Come, my beloved. Consider the lilies.

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

“We’ve tried all the other ways, Joe!”

If the pair of nobles by the dais hadn’t already had Len’s full attention, they certainly did then. Joe? If that was Joseph West, then...

“Your parents didn’t want this for you.” The Lord Regent’s voice was low and urgent. “If they were here to see this—”

“Yeah, well, they aren’t, are they?”

The young man turned sharply, allowing Len a fleeting glance of the Lord Regent’s stricken look, and then he was face to face with the crown prince.

Words died on Len’s lips. The prince had a serious expression, and a dark sweep of hair at odds with his pale skin and paler eyes. He was taller than Len had expected, standing a couple inches above the Lord Regent, and striking in the crimson half-cloak draped over one shoulder.

When Len had heard stories of the mage prince, once a sickly child, he hadn’t expected to be confronted with such a striking young man, let alone one who was of a height with him. There was no mistaking him, even without the thin gold circlet gleaming there among his dark hair; something in Len stilled under his gaze, a prey instinct that had nothing to do with the crown and everything to do with the stark white stave held carelessly in the prince’s left hand.

Len swore he could feel power creeping over his skin, lifting the hair on the back of his neck. It was impossible; even a mage of considerable strength couldn’t project that kind of energy unless he were actively casting.

“Thank you for waiting, Sir Leonard.”

It was enough to break Len out of thoughts of fleeing, or worse still, burying his dagger in the prince’s chest. One of Len’s eyebrows twitched up of its own volition. “If you’ll excuse the liberty, your Highness,” he said, “I'm not a knight.”

“Oh!” The prince looked remarkably wrong-footed, all wide green eyes. Then he asked, “Would you like to be?”

“Barry.” The Lord Regent’s tired reprimand was quiet, but the acoustics of the hall had been designed to carry sound.

Len noted the nickname and filed it away for future reference. Barry. Cute.

The prince gave Len a sheepish smile. “You serve King Harrison, of course,” he said. “I’ve spoken out of place. Forgive me.”

It was the first time a member of the royalty had ever smiled at Len. He blamed that for his nerve when he replied, without thinking to check himself, “And here I thought boons were a king’s work. Am I to grant you forgiveness, and you to feed the horses?”

The prince—Barry—stared at him, and the Lord Regent’s eyes flashed as he looked sharply around at him. Len has just enough time to think, grimly, that it had been nice having a tongue while it lasted. Then Barry blinked, and a wide smile broke over his features.

“I don't think you want me in charge of the horses.” He shifted his weight onto one foot, slouching easily out of his strict posture and into a relaxed stance that matched his crooked smile. “My quartermaster tells me I lack a firm hand.”

By the grace of the gods, Len managed to bite back the offer of a firm hand that leapt reflexively to the tip of his tongue at the curve of those soft lips. The Lord Regent was still watching him with unflinching suspicion, and Len suspected such brazen insolence would've cost him more than his tongue.

When he glanced back at Barry, he was startled to find him watching him with an unmistakably playful glint in his eyes. The prince knew exactly what he'd been about to say, Len realized. More than that: he'd set him up for it.

Len tilted his head as he regarded Barry, a faint smirk tilting at his lips as he adjusted his initial evaluation. For better or worse, Len could already tell the trip was going to be much more interesting than he'd counted on.

“Your royal highness,” the Lord Regent said. “I hoped you might spare me a moment of your time before you began your journey, if you could forgive me the delay.”

Len had to work to keep the amusement out of his expression. No matter how formal the language, he recognized an imminent dressing down when he saw one. Barry tipped his head to the Lord Regent, and flashed Len a rueful grin.

“I’ll join you shortly, Leonard,” he said. “You’re welcome to wait in the front hall.”

They released an album too! I don't think this song is on it but the rest of their stuff is SO GOOD !!

It can taste funny, smell funny...filtered or not.

on the other hand...