My father, who is in his 90s, suffers from dementia. As such, he has no memory
of the past and no idea of the future. He lives in the here and now.
Just the other day, he fell and hurt his head. We took him to the emergency
room at a local hospital, where the doctor examined him and declared him fit.
The nurses cleaned the superficial cut on his head and released him. In the
interim, I was heart broken to hear him utter the words, "internal sorrow," not
once but twice.
As I got to thinking about his condition, I couldn't help marvel how closely it
parallels the state in which India finds itself: without any wisdom from the
past, without any vision of the future; just the here and now.
The words "internal sorrow" are often expressed and lived out in the myriads of
petty conflicts and self-centered postures.
India is in a state of dementia, largely because of the here-and-now culture
that has taken hold since the turn of the millennium. It is hard to discern if
there is anything learned from the past or if there are any plans for the
future. And let's not blame just the government or politicians; the citizenry
has a lot to answer for.
At a recent lunch in the Delhi Golf Club, I saw the unseemly spectacle of a
child fooling around with the lawn umbrella, changing its incline in dangerous
ways while his mother shoveled food into his mouth; or on a Spicejet flight a
few weeks ago, where a mother, diverted her bawling son's attention by allowing
him to play with the call button that summons a stewardess.
Both taught their sons to be oblivious of other people who might be disturbed
and diverted their attention rather than discipline them.
Such children grow up to be inconsiderate adults, rich or poor, educated or
illiterate, who have no restraints on public behavior and the need to be alive
to the privacy and wellbeing of others. Thus, on an automated walkway at
Delhi's dysfunctional Terminal 3, a couple, obviously well educated and
affluent, walked abreast, not giving way, unmindful of me right behind them, in
a hurry to get to the gate where my flight had been called.
These child rearing practices have bred a uni-dimensional culture. Such
cultures are demented in the sense that only a self-serving present matters;
there is no learning from the past, no dimension of a better future other than
instant gratification. Barbaric rituals and hypoglycemic hypocrisy are the
hallmarks of such a culture.
In the grip of this demented culture, India is increasingly rich but less
modern; increasingly powerful but less civilized. And government and politics
and corruption and inequity have little to do with it.
Some years ago, I complained to a senior police official about the inability of
his force to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. He looked me squarely in the
eye and said, "I could have five million traffic cops on the streets but still
you will not have order; the culture seems to breed chaos."
More recent: another senior policeman told me last week the problem is that
despite clear-eyed laws, "we are told to encourage consensus even in the face
of flagrant violations." In other words, "adjust!"
Yet, civil society groups, the media, the business elite and the intellectual
set would have us believe that the system works but is subverted by corrupt
businessmen, politicians and bureaucrats. The arguments are essentially
messianic based on a belief that ascetic figures like Medha Patkar and Anna
Hazare; brand ambassadors like Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan or
soothsayers like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Satya Sai Baba could restore values
and bring order into public life.
Messianic zeal in Indian public affairs is the legacy of Mohandas Gandhi, who
acquiesced in his lifetime to the title, "Mahatma." He was indeed a great soul
who challenged and ultimately defeated the British Raj.
Trouble is Gandhi had a lifelong problem with modernity. His book, Hind Swaraj,
was a diatribe against modern culture, which he equated with Westernization.
His retort on Western civilization, ("I think it would be a good idea") remains
in my mind the tipping point in his conversion from political strategist to the
Mahatma.
In that flippant remark, Gandhi dismissed the Renaissance and the Enlightenment
that brought modernity and economic prosperity to the West. Gandhi's view of
the West still has acolytes in 21st century India.
That is one reason why economic prosperity is there for all to see in India
today; but modernity, defined as civil values stemming from a concern for
others, is a long way away.
The key to India's modernization is education. Today, parents demand a "good
education" so their children can find steady, well-paid jobs in India and
around the world. The system is geared to vocational, technical and management
training; it does not provide a liberal arts perspective in which civility and
socialization are inculcated in students.
What's more, parents fail to understand that "success" does not come just being
"well educated." The most important thing is for their children to be "well
bred." This means that their children should not just be knowledgeable and
bright but aware of their civic responsibilities: don't drive like lunatics,
don't litter, don't pee in public, give a thought for others and be courteous.
Above all, parents need to inculcate in their children pride in the
neighborhood, the city, the country. Children can be well-educated through
schools but well-bred only through parents. They hold the key to India's
modernity
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