Pants-Down Syndrome

The youth of the cities across the globe are struck by what I would like to call as “pants-down syndrome”. The young boys, especially the school and college going students, take pleasure in pulling down their pants, as the latest fad in the fashion world. It is sickening to see boys easily falling prey to this kind of subversive and ugly trends, without ever thinking if that makes them better human beings. To follow the current seems to be in vogue in today’s world, and those who do not fall in line with the trends are looked at suspiciously, and are even branded as traditionalists and conformists. These people are considered archaic and old-fashioned, who do not know how to appreciate the modern trends.

To flow with the current of the world seems to be the norm today, and everyone is so convinced of this that they would not dare to go away from the set norms of the society. Every fad and fashion which takes place in the United States of America or in the Europe seems to be catching the attention of the Indian youth, as much as other youth of different other growing nations. The implications which these have on the social and cultural lives of the people at large are not considered, and slowly these fads are sure to affect the native cultural fabric in some way or the other. But why would the youth bother about how their changing trends affect the native culture?

We are too quick to change things, which have been sustaining us for centuries and decades; we feel that variety is the spice of life, but we would love to swallow only the spice and may not like to have anything staple for sustenance. Many of the societies which are pioneers in ushering changes in society do it slowly and steadily, and they do not propose changes overnight, but study the present scenario of the socio-cultural setup and gradually infuse change. But that is not the case with our youth; anything they see on the television or on cinema, has to become their norm too.

Unfortunately our young people do not thinks sufficiently why they have to follow the fads and fashion started by somebody in the States or in the Europe. Blind following had been one of the greatest enemies of development in our country. We had an era, when the ordinary people deified the film actors and actresses, so much so some of the actresses had temple dedicated to their name. Cult worship is still strong in the country, and the fads and fashions often strengthen the fabrics of cult worship, which can later manipulated in order to win political mileage. But it is too complicated for the young people to consider all these angles before they plunge into a new style.

Dignity is something very personal to each one, and if there are attempts to waterdown the personal honor and dignity, they should be resisted by society; unfortunately that does not happen with the pants-down syndrome. Imagine parents allowing their children to follow this sort of meaningless and ugly fads, and if there are parents who take time to explain to them on the dangers of following this sort of fads, then probably many will think twice before borrowing anything blindly. However there is one big consolation, this fad is not going to stay for ever and ever; it is sure to disappear into thin air as quickly as it entered the cultural arena.

Lessons to Learn from Least

I found it hard to believe that Europeans could be so very insensitive, when they come to our country. Unlike we people here in India, who are so very informal, and would love to just walk in unannounced, the Europeans are known to appreciate formality, and yet when it comes to dealing with us, they take many things for granted, and that was one of the things which was annoying me, ever since this team of three Jesuits through a third person announced that they are coming to meet us. They would have booked their flight tickets some three months earlier, but they did not find time to inform us about their program.

I had a taste of how the Europeans behave in Europe, just a year ago, and after a stay for over a month I found, I might not survive if I were to stay in Europe. Life is so very artificial, and there are not much scope for one to be free to be what one wants to be in Europe, or at least that is the kind of feeling I got. You cannot walk into even your best friend's room or office without first making a prior appointment. That is how the society operates over there, and we would like to do things very differently here, and that is what makes all the difference to the people who visit us.

When people, even priests and nuns, visit us from either the United States or the Europe, often they exhibit a sense of superiority over us, our culture, language, though they cannot afford to do it openly and directly. Money power is their major strength, and sometimes they make attempts to purchase our value and cultural system with monetary and charitable help. They also show a sense of condescending over our culture and our people. While they appreciate our culture and rich traditions, they would hesitate to eat what we eat, drink what we drink, an obvious indication of keeping themselves apart.

We are born and brought up in a mortley of cultures and we know how to mingle with people of different cultures, religions and ethnicities. We have no problem to dialogue with people of other languages and cultures; even when we do not know the language of a particular group of people, and yet we know how to communicate. We know how to esteem people, and relate to them on equal footing, without showing any sign of inferiority or superiority, and the Europe and the US have a lot to learn from us, and it might take several centuries for them to first of all acknowledge they have something to learn from the developing nations.

I wish all the people who visit India, especially from the Europe and the US, learn from us the art of hospitality. Atito devobhava - guests are like gods, that is what the Holy Scriptures of our land says, and we mean it, as opposed to the cold, calculated and indifferent attitude of the Europe. We know the art of making homes as opposed to the developed nations, who only know how to make buildings. That is another thing that they can learn from us. In fact, if we start listing all the things they can and need to learn from us, we can fill a library with the lists! This is not an exaggeration, but a notion which only those who have known India can vouch for!

A Miser's Mite

A popular adage says, it is easier to wake up a sleeping person rather than the one who pretends to be asleep. The wake-up call for the Indian subcontinent was sounded sixty years ago, when the leaders of the nascent nation and all those who mattered in the political arena declared her to be a republic, ruled by the people. It is not easy to find how far the nation has truly become republic, taking into consideration the feelings and sentiments of all peoples; for a country like India, with hundreds of cultural traditions, languages, rites, rituals, customs and ethnicities, it is hardly possible to apply a uniform rule for them all.

The largest democracy in the world has much to offer to the world at large, and the world fraternity of nations sees a point in her unique position. It is difficult to find a country in the world, which has so diverse and unique cultural traditions and languages as India. In fact, it is proper to say that India is a federation of nations, just as the United States is. Each of India’s states could be larger in size and population than many of the European countries, and yet poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and underdevelopment plague the nation as a whole.

What has the nation achieved over the sixty years, since it was declared a republic? Has the country realized some of the great dreams and ideals that the freedom-fighters and countless martyrs envisaged in 1950? If the country has not achieved the basic level of satisfaction, what are the causes and what has been done to remedy the blocks and obstacles? There are more questions today than there are answers as one looks at this emerging super-power! No wonder, India had been basking on past glory, the ancient civilization, multiplicity of cultures and religions, and had not concentrated on some of the basic problems existing still today. After the independence in 1947, the nation had given birth to a class of people who made use of ignorance and illiteracy for their benefits, and unfortunately the nation is a pawn in their hands even today.

There have been so many Five-year plans declared and huge amount of money had been pumped to remedy the crying needs of the people. India has the resources, which can even feed the whole world, but a large amount of the Indian resources are locked up in banks outside the country, especially in Swiss banks, and in investments outside the country. We had known only one Mittal (a proud Kolkata Xaverian), who had pitched his tent in Luxembourg, to rule over the largest steel manufacturing unit in the world; but there are many who had been quietly going about in Europe, selling the nation to the highest bidders, in the name of bringing foreign investments and exchange. We may never come to know about them, but it is good for us to know that there is a big hole in our purse.

Abraham Lincoln is famed to have said, ask not what the country has done to you, ask what you have done to the country, and it is time that every literate and conscientious Indian ask himself/herself, what s/he has contributed to the growth of this republic! What we need today is not great leaders, who can show the way; we need public opinion, which can build bridges between the rural and the urban, between the literates and the illiterates, between the poor and the rich, between the haves and the have-nots. It does not cost a lot to become part of a nation-building; it is primarily a matter of attitude, which may lead to realistic action. If every Indian thinks at least on this day for the nation, what s/he has to offer to the nation, India can truly be proud to be a ‘great tradition’.