One often wonders why our public demonstrations or ‘strikes’ as we come to call them, turn destructive in nature. Why do we have to destroy public property to make a point? Burn state buses, break window panes, pelt public buildings. Why? Beyond the obvious reason of bringing the state to the discussion table and the release of anger or hatred, one finds it difficult to find a reason for the carnage left behind by every demonstration.
Before I bring in my perspective on why we revel in such excesses, I would like to draw attention to how each culture address their dissatisfaction. Interestingly, I have heard that in some foreign countries, if there is a protest, say in a shoe factory, they protest by making just one of the pair of shoes (either the left or the right one only)! And once the dispute is over, they work overtime to make up. That, to me, is a very effective and civilized way of disobedience. Juxtapose that with a typical trade unionism in Kerala, perhaps captured eternally for us in ‘Varavelppu’. Well, we no longer have stalwarts like Gandhi or AKG to take principled stances on issues and arrive at reasonable solutions with the government. When the real objective is lost to money, power, ego and jealousy, there will never be solutions. Only lockout, suffering and destruction.
Well, I must admit the topic at hand is more of a symptom that cannot be analyzed in isolation. The discussion would naturally lead to the philosophy and psychology behind society, communism, democracy and what not. And interestingly, in Kerala, unlike any other place on earth, everyone has strong opinions and inclinations when it comes to politics. That’s not my objective this time though.
I only wanted to discuss why our strikes always result in public property being destroyed. There are two things that come to my mind.
First, the obvious lack of civic sense. Unlike civilized societies, a typical Indian cares about only about his home and cares much less for what is common or public property. As to why we are individually so smart and collectively so naïve, maybe, you would do well to read books like ‘Games Indians Play’ by V. Raghunathan. Suffix to say, we just don’t mind diverting the sewage out of our compound, dumping waste on neighbour’s doorstep, spit on the streets. This callousness for common property naturally makes them easy targets during such demonstrations.
But it is second reason that I can think of as the real culprit. Our colonization! It has to do with the British ruling us for so long, our long freedom struggle resulting in our independence in 1947. All throughout the foreign occupation, the ‘state’ or government was perceived as a sort of enemy to us. All throughout the freedom struggle we have been trained to channel our disobedience against the state. Naturally, it got engrained in our suppressed psyche that to strike against the government means to destroy its assets. Though it made perfect sense then, it is indeed sad that even after 60 years into independence, we still have not outgrown it.
It might interest a few to know that Churchill (if one were to set aside his hatred for Gandhi and Indians as a whole) once commented that ‘democracy’ is something they (i.e. Indians) are not matured enough to handle. Well, we have proved everyone wrong, alright. But honestly, sometimes, it makes me wonder too. As to the maturity needed to handle democracy, he couldn’t be more right. Look at those African nations, out of colonization, still messed up in the quagmire of military coups. Maybe Churchill did have a point, after all.
So am I accusing Pazhassi Raja for all the nonsense our ‘comrades’ and other parties come up with these days?
Well, let’s learn to call Spade a Spade.
Before I bring in my perspective on why we revel in such excesses, I would like to draw attention to how each culture address their dissatisfaction. Interestingly, I have heard that in some foreign countries, if there is a protest, say in a shoe factory, they protest by making just one of the pair of shoes (either the left or the right one only)! And once the dispute is over, they work overtime to make up. That, to me, is a very effective and civilized way of disobedience. Juxtapose that with a typical trade unionism in Kerala, perhaps captured eternally for us in ‘Varavelppu’. Well, we no longer have stalwarts like Gandhi or AKG to take principled stances on issues and arrive at reasonable solutions with the government. When the real objective is lost to money, power, ego and jealousy, there will never be solutions. Only lockout, suffering and destruction.
Well, I must admit the topic at hand is more of a symptom that cannot be analyzed in isolation. The discussion would naturally lead to the philosophy and psychology behind society, communism, democracy and what not. And interestingly, in Kerala, unlike any other place on earth, everyone has strong opinions and inclinations when it comes to politics. That’s not my objective this time though.
I only wanted to discuss why our strikes always result in public property being destroyed. There are two things that come to my mind.
First, the obvious lack of civic sense. Unlike civilized societies, a typical Indian cares about only about his home and cares much less for what is common or public property. As to why we are individually so smart and collectively so naïve, maybe, you would do well to read books like ‘Games Indians Play’ by V. Raghunathan. Suffix to say, we just don’t mind diverting the sewage out of our compound, dumping waste on neighbour’s doorstep, spit on the streets. This callousness for common property naturally makes them easy targets during such demonstrations.
But it is second reason that I can think of as the real culprit. Our colonization! It has to do with the British ruling us for so long, our long freedom struggle resulting in our independence in 1947. All throughout the foreign occupation, the ‘state’ or government was perceived as a sort of enemy to us. All throughout the freedom struggle we have been trained to channel our disobedience against the state. Naturally, it got engrained in our suppressed psyche that to strike against the government means to destroy its assets. Though it made perfect sense then, it is indeed sad that even after 60 years into independence, we still have not outgrown it.
It might interest a few to know that Churchill (if one were to set aside his hatred for Gandhi and Indians as a whole) once commented that ‘democracy’ is something they (i.e. Indians) are not matured enough to handle. Well, we have proved everyone wrong, alright. But honestly, sometimes, it makes me wonder too. As to the maturity needed to handle democracy, he couldn’t be more right. Look at those African nations, out of colonization, still messed up in the quagmire of military coups. Maybe Churchill did have a point, after all.
So am I accusing Pazhassi Raja for all the nonsense our ‘comrades’ and other parties come up with these days?
Well, let’s learn to call Spade a Spade.
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