60. LONG MAY YOU LIVE !

60. LONG MAY YOU LIVE !

“Long life is the reward of the righteous; gray hair is a glorious crown.” Proverbs 16:31 

It is the Indian tradition to bless youngsters with long life. There are many religious formulas for conferring blessings on ceremonial occasions, and such blessings are legion; but the blessing of long life is the supreme benediction.

LONG LIFE ! 60,70.80....  

 How long is really "long"? There are different ideas. The Biblical age is taken to be 'three score and ten' ie seventy years. Yet all over the world, there is a fascination with the number 100. We read of people who have crossed a hundred, and some communities in obscure corners of the earth are said to live phenomenally long lives. There is a natural awe and respect, and some mystery and fascination, surrounding those who have lived a hundred years.

Indian religious tradition celebrates the completion of 60 years as a significant milestone in one's life. Even more honoured is the completion of 80 years which amounts to having witnessed a thousand moons! The real significance is not in the number as such, but in the wealth of experience and learning [wisdom?] that such a long life supposedly involves.. In the olden days when learning was oral and not through books and literacy so much, people who crossed such milestones were really pillars of society.

CENTURY OF LIFE

 However, Hindu tradition confers great honour on a life of hundred years. There is a famous Vedic prayer which expresses the earnest wish to behold the sun for a hundred years-sarada satam! [Here, the sun is not the mere physical sun, but stands for the Supreme. Asavaadityo Brahma: Brahmaiva ahamasmi]

Pasyema saradasatam
Jeevaema saradasatam
Nandaama saradasatam
Modama saradasatam
Bhavaama saradasatam
Srunavaama saradasatam
Prabravaama saradasatam
Ajeetaasyaama saradasatam
Jyokcha sooryam drusae.

QUALITY COUNTS!

It is to be noted that the wish is not for merely a hundred years of life- it expresses some definite images. We should be able to see and enjoy the sun for a hundred years; we should be able to enjoy with our relatives and friends; we should be happy for a hundred years; we should live with reputation/fame for a hundred years; we should be of sweet utterance for a hundred years; we should remain unconquered by evil for a hundred years- it is thus that we wish to live and enjoy the sun for a hundred years. It is thus not mere length of life but the quality stuffed into it!

This sentiment is stated in another verse in the Veda. 

ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः ।
भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।
स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवाग्‍ँसस्तनूभिः ।
व्यशेम देवहितं यदायूः 
।Om Bhadram Karnnebhih Shrnnuyaama Devaah |
Bhadram Pashyema-Akssabhir-Yajatraah |
Sthirair-Anggais-Tussttuvaamsas-Tanuubhih |
Vyashema Devahitam Yad-Aayuh |

Om. O Devas, may we hear with our ears what is auspicious.
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious and adorable
May we be prayerful, and may our bodies be steady.
May we thus dedicate our lifespan allotted by the Devas!

Here, the stress is not on the number hundred, but the essential quality of life- that we must be steady in our limbs, and our life must be one of dedication to the Supreme, seeing and hearing what is auspicious and noble. Thus should we wish to live whatever the lifespan that is allotted to us!

Thus we see the subtle teaching hidden in these common words; that life is valued for its quality, not mere length. Such a life is the result of some light, and striving. This sentiment is expressed beautifully by Ben Jonson in a famous poem:

It is not growing like a tree
In bulk doth make Man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night— 
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures life may perfect be. 

CULTS OF LONG LIFE


However, popular imagination is taken up with the idea of long life.There are many cults with their lanes and bylanes which prescribe many novel ways to prolong life. There are many people in India who speak of yogis and siddhas who supposedly lived for hundreds of years. There were also some who were out to discover a potion that would ensure very long life, if not ward off mortality altogether. People still talk of "kayakalpam". Alas! none of them has survived, except in silly tales.
These days, there are also scientific speculations and advice on how to live to be 100 and beyond!

LIFE- ITS MEANING

But beyond this is the greater question of the meaning of life itself! This is a question peculiar to mankind. Of all forms of life, man alone is endowed with the urge to know. And the quest for knowledge ultimately leads to the great barrier: all life ends physically; "The paths of glory lead but to the grave", as Thomas Gray said. Do we stop here  and take it as the final truth or inquire if anything is beyond it? 

This is a question which Nachiketas asked of Yama; this is the question that troubled the Buddha. The first of the four noble truths is that samsara is dukkha. Dukkha is not mere sorrow or suffering- it is a state of restlessness, unease. How does it happen? It happens because of the knowledge that no matter how long  and how well we live, that life would end! But is that the end, really, finally? Buddha did not think so.
Image:museumangewandtekunst.de

And before him, Nachiketas did not think so. Nachiketas was not fooled by the offer of a very long life granted by Yama! He said, however long, it must end! So the real gift is the gift of knowledge of what lies beyond death! It is its secret that he wanted to pierce, the mystery he wanted to unravel. And the answer was that there is really no end. Transience is transcended. Mortality is conquered.Man is immortal. This is realised in the transformation of consciousness.Man the limited, individual being realises his oneness with All That Exists- the very Source of Life. 

IMMORTALITY

Thus seen, Life is endless. One lifetime is but an episode in the endless chain of Life! This is the secret behind the phenomenon of rebirth. The cycle of rebirth continues so long as one does not sight the Sun of Immortality, so long as one does not sense the secret of the Self! So, the real blessing of  long life is really to urge one to find this secret, which is the fount of Eternity. 

All great Sages and Saints have experienced this and sung it in song and hymn. At times some great poets have also glimpsed this.

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: 

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, 

Hath had elsewhere its setting, 

And cometh from afar: 

Not in entire forgetfulness, 

And not in utter nakedness, 

But trailing clouds of glory do we come 

From God, who is our home: .........

Mighty Prophet! Seer blest! 

On whom those truths do rest, 

Which we are toiling all our lives to find, 

In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave; 

Thou, over whom thy Immortality 

Broods like the Day, a Master o'er a Slave, 

A Presence which is not to be put by; 

Thou little Child, yet glorious in the might 

Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height, 

Wordsworth. Ode: Intimations of Immortality. 1807

This is the truth of our being - that man is Immortal. So the Upanishad calls men "Amrutasya Putra: Ye children of Immortality". शृण्वन्तु बिश्वे अमृतस्य पुत्रा   'Listen Ye the children of Immortality all over the world!'

Thus long life really means recovering our knowledge of Immortality which we have forgotten.

56.RETIREMENT AND ITS DISCONTENTS

56. RETIREMENT and its DISCONTENTS

from www.tradenewswire.net. 

For those in service, retirement follows as surely as night follows day. Yet few people are really prepared for a life of happy retirement.

For those in the professions like doctors, lawyers, accountants and the self employed, there is virtually no retirement; they can work as long as they can, physically and mentally. For some like teachers, there is formal retirement, but they continue to be engaged privately. Retirement affects only those in service .

Ironically, it hits hardest those who depend most on service for living and ego satisfaction or a sense of self-worth! It hits the honest, more than the corrupt! It hits the middle class, more than the others.

FACING RETIREMENT

When we know retirement is certain, why should it hit or hurt us?
Retirement is a new experience for most middle class Indians who know no world outside their work place. Retirement hits them simultaneously on several fronts and counts.
-diminution and uncertainty of income
-reduced or shrunken social role and status
- unmarketable skills which affect self-esteem
-rootlessness
- forced change of lifestyle

Lack of preparation is at the root of most of these troubles. With improvements in health services the post-retirement life is quite long  for most and even longer than service life for many. But people do not  prepare for retired life as consciously or actively as they prepare to enter service. In many cases, preparation or planning in any meaningful measure is just not possible. This adversely affects the quality of life after retirement.

COUNSELLING

It is only recently that we hear of counselling for retirement. Even organizations conduct training programs for their employees and educate them on retirement. Most of them focus on financial aspects.However,  education does not amount to preparation. Even that comes too late in the day. 

Most employers in the so called Organized sector do have plans for retirement, like Provident Fund and Pension. Those in govt. service are best placed in this respect: they have good salary with next to no work; there is automatic periodic revision of pay and perks, often out of proportion to their contribution; and fabulous retirement benefits by way of pension which too is automatically revised upward. Those in the public sector come next but the bureaucrats actively lobby and conspire against revision of pension for other employees. Those in the private sector come third: those in the organized sector often do well if their companies do well. Those in the unorganized sector fare ill, even with all the trade union might behind them.

But in these days of economic turbulence, nothing can be taken for granted, except change. Surely, one has heard of "Who Moved My Cheese?"



Cover of the famous book shown here for purely educational purpose. Published by
Random House UK, 1999.




UNDONE BY INFLATION


The problem with these plans is Inflation. In India, inflation has been raging or reigning continuously from Independence. Inflation has averaged 8% annually, since 1971, hovered around 6% between 1999 and 2007. It rose to above 30% in 1974. What we planned 30 or 35 years ago is hardly sufficient when retirement comes. Savings are eroded, and pension does not keep pace with the rising cost of living, except for the bureaucrats. Investment in gold has historically proved to be a safer hedge against inflation in the long run. But it locks up liquidity.

I give one personal example.  In 1966, I took an insurance policy for Rs. 10,000 which was a princely sum then ( considering a monthly salary of Rs.400, when gold was Rs.72 per 10 grams), maturing after 33 years, with monthly premium being Rs.27.71 On retirement, it amounted to Rs.75,000 with bonus, whereas the mere value of Rs. 10,000 adjusted for inflation, which was cumulatively more than 1000% should have been more than Rs.1, 20,000. It is therefore clear how I was cheated legally by the system out of my own savings!  No government scheme protects you from inflation. The Finance Minister is the biggest robber in the country.

I give another example, that of my  neighbour, about how inflation hits retired people. When  he retired in 2000,[after service of 35 years] his flat had a  rent of  Rs.9000 p.m. with a maintenance payment of Rs.900. Today, the same flat carries a rent of Rs.30,000 p.m., with the maintenance charge of Rs.4000 plus charges for tanker water amounting to Rs.500 p.m.  In these years all govt rates, administered prices, medical and educational expenses, and general prices  have risen considerably. But his pension has remained the same. He was not a government employee, so his pension is not revised. Even though his organization has created a pension fund out of its own income, and is not dependent on govt. contribution, and can afford to revise the pension, the dastardly civil service goonies of Delhi are against any  revision. I use the word Dastardly deliberately, for these Delhi bureaucrats have, quite maliciously, blocked revision proposals for the last 15 years, while their own pensions have been revised thrice!. It seems only they have blood, others carry water in their veins.

PROBLEMS BESIDES FINANCE

So, the immediate problem of retirement is financial stability, and the risk to maintaining the standard of living. One has to downscale. However, in these days of so called development, one is not really free to avoid many expenses. Downscaling may come in some essential areas.

Also, there  are other, deeper problems, basically psychological and social.How to remain active with no routine, how to spend time meaningfully with no active occupation, and without the usual companions- these are big issues. And these cannot be tackled unless the person has  cultivated some active habits, interests and hobbies outside his area of work over the years. Here emerges the true person, shorn of the mask he has been wearing!

Most retirees would be shocked to learn how the skills and competencies they  cultivated during their years of service have become outdated and irrelevant, and unwanted.50 years ago, one could enter the job market with a general academic qualification, like a degree in languages or humanities or social sciences, or even in the basic sciences; and even without a degree for most low paying jobs. They learned on  the job, and acquired needed skills.Such people are especially likely to find themselves unwanted after retirement. Technology  change is so fast and furious, even those with professional qualifications are required to keep updating , and at some stage become outdated. True, many retired persons get employed, some are forced to do so; but this is mostly of the nature of liaison work, and nothing more productive. And this happens at much lower remuneration than before. There is no organizational memory and even vital contributions made during service are forgotten or appropriated by others, so that they are denied even some psychological satisfaction.. Those who looked upon their service as their only  or main window to the world are likely to suffer most.They would feel like a burnt match stick. Senior civil servants resort to writing their memoirs to satisfy their ego, provided they can find a publisher or are able to finance the publication! Everyone is not a V.P.Menon, though! 

FAMILY AND SOCIETY

The problems of retirement are hugely compounded by the changes in family norms and society and polity. Joint families having disappeared, retirees are on their own and have to fend for themselves. They don't have much emotional support outside. Children and their spouses do not wish to stay with parents or in laws. Neighbourhoods have disappeared, and life in housing complexes is anonymous. Most retirees of today are likely to hail from small towns which too have changed and lost their character and quality. There too their old families and links are likely to have disappeared or displaced.
They have lost their old roots, and it is too late to find or foster new ones.

PREPARE OR ADJUST AND COPE

Today, awareness about retirement is spreading. This is surely a welcome development.Youngsters are advised to plan actively for retirement, and in some cases even to seek premature retirement, so that they can take up their pet projects or dreams. Even so, the focus is on financial independence, and this applies only above certain income levels. High incomes prevail only in certain sectors like IT ,  financial services, and huge corporates, and this has created vast distortions across sectors and in society. Prices are uniform but not the capacity to face them. It is certainly not easy or even possible for most to save high today to provide for the possibility of a better tomorrow. Most counsellors today  talk   as if they can  anticipate and   control inflation. Indian economy is still under unsettling transition, along with its society; and in the light of global uncertainties, no one can say what rate of saving is good for the future and what sum will see one safe through inflation.

THE STOICAL TURN

Cover of a recent book. Portfolio, 2016.
Shown here for purely educational purpose.

We cannot tackle the situation unless we turn Stoics. The  Stoic philosophers of ancient Greece asked us to discriminate between what is beyond our control and what is within our control. We have to accept what is beyond  our sphere of  control and influence. No use blaming inflation or the finance minister. Finance ministers will come and go, inflation will stay. We cannot stall the social changes, or suit them to our will or will them our way. We each have to negotiate our way, given the changes. This is what we can, and should, manage.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Serenity Prayer

VANAPRASTHA

The traditional Hindu system talks of a stage of voluntary detachment from society in our progress towards a fulfilled life. They call it Vanaprastha. Today there are no Vanas, only concrete jungles where we live. If we have cultivated such detachment over the years, and reduced our exposure to the outside influences which are not in accord with the true purposes of life (Purushartha), we will not be bothered by retirement. We may even look forward to it. In that case, retirement will not be seen as the end of the road, but as the beginning  of a new pathway. It can be the beginning of a more meaningful phase of life. We can rediscover ourselves and the world. If an Indian feels uncomfortable with retirement, it shows how far he is from our own ideals!

REPACK BAGS!

During our days of active employment, we identify ourselves overwhelmingly with our economic and social roles, with our public face. We are largely dead to ourselves. We hardly reflect on deeper questions of our true identity, or on the meaning of life, our true aims or role in life and society. We move about like robots, mechanically performing conventional functions and following some routines, responding to others' demands, expectations, prescriptions.. Retirement forces a break in such a movement. That is why it hits us. But it need not necessarily be so.It can be a call to awakening. If we are given to a little reflection that life is larger than the roles we play, that the organization we work for is not really dependent on us and can  and will go on without us, that we work for a living and our life is not encased or defined wholly by our work, retirement will not be so unwelcome. We have of course to give our best to the work we do, as anything less detracts from our own dignity. But we are more than our roles in the economy and society. Retirement is the school of life which teaches us this important lesson. It puts us in touch with our real, deeper selves. From being preoccupied with what we do, we face the issue of who we are. Life assumes a new dimension.

Retirement unsettles us first, so that we may settle better in life, may be at a higher level!To face retirement happily and with confidence, we should prepare ourselves and repack our bags. The rest we leave to Providence.

 Fears and scruples shake us.

In the great hand of God I stand, and thence

Against the undivulged pretense I fight.

Banquo in Macbeth

Cover of the book, worth reading.
Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 
3rd edition. 2012. Shown here for purely educational purpose.

THERE IS LIFE BEYOND RETIREMENT!

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' 

We are not now that strength which in old days 

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; 

One equal temper of heroic hearts, 

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will 

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Tennyson in Ulysses,1842

Or, may we say with Robert Browning:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith " A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God; see all, nor be afraid!"

Rabbi Ben Ezra, 1864

55,POLITICS BY HATRED

55. POLITICS BY HATRED

Should politics be based on hatred?

If we observe the Indian  political scenario, especially during election times, we cannot escape the conclusion that politics is not only based on hatred, but no other way of conducting politics is possible. Our politicians know nothing better, or even nothing else.
But hatred reigns in our public life even in normal times.

LATEST US EXAMPLE

www.indianlink.com.au

We had an example of this in the last US Presidential elections. The leftist crowd and its press made an absolute Devil of Trump, ridiculing him in all possible ways, even questioning his IQ. He was called ' a bully, a racist, a misogynist'. The Conservatives gave it all back, questioning the health, sanity and veracity of Hillary Clinton. They even questioned whether she was not covered by a double! There were several YouTube channels dedicated to this holy enterprise of mutual mud slinging. When Trump triumphed in the elections fair and square,against all expectations, the leftists  could not take it with grace, and have not given up their  hate games. I think this is the lowest we have seen in the US political behaviour in respect of the polls to the highest office. When someone represents a real change,or threat, the establishment cannot take it!

BLIND HATRED AGAINST BJP

This is what we have been witnessing in India too, ever since the BJP rose to national prominence, winning elections in more states than the Congress ever did. The easiest stick to beat them with is to say loudly that they are communal, even while the Congress is going out of its way to befriend Muslim communal parties and placate the religious minorities in all possible ways. 

Image from YouTube.

In Karnataka, it is even planning to create a new  'minority' religious community out of an old Hindu sect just to catch votes. In Kerala, they align unashamedly with Christian groups. But only BJP is communal! No one bothers to criticise them for their economic and other policy contents. There is no informed debate on policies. To call BJP communal is the essence of Indian politics. Even leading English newspapers and media join this charade. How silly it all looks!

TAMIL NADU: MOTHER OF POLITICS OF HATE

But those in Tamil Nadu are used to politics of hatred for over a century now. This hatred was based on the Aryan invasion theory, actively promoted by colonial interests,as part of their divide and rule trick,  by which all North Indians were considered Aryan, and the South  Dravidian. The South was supposed to be suppressed by the Aryans. But this did not cut much ice outside Tamil Nadu. So, they changed track.
 The Justice Party was started to demand more govt jobs for non-Brahmins, as against the dominance of Brahmins. The leaders were well educated persons from the wealthier sections of non-Brahmins, and they were by no means vulgar. They were silently encouraged by the British who  too felt that administration had come to depend unduly on the Brahmin employees  which was not desirable. They also wanted to foil the rising nationalism among the educated middle class, especially Brahmins, by encouraging non-Brahmin elements loyal to the regime. Justice Party filled the bill admirably as they were totally faithful to the the British, and against the freedom movement. They were in power for 13 years in the old Madras presidency, till they were overthrown in the 1937 elections by the Congress.They could not recover, and the party was dissolved in 1944.

JUSTICE PARTY TO DRAVIDAR KAZHAGAM :
REIGN OF HATRED

The main leaders of the Justice Party were non-Tamils. And they were all deeply religious and orthodox in their own way. Indeed their ways were Brahmanical ie based on Hindu scriptures. Gradually, Tamil elements started asserting themselves. The movement was dominated by E.V.Ramasamy Naicker, a Kannadiga, who started the Dravidar Kazhagam.  He took off on the anti-Aryan, pro-Dravidian plank. He in fact started the politics of open hatred in Tamil Nadu. The Aryan-Dravidian divide, till then merely academic, was brought to the streets.  His politics was based on the hatred of Hinduism as Aryan, , hatred of the Brahmins as custodians of Hinduism and remnants of Aryans in the Tamil land, , denial of God, rejection of the freedom movement under Gandhi and supporting the continuation of British rule. His politics was politics of hatred, A to Z. His hatred did not stop with words;  he incited his followers, who indulged in violence by breaking the images of Hindu deities, by cutting the sacred thread of Brahmins, by cutting off their tuft of hair, etc. He went to the extent of saying that the concept of chastity for women was a non-Tamilian concept imposed by the Aryan Hindus, that the mangal-sutra was a sign of slavery and subjection of women,  and should be discarded. There was thus no end to the manifestation of hatred in his politics. He made hatred fashionable in speech, and acceptable in practice!. As the Brahmins were a small minority, and not given to retaliation, they were helpless and even the govt did not afford them protection.
[Though E.V,Ramasamy Naicker adopted the label of 'Rationalism' for his anti-God stance, he limited himself to attacking the Hindus, and never dared to criticise the Christians or Muslims. This is the  rationalism of the Tamils even today.]

DRAVIDAR KAZHAGAM SPLITS: HATRED CONTINUES

Many of Naicker's young followers left him, appalled by his marriage, at 72 to a 27 year old girl. They were also outraged by the fact that the marriage was mainly to safeguard , by some private arrangement, the wealth he had accumulated,   not trusting his followers in the party. They floated their own outfit, the DMK. In course of time, they developed political ambitions and suitably modified their stand. The demand for a separate Dravidastan was given up as it did not find support in other states and as it was unconstitutional.The initial denial of God became denial of many gods and acceptance of 'One God' ; the opposition to Brahmins was restated as opposition to  "Brahminism". But in practice it did not make any difference, as the cadres continued to oppose Brahmins in all possible ways, whatever might have been the refinement at some top levels. This continues to be the basic plank of all the outfits which have splintered from the DMK.  
Some of them and some new ones call themselves pro-Tamil, instead of Dravidian, espousing separate Tamil nationalism and racism.
 Over the years, the idea of politics based on a separate Dravidian identity has not appealed to non-Tamilians in the South. So, the self-styled Dravidian parties really harp on the idea of the Tamils as a separate race, and nationalism based on Tamil identity. However, its practical expression takes the form of opposition to / hatred of other identities, like Brahmins and North Indians. The idea that Tamils are not Hindus is also spread among the youngsters ,  with the active support of evangelical Christian groups.Thus hatred runs deep in the Tamil psyche, as they have been nurtured in numerous ways in the half century of Dravidian rule. In practice, however, anti-Aryanism is expressed as anti-Brahminism , as if Brahmins alone are Aryans!

As a matter of fact,  all social problems  in Tamil Nadu today are those among the non-Brahmin communities themselves, and Brahmins are no where involved. Yet, Brahmin-baiting is the staple element in Tamil politics! 

INTER-GROUP HATRED

The only new development is perhaps the inter-group rivalry and hatred among the various Tamil outfits. The social media is full of hate messages couched in vulgar, uncivilized language and unrestrained personal attacks full of invective. But they all claim E.V.Ramasamy Naicker as their inspiration even today. And Modi is their common enemy- he is blamed for everything in Tamil Nadu. The groups which do not see eye to eye on most issues, unite against Modi. 

DEMOCRATISATION AND DILUTION OF STANDARDS

With democratisation of politics, some dilution of public standards seems inevitable. With the spreading of education (literacy) and wild flare of information of all types, opinions proliferate, and with it quick judgements. Informed decisions are rare. Our media resort to partisan and partial coverage , and a clever mix of news and views that it is so difficult to arrive at the correct position in respect of any matter in public debate. A certain amount of discord is built into the social fabric in this situation. While this is inevitable, should discord necessarily lead to or express itself in and as open hatred?

FREEDOM STRUGGLE:
HATE-FREE POLITICS

Modern India witnessed intense political activity in the first half of the last century, directed against the colonial government. It had three phases: the moderate era of the likes of Pherozeshah Mehta, Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale; the assertive nationalist era of Tilak, Lajpat Rai, Bepin Chandra Pal, Sri Aurobindo; the mass-action era of Gandhi. Each group criticised the colonial govt in ways appropriate to the stage of development of national consciousness. Perhaps the most intense intellectual attack was by Sri Aurobindo, in language which stunned the British so that the Viceroy himself declared Sri Aurobindo the 'most dangerous man' in the empire. But Sri Aurobindo did not preach hatred against the British; he did not write a single word preaching or justifying hatred against them.

Gandhi emerged as the chief tormentor of the colonial power with a mass base for nearly 3 decades. He expressed opposition in strong words and stern action. But he did not preach hatred against the British or anyone else at any stage.Opposition to colonial rule was a principled stand, but brutal hatred of the British was no part of his agenda or vocabulary. Hatred was not his language of political opposition. Even in matters of social reform, he appealed to the conscience of the perceived wrong-doers, and did not incite hatred against them.

HATRED AND VIOLENCE:
WESTERN LEGACY

With these examples before us, why have our politicians ( it will be too much of a joke to call them leaders) plunged into the games of hatred? Why do we have to tolerate them? How have we developed insensitivity to the vulgarity that accompanies this show of hatred?
But then, is there anything at all the ordinary citizen can do in the matter?

Hatred and violence in politics started with the Communists for whom there is no ethics other than power. In religion, hatred and violence were started by the Christians against the pre-Christian religions that lived peacefully in the Roman empire. As Edward Gibbon said, people believed all the religions to be equally true; the philosophers called them all false; but the administrators found them all useful, and allowed them. There was no hatred until the Christians came along. The Christian then passed along the baton to the Muslim, whose ultimate aim is to win the world by Jihad. Thus we see that the origin of hatred and violence is due to the two proselytizing Abrahamic religions and  leftist political cults.

NEGATIVE ROLE BY PRESS AND MEDIA

The usual institutions of a democratic society such as the Press, the Academia, the body of senior statesmen, wise elders etc do not carry any weight in India. The press is a party to this hatred, perhaps unwittingly, by reporting every  development as it happens, even sensationalising some. A politician is sentenced to prison in a criminal case- that is reported with lot of fanfare. The politician bribes his way to special treatment in prison.That is covered in detail. She comes on parole- that too is widely covered. When she reports back to prison, that too gets prominent space. The same treatment is given to a convicted film star. Thus the press keeps the memory of  convicted criminals green in the public mind. It turns the figure into a sort of hero or heroine! This same type of reporting about the politicians who indulge in hate speech gradually insensitises the public to the hatred involved. It becomes a sort of celebration! It becomes the norm. People forget that there were better times, and better people, and better standards! Our youngsters have absolutely no chance to know how things were before the rise of Dravidian politics.

JUDICIARY TO THE RESCUE?

I feel only our Judiciary may have some power to stop this trail of hatred. For that, somebody has to find a legal or Constitutional key  to the problem and then move our judiciary. Law will have to stop this hatred, or hatred will swallow the law.

54. DISSENT AND PROTEST

54. DISSENT AND PROTEST

In all societies, differences of opinion develop in course of time between the rulers and the ruled.  Such differences were expressed in a wide variety of ways, depending upon the sensitivity of the rulers. Generally under Indian monarchy, the kings had a system of assessing the public mood on important issues. They were also surrounded by men of wisdom and experience, who could correct them. Above all, there was a basic bond between the rulers and the ruled. The king was bound by dharma, and his subjects were not enemies. They had a dharmic or moral right over him.

WISE COUNSEL AND CRITICISM


 In Sangam Tamil literature, we have the instance of  a wise poet
 ( Pisirantaiyar) advising the king  (Pandya, Arivudai Nambi) about how he should tax the people:

காய்நெல் அறுத்துக் கவளங் கொளினே
மாநிறைவு இல்லதும் பன்னாட்கு ஆகும்;
நூறுசெறு ஆயினும் தமித்துப்புக்கு உணினே
வாய்புகு வதனினும் கால்பெரிது கெடுக்கும்;
5 அறிவுடை வேந்தன் நெறியறிந்து கொளினே
கோடி யாத்து நாடுபெரிது நந்தும்;
மெல்லியன் கிழவன் ஆகி வைகலும்
வரிசை அறியாக் கல்லென் சுற்றமொடு
பரிவுதப எடுக்கும் பிண்டம் நச்சின்
10 யானை புக்க புலம்போலத்
தானும் உண்ணான் உலகமும் கெடுமே.

If we gather the ripe paddy, and make rice balls and feed the elephant,even a small field will supply the food for many days. But if we let the elephant free to graze the field on its own, more will be spoiled by its feet than what goes into its mouth. If the wise king knows the proper method to gather his tax, he will get much and the country will also prosper. If,prompted by greedy and ignorant relatives, he forces his way to collect high taxes, he will not get  much, nor will the land prosper, like the field run over by the elephant.

Thus these wise men performed the function of  informed critics and counselors. Therefore Tiruvalluvar advised the kings to be surrounded by men who could criticise and chide them!

அறன் அறிந்து மூத்த அறிவுடையார் கேண்மை 
திறன் அறிந்து தேர்ந்து கொளல்.

Esteem the men who have grown  in righteousness, and acquire their friendship.

இடிக்கும் துணையாரை ஆள்வாரை யாரே
கெடுக்கும் தகைமை யவர்.

Who can ruin the man who commands the  association of men who can reproach him?

இடிப்பாறை இல்லாத ஏமரா மன்னன்
கெடுப்பார் இலானும் கெடும்.

The king who does not have men who can rebuke him- he will perish even when he has no enemies.

DISSENT AND PROTEST IN DEMOCRACIES

Photo source not known. Given here for purely educational purposes.

In modern democracies, dissent, opposition and protest are all recognised in theory; but in practice, there are  limits within which dissent can be expressed, and the forms which protest may take. In countries with true two party systems, the Opposition watches and checks the govt, though from mainly ideological angle. The United States experienced unprecedented protests by youngsters in the 1960s, and in novel forms, which cut across party lines. The society as a whole has taken a leftist turn since then- in any case the administration, the Press, the Academia are all generally leftist now. The government is ever growing bigger in the so called freest country, which began with a distrust of big government and monopoly power. It is difficult to express openly, or find space for truly liberal or conservative thoughts in the public space. Our freedom of expression and dissent is subject to leftists' pleasure. Freedom there really means the duty to be leftist!
But today on many  issues, people are divided across party lines in both the US and the UK. The differences are not only between the rulers and the ruled , but  among the different social, religious and economic groups in almost all democratic societies. Any solution on any issue is bound to produce dissent. The government changes periodically by election, but dissatisfaction and dissent develop under all governments.  

A separatist Tamil poster.
source: https://Scroll.in

In Tamil Nadu, we can see how the anti-Hindi agitation of the 60s has spawned separatist tendencies, and promoted hatred of the  Central govt and the very concept of United or Federal India. Though the demand for a separate Dravida land has been outwardly given up due to political expediency, the same forces are feeding the flames of separatist Tamil nationalism. This is the undercurrent of the state's educational machinery and administrative apparatus under half a century of rule by local Dravidian parties. 

[The Centre does not appear to have taken serious note of this issue.Just imagine the number of youngsters passing through the state's education system, raised on a diet of Tamil nationalism, nurtured on the belief that North Indians have subjugated them. What began as anti-Aryan movement has taken the form of Tamil nationalism. The youth are taught that the Tamils are a separate race, and have nothing in common with North Indians ( and Brahmins) who are Aryans.
 Ironically, both the main all-India parties have kept electoral alliances with parties which foster separatism ( Tamil nationalism) in some form.]


MODERN INDIA BORN IN PROTEST!

Image from: The New Indian Express

Modern India's journey as a nation begins with dissent and protest against British colonialism. The British government of India was not legitimate- it was forced on us by brutal military power and sustained by cunning, savage taxation and repressive measures. The moderates who began with mild desire for greater part in the administration and some reforms and concessions, and believed in achieving this through prayer, pleading and petitioning, did not realise the true nature and intent of imperialism. They talked of lawful or constitutional means, but this law was that of the colonial power; it was illegitimate, and it would never recognise the ruled except as economic and political slaves. Happily, this was understood by younger elements like Tilak and Sri Aurobindo who taught us to demand full freedom- Swaraj. This was to be accomplished by adopting Swadeshi, boycotting foreign goods, boycotting foreign courts, taking to national education and generally by Passive Resistance ie not cooperating with the colonial government. These methods were tried in 1905 when Curzon partitioned Bengal. These methods were so successful that the partition was annulled. [ The revolutionary fervour among Bengalees was so great that the British eventually shifted the Capital out of Calcutta!]

GANDHI'S THREE PLANKS

But the real era  of total opposition to colonial rule began under Gandhi after 1919. There were three main elements in his approach:
- Non Cooperation, Civil Disobedience, Passive Resistance or Satyagraha as the chief method to express our dissent.  This involved more suffering on the participants and no violence on the opponent. It preached no hatred.
- Making it a mass movement, making every Indian feel part of the movement, overcoming the earlier limited appeal to the English educated middle class.

-Including many elements of a constructive nature which would help revive the economy and enliven society without depending upon govt support.In these spheres, Indians could be free despite the foreign govt! Gandhi thus taught people how to be independent even under British rule. Swadeshi, Khadi, Village Industries, New Education, Village Sanitation, focus on agriculture,etc were all elements of such constructive activity. This was truly revolutionary in that people could recover their autonomy at least in some spheres. 

Leaders like Tilak and Sri Aurobindo before the Gandhi era had  defined Indian nationalism on the basis of India's long historical past and continuity as a living civilization. True nationalism was based on recovery of basic national identity. 'Bande Mataram' captured this identity. However, with the coming of Gandhi, the question of national identity was obscured, though in his 1909 book "Hind Swaraj" he spoke about Indian civilization. India is still struggling, unable to face this question honestly and boldly.

THE DOWNSIDE?

It could be seen by a keen observer that the negative aspects of protest were offset by the constructive activity, so that people's energy was not frittered away in mere opposition. But in reality, it is easier to gather people against something , than to make them engage in constructive work, especially for prolonged periods. As the possibility of Independence neared, more people took to the show of protest, than to the path of constructive action; more out of opportunism, than out of conviction. 

This prospect had indeed worried some thoughtful leaders even in those days. Masses could be incited  against a foreign govt.  But how could the masses be contained? How well could they be directed? What would happen if people adopted the same methods after freedom was won, and when we had our own govt? 

It so happened that in spite of Gandhi's insistence on non-violence, instances of violence happened, and Gandhi had to call off some agitations. His individual Salt Satyagraha in 1930 was nonviolent, but the British let loose a reign of terror. The Quit India Movement in 1942 was a complete fiasco, as the British had out-foxed Gandhi, and he was arrested along with the other leaders, before he could give any detailed instructions. The masses were without direction as to what to do. The resulting chaos and violence came in handy to the British, who completely snuffed out the movement within 6 months. Thus, in the final analysis, Gandhi's method of Civil Disobedience did not succeed against the British.When Gandhi was released from prison in 1944 due to ill health, he was a spent force, and he could make no positive contribution to the situation, on any issue thereafter.

INDEPENDENCE HASTENED BY:

India's freedom was hastened by-
-the changing geo-political reality in the subcontinent after the Second World War and the enormous defence expenditure that it entailed on Britain;
- Britain emerging as a debtor
-the rise of Netaji Subhas Bose's Indian National Army. It electrified the nation, enthused the youth, and captured the imagination of Indians in the Army and Navy. There were even mutinies by Indian Navy men. The British could no more take the loyalty of Indian soldiers for granted.

Netaji and INA
Thus, though Gandhi awakened the Indian masses as no leader before him had done in modern India, he did not successfully conclude the movement. The British suddenly decided to leave, and leave in a hurry. They did not even give the Congress leaders time to think and prepare. They were caught in a daze. Even the details of partition- the exact boundaries were not known to Indian leaders even on the day of Independence. Thus, freedom came to India in spite of Gandhi, not because of him. .

 Indian writers, especially the text-book writers generally do not see  and adhere to facts. They simply promote the Gandhi image.

GANDHIAN METHODS MISUSED

While Gandhi did awaken the masses, the methods he adopted have proved to be handy for people who do not share his philosophy after Independence. Gandhi struggled against colonial powers who did not allow us any civil liberties, or methods to voice our grievances or effectively  participate in our governance. Constitutional or lawful means in those days meant acceptance of colonial rule, which lacked legitimacy. The standard method of protest against it would have been violent revolution. Gandhi avoided that deliberately, and adopted Civil Disobedience as the non-violent alternative. That was the best he could do under the alien government. 

But today, we have our own Constitution and government . We have adult franchise and elect our own govt. We float parties on different philosophies or ideas or demands. We have constitutionally provided methods to get the Constitution itself amended!



VIOLATING CONSTITUTIONAL METHODS

Protesters hurling stone during a bandh

Yet we find Indian political parties and other groups abandoning Constitutional methods and taking to the streets, and indulging in acts of violence in support of any demand. Unfortunately, both the Central and State govts also remain  totally insensitive to peaceful protests. They cannot deal with peaceful protests.  They respond only when there is prospect of violence or widespread public disorder. Often, they act only when their supporting vote base is affected. Any leader can gather a mass of people  and drum up  support for any local cause or grievance. The police deal with the mobs brutally, as if we are still in colonial days, while the leaders who incite them go scot free. In a federal set-up it is so easy to create animosity against the central govt, or another state, to please local mobs.

The recent disturbances in Tamil Nadu, the so called Cauvery agitations, are of this type. The Supreme Court has given a final judgement in an inter-state dispute which lingered on for decades. It has provided for creation of a machinery to enforce the judgement. The Central govt is on the job, but has sought certain clarifications from the Court. The Tamil Nadu govt, one of the parties, has also gone to the Court, with a  Contempt of Court petition against the Centre. The Court has already fixed a date for taking it up. Thus the matter is  sub-judice. Where then is the need for a mass agitation at this time? In the Press and the media, no one has pointed out the facts, but everyone is either feeding or succumbing to the public frenzy. The so called social media is full of vulgar, unrestrained and uncivilized abuses against the Centre and its leaders. Truth has been conveniently brushed aside. No avenues are open for the ordinary citizen to express a view, which goes against the current frenzy.

This is a glaring instance of how in Independent India, people have no regard for Constitutional methods.