Sikhism abolished the death penalty when in England stealing a sheep was still an offence punishable with death penalty. Instead they introduced the custom of Tankhaiya. Once a Sikh is declared tankhaiya no Sikh can talk to him, interact with him, travel with him, he ceases to exist as far as other Sikhs are concerned. And this is a punishment most dreaded by the Sikhs, more then the death itself. Likewise, it is a matter of record, and has been greatly researched by the psychiatrists the world over that even the most hardened criminals dread the solitary confinement. In fact solitary confinement is the weapon most widely use by the dictators to break the resistance of political opponents. Conversely a social organization is the best weapon against political submission. In fact many historians believe that castes became centre-stage in the lives of Indians after the collapse of Gupta Empire, when people lost faith in the rulers and turned to caste a social organization, for order, for pattern in their lives.
The fact is that recognition-hunger i.e. the need for stimulus from our fellow human beings is just as basic as the biological hunger and satisfaction of this hunger is equally necessary for survival of a human being. No man can survive alone on an island. That is why spats between husband-wife which end into bouts of I-will-not-talk-to-you, never last beyond few days-they both become highly restless because of silence between them. Even in offices, to disjoint a subordinate for the day, just dont reply to his greetings in the morning, even withhold eye contact and he would be left dazed unable to do any work of any consequence. We crave for a response from our fellow human beings for whatever we do, in fact even a fight is preferable to no intersection-many people provoke (subconsciously) others to fight with themselves just to remain in human contact. And that is why Mangal Pandey was so afraid of becoming jat-bahar(out of his caste). Outcast in fact seems to be the contribution of the sub-continent to the English language.
Freud says that it is our Super-ego which stops us from doing wrongs. Eric Berne in his celebrated theory of Transactional Analysis states that Parent Ego State is our conscience keeper, stops us from doing what we have come to know as wrong. How do we know that a wrong is a wrong? Super ego or the Parent ego State which are a function of our environment during the childhood and later, tell us what is wrong and what is right i.e. a wrong is wrong only if it fits the definition of wrong in our head, otherwise we are free from any guilt pangs, any self restraints. In fact there are certain societies (castes if you say so) in India where thievery is the profession. The bigger the thief you are more the respect you enjoy. In fact you are not ready for marriage till you have not committed successfully some thefts. Naturally in these societies theft is just as respectful as a hard days labour to earn ones livelihood.
There is no way to police each and every human being. And, even if it were possible, what about those who man the police (CBI/Vigilance in our case)? Would they not become part of the system over a period of time? So the policing have to come from within. And that can only come after we decide what is wrong and what is not. My worst fear, which nags me all the time, is that a very large number of Indians have become convinced that getting ahead, making money without any regards to means, is fully moral and right, in fact, this is what is called smartness. Till we recognize that corruption, in fact use of foul means to achieve anything is just another crime and till we treat those indulging in it, in our day to day interaction with them, as we would treat a criminal, i.e. till we outcast them from social spaces, there is no way corruption is going to end. This is urgent and this is essential because if not tackled, as I have shown elsewhere on these discussion boards, very soon this monster is going to devour all of us.
We Indians claim to be the most caring towards our fellow human beings. But the fact is that we have least regard, least concern towards our fellow human beings. After all if a person feels any concern for his fellow human beings he would not use the toilet when a train is at the station. The need is to teach our children that all human beings deserve our equal respect, to achieve anything in life, work for it and no need can ever justify a wrong, and a wrong can not become a right only because everybody else is also doing it. A total moral regeneration of our society is required.
Internet is something which has provided a glimmer of hope to me. For the first time in the history of mankind it has freed the information from the clutches of ruling classes(bureaucracies and all) so it is only a matter of time before ordinary Indians come to know the scale and extent of loot and plunder that is going on in India in the name of governance. And once they come to know it, it will end.
Now to make good on the title of this piece. According to a report in the Delhi edition of Indian Express few weeks ago, parts of body of a tiger are worth 60 lakhs in the international market. Readers would agree that given the scale of corruption in India, the poor tiger worth 60 lakhs apiece has little chance of survival. It is Sariska today, would be Ranthambore tomorrow and so on
Buddha
The fact is that recognition-hunger i.e. the need for stimulus from our fellow human beings is just as basic as the biological hunger and satisfaction of this hunger is equally necessary for survival of a human being. No man can survive alone on an island. That is why spats between husband-wife which end into bouts of I-will-not-talk-to-you, never last beyond few days-they both become highly restless because of silence between them. Even in offices, to disjoint a subordinate for the day, just dont reply to his greetings in the morning, even withhold eye contact and he would be left dazed unable to do any work of any consequence. We crave for a response from our fellow human beings for whatever we do, in fact even a fight is preferable to no intersection-many people provoke (subconsciously) others to fight with themselves just to remain in human contact. And that is why Mangal Pandey was so afraid of becoming jat-bahar(out of his caste). Outcast in fact seems to be the contribution of the sub-continent to the English language.
Freud says that it is our Super-ego which stops us from doing wrongs. Eric Berne in his celebrated theory of Transactional Analysis states that Parent Ego State is our conscience keeper, stops us from doing what we have come to know as wrong. How do we know that a wrong is a wrong? Super ego or the Parent ego State which are a function of our environment during the childhood and later, tell us what is wrong and what is right i.e. a wrong is wrong only if it fits the definition of wrong in our head, otherwise we are free from any guilt pangs, any self restraints. In fact there are certain societies (castes if you say so) in India where thievery is the profession. The bigger the thief you are more the respect you enjoy. In fact you are not ready for marriage till you have not committed successfully some thefts. Naturally in these societies theft is just as respectful as a hard days labour to earn ones livelihood.
There is no way to police each and every human being. And, even if it were possible, what about those who man the police (CBI/Vigilance in our case)? Would they not become part of the system over a period of time? So the policing have to come from within. And that can only come after we decide what is wrong and what is not. My worst fear, which nags me all the time, is that a very large number of Indians have become convinced that getting ahead, making money without any regards to means, is fully moral and right, in fact, this is what is called smartness. Till we recognize that corruption, in fact use of foul means to achieve anything is just another crime and till we treat those indulging in it, in our day to day interaction with them, as we would treat a criminal, i.e. till we outcast them from social spaces, there is no way corruption is going to end. This is urgent and this is essential because if not tackled, as I have shown elsewhere on these discussion boards, very soon this monster is going to devour all of us.
We Indians claim to be the most caring towards our fellow human beings. But the fact is that we have least regard, least concern towards our fellow human beings. After all if a person feels any concern for his fellow human beings he would not use the toilet when a train is at the station. The need is to teach our children that all human beings deserve our equal respect, to achieve anything in life, work for it and no need can ever justify a wrong, and a wrong can not become a right only because everybody else is also doing it. A total moral regeneration of our society is required.
Internet is something which has provided a glimmer of hope to me. For the first time in the history of mankind it has freed the information from the clutches of ruling classes(bureaucracies and all) so it is only a matter of time before ordinary Indians come to know the scale and extent of loot and plunder that is going on in India in the name of governance. And once they come to know it, it will end.
Now to make good on the title of this piece. According to a report in the Delhi edition of Indian Express few weeks ago, parts of body of a tiger are worth 60 lakhs in the international market. Readers would agree that given the scale of corruption in India, the poor tiger worth 60 lakhs apiece has little chance of survival. It is Sariska today, would be Ranthambore tomorrow and so on
Buddha
