Walking Dead Bodies of India : Should I Weep or Laugh ?

I know that expressing my views here in this blog site would not make any difference to any one. Years ago, I used to express my views in common discussion among my friends and colleagues. I used to be outspoken.

Painfully, I learnt that people in my country would not like outspokenness. I never used to force my ideas on others. Instead I was open in expressing my views without trying to offend any one. But that openness was something which the majority of my country men do not like.

Even when they agree with my view points, I find them too reserved or afraid to openly support those views.

But that was not the case when I was a teenager. People were more eager to respond to things that stirred their inner consciousness.

But some how things are changing. Those of my age and those some years senior to me are shying away from giving any opinion publicly. Experience has made them wise. Wise to the extent that they no more opened their mouths.

Perhaps their better halves at home have been transforming them to keep their mouths shut always ! Why to get in to an argument for no use !

Perhaps they are right. Perhaps, they may be doing some grave mistake. I am not sure !

But it was making me frustrated. Frustrated to find all those 'walking dead bodies' around me ! They ate, drank, walked and perhaps checked their bank accounts and their share portfolios. But they have nothing to say about the ills of the society. They have nothing to contribute.

They read the news, but the last page first. They watched the TV news, but only cricket news appeared more important than any thing else. Even the channel marketeers understood this well !

Remember, I am not talking of the teenagers and the youths. I am talking of those elderly citizens of India who are in their late fifties or above.

I scan the web space for opinions of experienced Indians. No use. They simply do not exist.

A colleague of mine, who is already retired after serving as a professor for three decades, told me about his total inexperience with the world wide web. But more than that he does not find it of any thing interesting. The computers and the new age mobiles are for the new generations. This is perhaps the view of the majority of Indians of this class !

There could be another reason too. This I take from the opinion of one of my colleagues which accidentally came out of his mouth at one occasion.

He asked me bluntly : What am I going to get from it ? Will it give me some benefit ?

My God ! Does it mean that you do some thing only if you get some thing in return ? 

By good fortune the society has given him every thing. He had a good job. His children are all 'well settled' ( Incidentally, well settled means getting a so called green card or citizenship in the US or some other country of that sort!) 

But yet, they cannot think of giving back some thing to the same society. In another few years, all of us are going to leave this world permanently. But yet, we seem to be only interested in hoarding and amassing things that we cannot take along !

So the dead body like attitude is not exactly because of the wisdom gained so far. It is because reading or writing or sharing even the worldly experiences cannot be undertaken unless it gives some material benefits in return !

See how far the capitalist materialism has influenced the elderly Indians of the present times. Something their parents never thought off, perhaps !

Even this blog writing is money making opportunities for many ! So, you find blogs of those topics which attract the most traffic and the most advertisement incomes.

But let those who need money do it. I am not blaming any one !

The point I wanted to make is about the kind of inertia that has enveloped the so called matured Indians.

So, what's the problem ?

Sorry, I can't explain. If you have understood, well and good. If not, it's okay !

I keyed in this much because of a small incident today which stirred my mind.

Nothing directly connected, though.

A colleague of mine approached me requesting me to use my 'influence' in getting an admission in a school of this city which the general public perceive as a reputed one.

The admission is for the 'preparatory class', something which never existed during my time of school admissions. This class 'prepares' the child of 3-4 years of age to take the 'higher learning' of class-one, the first official level schooling for a child in this country.

Earlier the so-called 'reputed' public schools in the private sector used to conduct elaborate oral and written tests for the small kids and conduct interviews for the kids as well as their parents to work out the so-called 'rank-lists' for admissions.

The schools have been 'encashing' the out-of-proportion anxieties of the parents fully.

Now the Supreme Court of India has banned such tests and interviews. Yet, the parental anxieties give the schools enough opportunities. The more the reputation, the more the opportunity. It is as simple as that.

Now the parent of the child is a highly qualified person working as the head of the department of a national level engineering institute. By this age his children should have been all 'well settled' as I explained earlier. But, unfortunately he married late !

Any school should be glad to give admission to the child of a person of his calibre.

But this is incredible India ! Any thing can happen.

Whoever you are, you are at the mercy of some one at some point of time !

The parent and his friend are requesting me to have a word with the Principal.

For what ? I ask them .

Can it not be done in the normal way ?

Yes, if it is not India. That is their view emerging out of super anxiety . You see, any thing can happen !

I felt like weeping. Also felt laughing.

Who are to be blamed for this kind of a situation ?

Do the elders of the society capable of doing something ?

Or will they keep acting like walking dead-bodies always, only to react when they are pushed to the coffins forcefully ?

Will you react now ?

View the linked list of all Blogs of the Author Here ! ]