I read a news report a few months ago of a terrible incident that took place in Metro. A 12-year-old boy whose bicycle was damaged by a car(apparently an imported one) that was part of a wedding reception. When the kid asked for compensation so that he could repair his cycle, the people in the party took offence, beat him up and burnt him to death in a nearby field. The story was buried in the regional pages, and hardly generated any public outcry. A few days later, there was a story of a 2-year-old child who had been trapped in a borewell - a common occurrence across the country. Incidents like these capture the public imagination, and the media obligingly provides a minute-by-minute report of the rescue efforts.
Another incident that occurred a couple of weeks ago, to be specific 29 march 2008 when a national news broadcaster came up with a outrageous breaking news “DELHI: COMMISSIONERS DOG FOUND”, now please is our commercial and economic activity so dead that this has to be the breaking news. There are millions of dogs wandering on million streets in the nation. Seems like the dogs too are privileged like humans...”Commissioners dog” ,”celebrities” then come stray dogs & comman man.Can we stoop so low just for TRP ratings.
BREAKING NEWS!!!
I wondered at these two occurrences and reached an uncomfortable conclusion. We Indians are a nation of hypocrites. Our inconsistencies are not always in such stark and horrific terms, but in thousands of other ways, small and big.
Let me begin with a list of our great thinkers ,so called corporate heads, they get MBA from a prestigious American University, whose founder made his money by profiting from India's colonization or n years of work experience with MNC consulting firms. They fly business class, even though they profess to work on issues concerning the urban poor, illiteracy, and poverty.
I myself am not too far behind, after taking part in save water campaigns I guiltily let the water run when I shave because I find the sound of running water soothing small drops, but still, then comes my wastage of water when I am washing and cleaning, I do so without any tabs and try to wash it away by telling I am a cleanliness freak. There might have been may other situations where I have said one and done the opposite I am no saint too.
Here is some celebrity bashing, the king of bollywood who swore by our national game hockey to rake some moolay during his movie “CHAK DE –INDIA” release, turned out it was just for TRP and collections in BOX office. When the time came for real improvement of the game he chose CRICKET giving the exact opposite statement as to which game he loves..
There are more examples, but this is not some lecture or a sermon session. The point is that I don't want to sound like a sermon giving morally high headed bloke; I just want be frank on the challenges we have as a nation.
Hypocrisy is a big issue in most societies, but it's a particularly problematic one in India.
We believe that "mamatha"-a mother's affection-is a sacred emotion, worship women as goddesses and yet inflict horrors upon our women. We take bribes, and then hope to wash away our sins by thrusting thousands down the hundis of our temples. We speak of compassion, but show little for the the old man standing clinging on to a pole in a crowded public transport. We study "moral science" in our schools (whoever coined that phrase should be given a special award) and were tested to see if we got all the spelling right when we have the essence itself wrong.
We learn about civics and citizenship, and yet are often asked why we have such a strong sense of family, but such a poor sense of a larger community:
“How can our homes be so clean, and our streets so littered with garbage”?
Clearly, I am talking in general-there are most of us who would justifiably take offence at being called hypocrites, and for good reason. But they are a minority today.
Every day, in every field-business, politics, social work or sports— across the length and breadth of this country, millions of us indulge in acts of hypocrisy that collectively add up to an epidemic.
Aren’t we the same nation that:
- Never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
- Invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta
- Developed Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
- Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development,
India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the
Early 17th Century
- When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago,
- Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
It seems that there was some noble past, a link between thought and action, where values were cherished. The signs are there: in the sublime music, in our dance forms, in the incredibly sophisticated material about human spirituality, and so on. So, how can a country with so much collective wisdom and spirituality be broken in so apparent a fashion?
It feels that we lost our way somewhere along the line. What is left today is only a frustrating glimpse of greatness into a life that was, leaving more questions than answers.
We have lost a sense of individual agency in our thoughts and actions. Like children of overachieving parents, we seem overwhelmed by the legacy of great ideas in our society. It's almost like we need to come over this complex thoughts that have settled upon our consciousness, and find morality for ourselves and then to society. To realize that words like "honesty" and "caring" and "respect" are most powerful when acted upon and, not lectured about or written about.
But if we have the perspective to consider our actions, and the courage to correct ourselves, we can rekindle the greatness that our society seems to have once had. And maybe rediscover our moral compass, one person at a time.
I’d like to end with a few notes about my nation by a few great men.
Albert Einstein said:
“We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count,Without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.”
Mark Twain said:
“India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of humanSpeech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandMother of tradition. Our most valuable and most constructive materials in theHistory of man are treasured up in India only”.
French scholar Romaine Rolland said:
“If there is one place on the face of earthWhere all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest daysWhen man began the dream of existence, it is India.”
Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA said:
“India conquered anddominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a singlesoldier across her border.”
All the above is just the TIP of the iceberg, the list
could be endless.
WELL SOMEONE SAID THE WORD “I” IS GREEDY ,WELL IAM GREEDY FOR MY NATION TO GROW,SO ALL YOU I’S JOIN AND MAKE OUR NATION.
Readers kindly oblige this article is inspired by a book written by a social columnist, social worker and former employee of a MNC.
Not My Job!
Cheers,
Akshay Balachandra
We The People
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