Beef Vindaloo

Against the backdrop of India lobbying to become a full-fledged nuclear power, the reality of the situation is far more disturbing. With 95% of the Indian population living below the poverty line and 100% of that number working in the agriculture industry, it is looking to being increasingly difficult to assess whether nuclear power is really going to benefit the Indian population. The actual issue is that if nuclear power is to replace gobar gas, how does one explain to a farmer that this does not mean they will be able to milk the nuclear reactor or plough the field with it.

Social analyst Ramnaresh Gopinathankeshavanayapuram believes that popular support is more important than political wrangling if India is to truly emerge as the next dominant nuclear power. “For the majority of the population, their source of fuel is the same as their source for ploughing the field as their source of butter and nuclear education is the actual need of the hour.” Gopinathankeshavanayapuram suggests a wide-ranging educational programme that would involve putting farmers in the middle of an underground nuclear test site to give them an idea of just how great nuclear power is compared to bovine power. He also suggests painting nuclear reactors so that they look like cows, at least for the weaning period.

A recent survey on farmers though showed that for them, it was business as usual. While it was heartening to learn that they were definitely keen on switching to a stronger source of fuel, they were also keen to know whether they would be able to refer to the nuclear reactor as their mother. Another fact that worked in the favour of nuclear reactor was the fact that there is no way that anyone could use the “skin” of a dead nuclear reactor to make leather goods. The perfect sum up was the final question asked by each and every farmer polled, which was, “Where are the udders?”

The question then is simple: if India is to succeed in harnessing and employing nuclear power for peaceful measures, then the debate would have to leave the political tables and the board rooms and have to be conducted in the fields of the country. Because, after all, India is a democracy and unless the average Indian is convinced that a nuclear reactor is definite more useful than a cow, the United States would not be the only nay-sayer to the nuclear controversy.

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