An inherent fear lies in the minds of all not finding a place in a neighbourhood miles away from home -- for some , even where they have lived for generations. Globalisation has led to shrunken world, a world in a nutshell. I am proud of the world I live in. I have access to every part of it. But being proud has its price. With an increase in social integration and occupational migration, I am of singular upbringing among my fellows.
Riots in Boroland(Assam), fear-stricken northeasterners leaving Bangalore en mass owing to a hoax call, the attempted expulsion of people native to Bihar from Mumbai and other happenings in recent history of our country show, all too well, the need to look for a change in a mentality averse to the idea of multiculturalism everywhere. The Indian Constitution provides for freedom of movement within the country. But even though in the highest institution for protection of rights, it is a mere statement -- a mere statement that cannot change what has been there for centuries,"my homeland is mine and here only I am best". Native Boros could not accept the presence of Muslims and what lay low and buried turned into a violent show of non-acceptance. Similar was the case in Mumbai -- this time for occupational occupation.
Multiculturalism is not the only difference that the people in a modern world society must deal with. Economic backgrounds also form a basis for discrimination. Reservations for tribes, classes, castes in jobs and institutions are an attempt at incorporating all kinds of people in the mainstream economic activities of the nation. But the once upper caste group do not like to make friends with their inferiors -- or so they believe. The gap only widens. the oppressed are pushed down further and the rich rise higher. This political effort merely brands people for who they are and therefore is a failed attempt at cultural and economic national integration.
In one picture, conservatives retort at the thought of any association with a person of inferior background. Mid-day meals are served to Dalit students in seclusion in Govt. schools lest the upper caste students leave. A Dalit teacher must battle with her ego and listen to the venomous swear words her students spurt out everyday. A woman serving as a housemaid must endure the lowly treatment she gets with having to work on call of her masters and mistresses to make ends meet. The ousted are ousted and so they will be as long as the moral value system of our society does not improve.
In the other picture its urban indifference, done in style. " Neighbours? Who? I'm sorry I can't spend money or time helping people I don't know." It's a moral value system that's dying and people must do something to liven it up again. People are just moving farther and farther apart culturally and emotionally.
Some time in the past, fifty or so years ago, people lived in joint families. Everybody in the neighbourhood knew everybody else. The whole locality was one big family. today it is a culture of migration and nuclear families. A person does what his occupation demands. There is neither the time nor the will to look at the life of a fellow being. The social system is falling apart. In the early 1900s, William Henry Davies wrote,"What is this life full of care, we have no time to stand and stare..........................no time to wait till her mouth can, Enrich that smile her eyes began." That was just the beginning of the modern era. Now, the social alienation of an individual has gone on to increase manifold. Concluding with the words of the Dalai Lama, "We have bigger houses but smaller families; More conveniences but less time;..............We've been allthe way to the moon and back. But we have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour. We built more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we have less communication.............."
Riots in Boroland(Assam), fear-stricken northeasterners leaving Bangalore en mass owing to a hoax call, the attempted expulsion of people native to Bihar from Mumbai and other happenings in recent history of our country show, all too well, the need to look for a change in a mentality averse to the idea of multiculturalism everywhere. The Indian Constitution provides for freedom of movement within the country. But even though in the highest institution for protection of rights, it is a mere statement -- a mere statement that cannot change what has been there for centuries,"my homeland is mine and here only I am best". Native Boros could not accept the presence of Muslims and what lay low and buried turned into a violent show of non-acceptance. Similar was the case in Mumbai -- this time for occupational occupation.
Multiculturalism is not the only difference that the people in a modern world society must deal with. Economic backgrounds also form a basis for discrimination. Reservations for tribes, classes, castes in jobs and institutions are an attempt at incorporating all kinds of people in the mainstream economic activities of the nation. But the once upper caste group do not like to make friends with their inferiors -- or so they believe. The gap only widens. the oppressed are pushed down further and the rich rise higher. This political effort merely brands people for who they are and therefore is a failed attempt at cultural and economic national integration.
In one picture, conservatives retort at the thought of any association with a person of inferior background. Mid-day meals are served to Dalit students in seclusion in Govt. schools lest the upper caste students leave. A Dalit teacher must battle with her ego and listen to the venomous swear words her students spurt out everyday. A woman serving as a housemaid must endure the lowly treatment she gets with having to work on call of her masters and mistresses to make ends meet. The ousted are ousted and so they will be as long as the moral value system of our society does not improve.
In the other picture its urban indifference, done in style. " Neighbours? Who? I'm sorry I can't spend money or time helping people I don't know." It's a moral value system that's dying and people must do something to liven it up again. People are just moving farther and farther apart culturally and emotionally.
Some time in the past, fifty or so years ago, people lived in joint families. Everybody in the neighbourhood knew everybody else. The whole locality was one big family. today it is a culture of migration and nuclear families. A person does what his occupation demands. There is neither the time nor the will to look at the life of a fellow being. The social system is falling apart. In the early 1900s, William Henry Davies wrote,"What is this life full of care, we have no time to stand and stare..........................no time to wait till her mouth can, Enrich that smile her eyes began." That was just the beginning of the modern era. Now, the social alienation of an individual has gone on to increase manifold. Concluding with the words of the Dalai Lama, "We have bigger houses but smaller families; More conveniences but less time;..............We've been allthe way to the moon and back. But we have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour. We built more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we have less communication.............."
No comments:
Post a Comment