One of the hazards of my job is that everyday I need to speak to scores of people I have never met. These are guys who are out their in the middle of things, effectively regulating whatever is going on in the stock market. (For the uninitiated, my job is to cover the Indian stock market, essentially the prestigious Bombay Stock Exchange. Yes, thrilling.) I have to talk to people ranging from traders, dealers, research analysts, technical analysts and so on and so forth.

But the only guys worth mentioning are the dealers, really. They are the most charged and colourful people one can come across in an otherwise boring set up. Someone once asked me, "People buy and sell because that's what you do in a market. What the hell is there to write about that?" Of course, I had no answer to give, not one that was convincing anyway. And yet we write and sell the news successfully.

So when the essence is so bleak, one tries to make the best of it. I'm going to digress a little more before getting to the point. Stock markets, as a rule, follow no rules. There's no way in hell that anyone can say confidently what really is going on. But the Indian stock market is in a league of its own. Dig deep and you will find people who can put Bernie Madoff and Rajaratnam to shame. After all, these guys got caught. Indian market is one big orgy of synchronized buying and selling. It's fascinating to see real-time trading in some stocks, especially those of tiny companies. They rise 10%, turn flat and fall 20% all in a matter of five minutes. So, naturally there are days when the Sensex (which is what I mostly look at) is behaving like it's suffering from bipolar disorder. These days are the best to talk to people on the "floor." Half of them will say, "Humein sach mein nahi pata, aapne kuch suna kya?" And the rest say whatever comes to mind.

On one such erratic day, I called a dealer. I was really flustered because I had asked a zillion people and they were all stumped. And I have a deadline of 3.55 in the afternoon for filing my market report. Markets close at 3.30; it was already 3.20 and I still did not have my precious quote.

The conversation went something like this:

"So, what's happening in the market? Kya lagta hai aapko?"

"Indian market hai, madam. lt's like this only."

"Magar aaj toh kuch zyada hi upar neeche ho raha hai. There's no logic."

"Indian market hai, madam. Here no logic, onnnnnly magic."

I had my Eureka moment, right there. I drifted away and imagined how this quote would look in my market report on the Wall Street Journal. It's a pity we are not allowed to quote dealers. But his wisdom was amazing, he had totally nailed it. Because the word 'magic' sums up all the rigging that goes on in various stocks. Why the Sensex falls 2.5% in a day and still manages to close 1.5% higher is anybody's guess. Unfortunate as it is, everyday I need at least two names against the "guess."

After all, journalism is all about the eyeballs. The best quote, the best picture, the best footage, getting the quotes of the most popular guy, capturing his image....

Ironically, the only guys worth quoting never get quoted. And that's the magic of neo journalism.

One wonders what the matter with this country is. Really. It's almost like we are taking pleasure in being "victimized" by "terrorism." Red, green, blue...whatever the colour may be. After successfully letting go 26/11 of last year, we are now channelizing all that ardour to get rid of the Reds. Our dear government wants to exterminate these species as they are, allegedly, the greatest threat to our nation at the moment. Hmmm. What was that again? Are we the people, the educated, elitist, righteous people, honestly saying that tribals, who are being evicted from their land, are the greatest threat our country is facing right now?

A country that did not wage a war against its neighbour after a dastardly act like the Mumbai attacks has taken up cudgels to war against its own marginalized people. Now, how and why is this not surprising us? We, the educated class - the supposed creme de la creme of the society. Why are we not shocked by this absolute lack of regard that our government is showing? Because we think Maoists, tribals, people fighting for the tribals and people opposing the commercialization of these forest areas are all the same people, essentially. The naxals - that's the group they all fall under. If they are beheading police officers, hi-jacking trains and killing anybody with remote ties to the government, surely they are not saints? They are not the civilized people this civilized society deserves?

The problem with the class of people, who are largely believed to be "knowledgeable" as a result of their education, is that they are obscenely self-obsessed. It's a fact. I work like a dog, juggle different roles in my personal life and so the weekend that I get, I do not want to spend reading about or watching people of a remote village I have never visited, protest against modernization. After all, surely our country needs to be modernized? And the underprivileged given the opportunity to improve their situation? What could be bad about this? People are protesting that their land is being taken away because they are scared as working the land is the only thing they know how to do. So, the attitude, in general, seems to be that these unfortunate people do not realise that whatever is being done is being done for their good.

And that's where the whole problem begins. To understand what the problem is, we need to first differentiate among all people involved. The point of this piece is to talk about the tribal people who are NOT the naxals. I do not wish to go into the Maoist philosophy but when I say that scores of villages being affected by the government's push towards modernization will involve many, many "normal" people, like you and me, I do hope you will agree. So when the government decides to sell off a hill rich in minerals to corporations, who in the process of mining will, predictably damage the hill, which in turn will affect the plains below, which houses many villages, it is bound to upset a lot of people. So naturally, these villagers will need to be moved. And they do not want to move. The land is their only source of income and one cannot blame them for not relying on a government that has openly said it is incapable of relocating all these displaced people. So what are they supposed to do? One would think they'd migrate to nearby cities in the hope of finding work but since they are not particularly skilled (their only skill not being put to use) , it's fair to assume to a certain extent that they are not adding to the country's count of employed people. And I believe we are all smart enough to fathom what could become of these people. The point is, so are they. Just to digress a little, I think it's high time that we acknowledge that being educated does not equate to being knowledgeable or smart. And vice versa. Just because these people are not educated and probably have not even glimpsed the vast changes the broader society has undergone, dos not mean they are not smart enough to foresee their plight. And this is what they are protesting. Is that wrong, to fight against being forced to give up your life of dignity so people like us can gloat about how our country is fast developing? Yes?

I would genuinely like to believe that we have not turned a blind eye altogether on this issue and that we all have read, heard and seen what is going on in the 'naxal-dominant' areas. But I would also definitely like to point out that we are not so much as expressing concern about the issue. Does education bring a sense of selfishness and cynicism with it? Because all we are doing is thinking about how global our jobs allow us to be, how we can push into places that provide us the opportunities India is not providing and how we can earn more money - all the while cribbing about how the government is not doing anything about slums and why we see twice as many beggars at the traffic light than the previous day.

The idea is not to moralize but to say that we need not lose humanity, courtesy and our conscience while we are at our blasted rat race. If Sudan and Congo, of the blood diamond reputation, can ring a bell for us, why not Orissa and Lalgarh?

I want to say that I belong to a country that is as competitive and developed as any other global country but I am certain I do not want us to attain this fancy position at the cost of fumigating majority of the society because the very same country does not have the means to provide for citizens who make up for more than half of its population.

I have my doubts about modernization that's as expensive as this. Do you?