When I was young, I was taught that India symbolised unity in diversity. The diversity, I completely comprehend. We are diverse, or to put it better, 'divided' by not just language, caste, religion, borders etc., but unsurprisingly by our stand-point on the above too. Take the Mullaiperiyar Dam, or India's vote against Sri Lanka at the UNHCR for example (To name a couple. I dare not bring religion/caste in here!). We are just poles apart in our views. Sometimes, I've even wondered why we have to put up with this diversity which adds layers and layers of complexity to our political system and leads to poor administration, ineffective laws/government/policing and so forth.
Moving onto to unity: Ever wondered about the few little things that bring India together as a country? I always ask this question to myself. Considering the fact that we are one of the biggest democracies in the world, you would expect me to have ended up with a list that stretches to at least one page, but No! My list barely made it into being called, a list! Until today, I could only think of three things that would make the nation stand as one.
At number 3) Crime and Calamities. This includes murder, rape, child-labour, earthquakes, tsunamis etc., which we come across/read in the newspaper and feel sorry for the affected. I am sure anyone humane enough to be human would feel hurt that they couldn't do anything to stop it. And India as a whole, would definitely feel so.
At number 2) Corruption. Last year's anti-graft campaign opened my eyes to the reality that the Indian Middle Class can stand up for something. Although we did have contradicting views on the 'I am Anna' movement, I think everyone agreed that corruption has to go, one way or the other.
At number 1) What else? It is a feeling of nationalism aroused by either War or Cricket. I don't think I need to say anything about this. You just know!
Today - I realized there was something else in which we are all similar. Something much bigger that makes us a nation of like-minded people. Like minded in what? In Idolism. (I don't think there is even such a word, but so what?! Let's just add it to our Indian-English Dictionary). Yes, it is another -ism added to the list of -isms we already have. It is unspoken, unrealized, untaught but yet widely followed and liked. We love our Idols. We can’t accept the fact that our 'hero' (or even 'superhero') could ever be wrong or do wrong. Even if we do realize they're wrong, we tend to brush it aside as minor glitches that we can live with. We tend to justify the acts of the 'heroes' we believe in, from movie and cricket stars to political parties. To us, a Rajnikanth or a Sachin Tendulkar can never go wrong. You might think this doesn't really affect the country in any way, but then, Nepotism stems from Idolism and is one of the most serious plagues of our country. We forget that the value of something is never known if it wasn't earned. Legacy is like talent. You need to work with it to be successful. If it is handed in a golden platter, it would definitely falter and that is how we made the monsters who rule us. (Yes, let us accept it. We made them.)
This attitude was probably handed down to us in our Genes. We were ruled by Kings, we lived in one Dynasty or the other. We never questioned our rulers. Then came the British (who we idolized initially) and later, the freedom movement. Our idols then were Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, and many other leaders. If you weren't a Gandhian, you were probably in Netaji's INA. Yes, we did idolize them, but they had character to go with it. 65 years post-independence, we still yearn for heroes to idolise. To my mind, democracy does not work with idolising. The moment we idolise someone, we lose our ability to judge them neutrally. We end up defending their actions (good or bad) and in the process, convincing ourselves. And it doesn’t just stop with that. We create an image around the personality that makes them feel invincible. So, what does this do? It might seem like a minor factor, but it doesn't take long to realise that this outlook of ours in a few years time creates autocracy, thereby destroying democracy.
It isn't wrong to idolize, but it is always important that perspective goes with it. The fact that a politician is a good public speaker could be a good enough reason to idolise him. But we must always remember to judge him based on his actions and not his words. On a similar note, we also need to understand that a person who excelled in one field need not necessarily excel in another field. Consider our Parliament as an example. We shuffle the parliamentarians across ministries, and more worrisome is the fact that it is now a habit. These are roles that require specialization. We can’t just have a finance minster take over home ministry. That is like asking a cat to bark like a dog. There could always be exceptions to any case, but then, they are only exceptions and not the standards.
As absurd as it might sound, we can change this. But this change needs to happen from within us. We need to identify the thin line between being faithful and being stubborn and unjust. Its hard, but it cannot be rocket science! After all, it involves introspection and we only need to sculpt 'ourself' into better citizens!
At number 3) Crime and Calamities. This includes murder, rape, child-labour, earthquakes, tsunamis etc., which we come across/read in the newspaper and feel sorry for the affected. I am sure anyone humane enough to be human would feel hurt that they couldn't do anything to stop it. And India as a whole, would definitely feel so.
At number 2) Corruption. Last year's anti-graft campaign opened my eyes to the reality that the Indian Middle Class can stand up for something. Although we did have contradicting views on the 'I am Anna' movement, I think everyone agreed that corruption has to go, one way or the other.
At number 1) What else? It is a feeling of nationalism aroused by either War or Cricket. I don't think I need to say anything about this. You just know!
Today - I realized there was something else in which we are all similar. Something much bigger that makes us a nation of like-minded people. Like minded in what? In Idolism. (I don't think there is even such a word, but so what?! Let's just add it to our Indian-English Dictionary). Yes, it is another -ism added to the list of -isms we already have. It is unspoken, unrealized, untaught but yet widely followed and liked. We love our Idols. We can’t accept the fact that our 'hero' (or even 'superhero') could ever be wrong or do wrong. Even if we do realize they're wrong, we tend to brush it aside as minor glitches that we can live with. We tend to justify the acts of the 'heroes' we believe in, from movie and cricket stars to political parties. To us, a Rajnikanth or a Sachin Tendulkar can never go wrong. You might think this doesn't really affect the country in any way, but then, Nepotism stems from Idolism and is one of the most serious plagues of our country. We forget that the value of something is never known if it wasn't earned. Legacy is like talent. You need to work with it to be successful. If it is handed in a golden platter, it would definitely falter and that is how we made the monsters who rule us. (Yes, let us accept it. We made them.)
This attitude was probably handed down to us in our Genes. We were ruled by Kings, we lived in one Dynasty or the other. We never questioned our rulers. Then came the British (who we idolized initially) and later, the freedom movement. Our idols then were Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, and many other leaders. If you weren't a Gandhian, you were probably in Netaji's INA. Yes, we did idolize them, but they had character to go with it. 65 years post-independence, we still yearn for heroes to idolise. To my mind, democracy does not work with idolising. The moment we idolise someone, we lose our ability to judge them neutrally. We end up defending their actions (good or bad) and in the process, convincing ourselves. And it doesn’t just stop with that. We create an image around the personality that makes them feel invincible. So, what does this do? It might seem like a minor factor, but it doesn't take long to realise that this outlook of ours in a few years time creates autocracy, thereby destroying democracy.
It isn't wrong to idolize, but it is always important that perspective goes with it. The fact that a politician is a good public speaker could be a good enough reason to idolise him. But we must always remember to judge him based on his actions and not his words. On a similar note, we also need to understand that a person who excelled in one field need not necessarily excel in another field. Consider our Parliament as an example. We shuffle the parliamentarians across ministries, and more worrisome is the fact that it is now a habit. These are roles that require specialization. We can’t just have a finance minster take over home ministry. That is like asking a cat to bark like a dog. There could always be exceptions to any case, but then, they are only exceptions and not the standards.
As absurd as it might sound, we can change this. But this change needs to happen from within us. We need to identify the thin line between being faithful and being stubborn and unjust. Its hard, but it cannot be rocket science! After all, it involves introspection and we only need to sculpt 'ourself' into better citizens!
