Common…?

Vijay Prashard People’s Summit Speech

India is to host the G20 Summit for the first time in September 2023 and as a part of the leaders’ conference, around 200 meetings will be held across the country out of which, four will be held in Pune. The first meeting in Pune will be held on January 16 and 17 and Pune is getting all decked up with a facelift which is more like cosmetic changes to show-off for the guest’s stay in the city and things will return to ‘normal’ sooner than expected!

This reminded me of two things – the unforgettable (and unforgivable!) Commonwealth Games 2008 of which Pune was also a major venue and Vijay Prashard’s speech on decolonising the climate movement at COP26 Coalition’s People’s Summit for Climate Justice 2021 event at Glasgow. Both these things trigger two questions that are already there in the expression…

Who really holds the matchstick while the world burns…? 

Are we all really together in this…?

The answer might irk some and discomfort a few… but the fact remains the same… those would be few…

Just a few…!