We....the People

I have heard the question of why we Indians do not follow the rules of the society and show some civic responsibility ad nauseam, and the explanations we tend to give are nothing more than stupid. For identifying the root cause is not that easy and neither it is to give me a convincing reason. So let me myself delve into the quagmire.

We may be developing as an economic power but when it comes to social development it's rather the lack of it that we are developing in. Lack of civility is so ingrained in us that it’s hard to get rid of. A deliberate attempt by what we call ‘the system’ with its same age old principles of imposing fines or the media imploring people and devising newer tactics like the stupid ‘pappu’ campaign (an effort to get more people to vote by generating peer pressure) can do nothing to improve the situation. Temporarily, may be, but nothing when we are looking at a long term fix. Just to give an idea of how it is difficult to change people’s mindsets, the ‘pappu’ campaign managed to get a meagre 50% vote in Delhi and the star studded campaign of the seemingly only celebrities of the country, that is the film stars managed to eke out 43% vote in their own Mumbai. It’s another story that the Mumbaikars are such hypocrites when they could take out a candlelight march but not vote and rather spend an extended weekend holiday at Pune or Ooty. Again, the police thought that putting errant drivers hopping lanes, behind the bars will make them desist from such act. One must travel on Delhi roads to get a feel. So as I said before, such acts can produce results that are only transient in nature…………………..Oh! I am sorry for blabbering so much. Pitfalls of a critical mind you see. Upset about so many things that just can’t resist the temptation.

Now let me get back to my original point.

What is it that makes us behave as we do? Why is it that we behave prim and propa in foreign settings? I find it to be the subservient, submissive nature that we have generated over the years we have let foreigners rule ourselves. Our country was anybody’s cake. The Mughals, the Afghans, the Turks, the British, everybody had it. And we, so much grown into the atmosphere of somebody or the other ruling us, became subservient. It’s so much ingrained in us and that we most inadvertently behave the perfect citizen in another country. But then again, is it that all the country we visit we behave like that? I don’t think so. It has to be a country that has a living standard better than us to invoke such behaviour. A country like Bangladesh, Myanmar, or any African country will never evoke such response. And that is because we suddenly believe we are in control there. It’s another aspect of our behaviour that comes to the fore, which is using our strengths over the weak. Ever wondered why we feel so satisfied after we bargain with a rickshawala to keep the fare down to Rs. 10 which has remained so for a number of years while our DA has taken care of the inflation? Or why we greet when our boss comes over our house and kick when salespersons selling socks to eke out a living does the same? And we all thought India is a land of Namaste……………….I don’t blame anybody ‘coz it’s a typical folly of human behaviour and anybody anywhere indulges in such act.

But the problem with us Indians is, since we have become so subservient to others superior to us and so comfortable in our own cocoon that it’s very difficult to change our behaviour.

Religious books taught us to treat our body, our house as a temple. So we did. And the books never said anything about the roads outside so we never cared. “So obedient we are”. But again given a chance to maul a weak and a frail, we care two hoots what the books said. “So hypocrite we are”.

Until and unless we change our attitude towards ourselves it’s difficult to become civilised. By not being civilised we demean ourselves because at the back of our mind we still respect the developed nations more. Typical passive submission. When we do not consider ourselves equal how on earth somebody else is going to treat us that way. The day we start to respect ourselves and hold our head high; we are going to be developed in the truest sense of the word.