily living. Being middle class is the biggest curse in this country.
It's totally fine if you don't discuss politics with people. Largely this country's attitude is shit anyway - more sycophancy than logic. Hardly you meet anyone who will agree when you speak facts and logic. So it's better to keep silent. Being apolitical is the best way to live in a polarised country. You're doing good.
Observe people around you (friends and colleagues) when political discussions come up. It's a great opportunity for you to analyse them how rational or emotional they're in matters like these. And it's fun watching this while being apolitical. It's like a teetotaler in a bar having fun watching drunk friends doing crazy stuff.
Would advise you to stay away from YouTube channels and videos that portray an unbiased view but are not necessarily that.
Books can also be biased but there's definitely less clickbait. Check this book out, a very good introduction to everything.
Whole Numbers And Half Truths : What Data Can And Cannot Tell Us About Modern India https://amzn.eu/d/5DF9PJ6
Try this book after that, don't let the size scare you, it's very readable. India After Gandhi: A History (3rd Edition, Revised and Updated) https://amzn.eu/d/iBLqQ1F
It's one of the most complex PoVs to arrive at. In my own experience it evolves over years before you really know what you stand for. In these years of evolution you'll pretty much straddle the entire spectrum of political opinion and synthesise your own convictions.
My suggestion is to keep your mind open and ingest any and all sources from all sides of the conversation. The frequent engagement leads you to understand nuances and how they resonate with your value system and beliefs.
U could use knowledge based sources as a proxy to understand where India is and where it's heading.
There are many YouTube channels on trade, economics, geopolitics both Indian and international which will help understand things based on facts rather than emotions. Once u get a high level view from YouTube u can deep dive on ur own online since u now know what to search for. Understanding the economic aspect of it should give u a clear idea on where India stands, what's going right and what isnt
By reading the headline or title on an article/video u get an idea if it's a controversial topic or not. If u feel like it's causing anger immediately move on to the next article, don't waste time on it.
The truth: There isn't one. Pick your poison and just be aware of what biases your preferred news channel possesses.
The Print...if you want good stuff, you should be ok to pay for it
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