Indian Unity
In the 2014 annual Thuglak mela, Cho
says, ‘There are 3 factors which hold India together: Hinduism or spirituality,
Constitution and Congress.’ That is interesting.
It is normal for a Hindu who has tried
to understand its roots, to pride on Hinduism, which is following one’s
aptitude in his chosen field at his pace in a way and by the means he can
afford, in advancement of spirituality.
Cho was a lawyer by profession to start
with and his choosing constitution as a unifying factor falls in place. Surely,
our constitution is an outstanding product of excellent minds led by Dr. B R
Ambedkar. Its basic structure has been preserved for 65 years even after many
amendments.
For anyone of his generation, Congress
was an organisation that fostered the idea of India against a foreign aggressor
and occupied a special place in their hearts.
Cho may not be far wrong, but the three
pillars are shaky now, esp. the last one and we need new ones. Modi promises to
rebuild BJP to fill the breach caused by the fall of Congress, and his parivar
must let him reset the raison d’etre of BJP in national interests. It will be
nice if Congress can revive as a democratic party letting grass roots level
organization to germinate and grow throwing up leaders, but it remains a
pipedream as of now.
Hindus must rediscover tolerance and
appreciation of alternatives and let Hinduism flourish on its intrinsic and
native merits rather than on reactionary emulation of proselytizing faiths.
May sense and peace prevail!
January 6, 2017 ·
Ills of India
To become a great nation, the people have to work hard and be disciplined. It is doubtful whether that is a trait of our national ethos. It is not just the govt. that is responsible for what we are. It may seem to exonerate the rotten governments that ruled India, but after independence those that ruled us rose from our midst.
1. We place no value on time. This seems to be a continuation of the village habit where time was aplenty and clocks were rare. I have seen villagers say, ‘Go. I will follow,’ but will hardly follow. It has become a strange symbol of rank to appear late for an appointment. There is not even a murmur of apology when one turns up late. There was a meeting for which a CGM turned up late. He was mentioning in the lobby that he slept off, but if asked he would say that there was traffic jam. He thought that it was fun.
2. Civic sense is absent abysmally. The employees that are well paid throw litter happily on the road. If there can be a national activity spitting will be miles ahead as a qualifier. We have one pink city, but many red cities. A very senior person spat in a flower vase abroad while on a visit. In a PSB in Kolkata, they kept god’s pictures in staircase space to restrain people from spitting.
3. We are proud that we do not use thank you, etc. It is considered by many to be an empty formality.
4. 'Me first' is almost universal. I have seen that in London, in a train if a seat fell vacant, no one tries to grab it. In driving, if the headlight is switched on, it means the other driver has right of way as against our custom of implying, 'you better wait'.
5. Balance of advantage precedes compliance with law. If there is a fine and if nine out of ten times I can violate with impunity, that is balance of advantage. Inconvenience of compliance is avoided. Rules are not meant to be taken seriously. A friend narrated an incident when a family called a cab in London and there was a toddler too many. They pleaded with the driver to take them as one was after all a toddler. The driver told them, ‘Sir, here we make rules to follow.’ A borrower with an irregular account told me that unlike others, I took the circulars seriously. Strangely, in the bank, head office liked tact in branch staff. Various staff circulars were meant not to be followed. The one who followed lacked tact. Head office set a good example for this.
6. Concern for others, the sine qua non of civilization, is a stranger to us. I realized how it manifests abroad. If a person is going ahead and has to pass through a door, when some one follows he holds the door open and the custom is well oiled. I need not say what we do. When sometimes I tried it, I found that the next man would happily pass as I was holding the door. He would not have the courtesy to do it to the next man.
7. Doing well what we do is not in our make-up. We talk of German machining and so on. I wonder what our core competence is. The policy of ‘no replacement’ explains the quality of our products.
8. The widespread corruption starting from buying votes is a bane and shows no sign of abating. The huge public support for the movement against it looked like a good augury, but has been manipulated for capturing power. No one is bothered about it. Corruption continues to dictate whether something will be done.
9. The growth of cities like Bengaluru with absolutely no construction norm being followed points to a disaster.
10. The political system has no credible leader with all round appeal. We are a disparate group of various regional interests and emotional appeal.
11. The system of freebies and loan waivers is well entrenched. Everyone wants everything from the govt. while wanting to cheat the govt. on its income. Even a well off man would cry for duty relief and get it because he is an icon.
12. The reservation system makes mockery of merit and it will not go away in the foreseeable future.
13. The judicial system is tedious and vexatious and the judgements become infructuous when delivered.
I have perhaps made it formidable and have not bothered to mention the strong points. But, the point is that while we would make progress, there is no ground for optimism that we will become in the next decade a nation like say our far eastern neighbours.
Indian ethos
The road to a great nation is founded on truth, quest for knowledge and unremitting application. Do we see that?
I have written before on the list of flaws:
1. Corruption. It is touted, was it Dr. Radhakrishnan who said it first, that Hinduism is a way of life. Maybe thanks to post-independence culture, that has lost its sheen. But, it is a fact of life that corruption is a way of life. Some would say that there is no difference. Corruption is indigenous, we can proudly say. We do not owe it to the Moghuls or the British.
2. Scant regard to law. The great facilitator for this is the first, you can bribe your way and flout the law. There is also this idea that one is powerful to the extent one can flout the law.
3. India is a spiritual nation, Vivekananda said and even convinced the world. But, we have slowly changed it. We are after money and material things in a big way. I am not asking for a reversal, but the way we are materialist, we have no locus standi to call the west materialist. For a small gain, we will pledge our soul.
4. We do not care for our surroundings and fellowmen. That is a striking difference between the west, Japan, even Malaysia, and us. We do not care for manners. Touching the feet of elders is not the touchstone of manners.
Bharathi Baskar (a debater and orator) described in her characteristic style a common occurrence. A man was waiting for a bus at peak hour and begged those already hanging out for just enough space to put a foot and hold a hand. He used his skill to gain foothold for both feet and within a few stops nudged his way in and also managed to get a window seat. When the bus was about to stop at the next stop he shouted to the conductor, ‘Why don’t you give double whistle and carry on? Where is space?’
This is a bit of an exaggeration, but a basic trait that manifests variously. We do not realise that our well-being is associated with that of our fellowmen.
5. We do not care for time and timeliness. Blaming it on the traffic is a cheap pretext everyone uses. That is a cruel joke on the others who go and wait after having waded through the same traffic.
In India, status symbols are:
Not wishing back;
Turning up late;
Breaking the queue, law, etc.
Letting juniors pick up the bills.
6. It is understandable that the fields of entertainment and sports are main lines for some, but it is crazy that a large section of society pay more attention to them to the detriment of their own avocation.
7. Putting the blame on others for our failure. In school, when a student fails, the blame is cast on the teacher who had some grudge on the student. Or, it is fate, some bad deed of past birth, in this one we are saints.
8. Deep-rooted caste system for which the cause is identified as Brahmins (a miserable minority and effectively excluded from government mostly) persecuting whom is the solution. Fighting elections on caste equations and reservations based on caste are never the cause for its perpetuation.
9. Recommendation culture. We seek recommendation (I claim no virtue) for anything from jumping a queue or getting a train reservation. When I was on an interview panel many candidates brought some recommendation. I remarked to a colleague, ‘Not getting recommendation in any form will be a disqualification.’ Even in sports and awards, it is at times based on some equations and recommendations.
10. Merit-based system not seriously in place. Where it is (IITs and IIMs mostly) we see good results.
No government wants to even talk of this canker at the root. All are busy just trimming the twigs. Until we get down to basics and make way for an orderly society that depends on good work and belief in discipline, we are a long way off from becoming a great nation.
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