My thumb rule was broken again: Labour did much worse than I feared and the Tories won a thumping majority. Britain would have been the outlier if it had resisted the wave of fascism, and it embraced it wholeheartedly. I don't know how my life in Britain will change. I have always thought subtle racism and othering from white middle-class liberals is preferable to being spat on or abused by the British equivalent of a redneck. This is where I have felt more at home than anywhere else I have lived, and maybe that will change in the coming weeks, months and year(s).
But, life must go on. I am from a class for whom a right-wing government is more injuring to the spirit than the body. Aside from the hostile environment for migrants when I have to renew my visa and a higher possibility of encountering racial abuse my life is not going to change. I realise the option to disengage from politics is a privilege, and a privilege that I don't take lightly. But getting worked up on Twitter about the state of the country is not engaging with politics anyway.
There was also a piece of good news. A paper I wrote with my PhD supervisor has been accepted for publication in an academic journal. I had started working on this paper when I was struggling with my demons back in India on break from my PhD. The paper gave me a sense of purpose during those long depressing months when I had little to do. When I look back on that time, I wonder how I spent all those months idle. But that is an idea for another blog.
Life must go on and I am going to throw myself into my work. Maybe the most valuable contribution I can make to the progressive cause is by becoming a good and inspiring academic.
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