READERS' DIGEST
Mood:
celebratory
Now Playing: Are we Indians not the most rude people in the world
Topic: PATHETIC INDIA
Yesterday when I heard one of the Pakistani commentators say that Pakistani players will never be involved in killing their coach Bob Woolmer as they are all Muslims, all believers at that, I almost laughed out loud. Actually, I have no interest in cricket, but ever since this death turned out to be a murder involving betting mafia, I have been reading every word that appears in print. The point is it is not just Pakistani cricketers who are to blame, it is our culture based in Hinduism that is responsible for this behaviour and the systems that we have built. After all, the Muslims in Indian and Pakistan were Hindus generations ago.
If cricketers don't pay customs duty on an imported Ferrari cars and if they still remain our role-models, it only reveals how venal and corrupt they are and how we as a people support this attitude against morality.
Only yesterday I had a lively debate with two guys in the 7.16pm fast train from Mumbai CST who were like me, caught in rush. And like in TV soaps we were all speaking without facing each other because of the overly crowded train. The two were wanting to alight at Ghatkopar and were standing near the door. As quite usual, people standing around them gave them their all-considered gyan on who should get into the train, who should alight where, who should stand by the gangway and who should sit inside.
This is quite a regular feature in the trains in Mumbai and I always wondered why do we Indians have such an irresistable urge to tell others what to do and how to do it. People are just waiting to give their opinion and then impose that on everyone, as if that is so macho and fashionable. Why do we have such a skewed idea of what is right and wrong. I have seen people who travel short distances on fast trains getting very defensive when passengers who travel longer distance give them a dressing down.
When I and my colleague travelled in trains in London Tube not one passenger ever talked to us, nor did anyone bother where we boarded or alighted, however crowded the train was. And during peak hours the train can get really crowded just as in Mumbai. The only difference is that women there don't make a song and dance if you touch their shoulder in the rush. A polite 'sorry' work wonders in London. And the travel in London Tube can get as unsavouringly crowded as in Mumbai with a lot of women travelling along with men. The unwritten rule is that if anyone wants to travel in the rush they should be ready to get a little uncomfortable. No one ever speaks to you unless you are an acquaintance, which is such a relief. And the best part is that the body language of the people is so comforting, they don't make arrogance fashionable like in India.
Show of violence on the streets, even amongst rickshaw drivers, BEST drivers, private car owners is unfathomable, but it is there for all of us to see. We also appreciate and proactively support such behaviour. (Read my next blog on rude Mumbaikars which I wrote for a magazine but it never saw the light of day for it had unpalatable truth).
The other day I was walking with two office colleagues near Regal cinema in Mumbai. A young man hailed a taxi, but before he could open the locked door another young man got in from the rear door and the taxi sped away. The guy who was left behind looked sheepishly at the impertinent bahviour. But both my colleagues were of the opinion that he should have been more street-smart, and that he only got what he deserved! This is the middle class speaking.
As I argued with the two co-passengers in the train it is not competition which is making us behave like this. There is huge demand-supply deficit today which is making salaries go through the roof. Even the most unemployable people are finding jobs which fetch them good remuneration. Yet, the behaviour of these very people is getting more and more unruly. And we make a fashion statement of arrogant behaviour. Just look around with the people in the office, at banks, at cinema halls, anywhere. Breaking rules, jumping the queue, all have become part of smart behaviour. And most of you will not even agree to this because you also approve of it.
As I must have said in some other blog of mine, during my school days good and bad behaviour were made clearly distinctive. Today, that line has been progressively blurred by us Indians. We tolerate and want our kids to behave with arrogance and in self-conceited manner, all in the name of competition. Just go for a PTA meet in any school in India and you will realise what I mean.
As I told my co-passengers, I always wondered why India gave birth to a Mahatma Gandhi. Why the US or Europe did not have someone to preach non-violence in the modern age. Those countries came out of missionary-led violence and slavery to the bright daylight of peace and understanding. But we have a Mahatma to teach non-violence and truth because he understood that we as a race are probably the most cruel, violent and given to lying. Also, see the number of swamis leading the pack to teach the art of living to Indians, where you are taught how you should share wealth, behave with equanimity, self-lessness, etc. I once became a member of Chinmaya Mission which gave me an inkling into the preachings of such organisations. Today I realise almost all such organisation teach the same.
My biggest worry about all this is not just about our liveable standards going down inexorably with every passing day. What really makes me sad is that in the developed world people are all getting better behaved, becoming more empathetic, responsive, and their attitude towards other races becoming more inclusive. While in India we are getting only backwards in our behaviour. Shiv Sena beating up Bihari boys at Kalyan station has been justified by the media, Mumbaikars, you and me. Wonder why no white Shiv Sena beat me up at Heathrow airport when I landed there. After all, I am supposed to take away their jobs, insist on my identity in their country, go against their national ethos and worse, be a terrorist. Hats off to the British. London is the best place on earth.
*****************
Posted by Anil Nair
at 1:19 PM
Updated: Friday, 6 April 2007 9:07 PM