A Divided World

In spite of all philosophical and technological advances, the world today is as divided as it was centuries ago. We look at some areas of this division.

We are an impatient nation. In a traffic jam on highways, it is very common to see drivers veer into the opposite lane and thus create a roadblock for oncoming vehicles. The delay gets longer. This is part of national culture, even among those who preach ethical behaviour. This never happens in the developed world. Reasons include practice of law enforcement or behavioural norm.

Culture is a behavioural norm of a society in both private and public places. The way one thinks and behaves is the elements of culture. There are both bad and good elements, one feeds on another. When it is bad, the outcome worsens through its multiplier effect.

'Charity begins at home' is a well-known English phrase. Daily habits from eating to socializing are all elements of this behaviour. External factors that influence this behaviour include television with the young in particular. I have seen the four-year daughter of a friend responding to doorbell with the word 'kaon'. These are cinematic influences on daily life. Can be negative such as portrayals of Amitabh Bachchan in a queue. The young do imitate. Loud vehicular noises on the road or driving on the wrong lane are macho culture promoted by such influences. These are negativity with demonstrative effect as more are lured into the abuse. Cinemas in the country, with much neighbouring influence, have a monopoly in promoting this behaviour where the behaviour of colonial raj is even glorified. Those people are now gone but the legacy continues with copycat imitation. The problem has its multiplicative effect. Absence of control happens from indifference to inadequacy in manpower. And then there are some who are above the law.

This is now an epidemic situation needing correction. The measures are many including an easy stepwise approach, one step at a time to the journey of thousand miles, begins with smaller areas such as a road or a locality. Earlier attempts in this manner may not have worked. That cannot be a reason to stop trying. Selective application of law can arouse unhappiness among many with arguments and sarcasm. But a wrongdoing is a wrongdoing irrespective of how the law is applied. Exempting one does not make it right for another to break the law. This could be a starting point before a full circle is completed.

Among our national habits, Adda is a popular form of pastime when we get together to socialize. We are not alone in this form of idling. In England people get together in the pub to do the same thing. The venues are different but the purpose is the same. These are differences in cultural behaviour between nations such as the use of fork and the hand. The world today being very integrated, thanks to the Internet and the Jet, the behavioural norms easily pass from one place to another. Consider eating habits. We are rice eaters and they thrive on potato. Yet roast beef is an element of our menu as much as curry is theirs. This is reciprocity, movement in either direction.

This reciprocity has not worked in all areas of engagement. Consider books, from fairy tales to fictions, that reflect ways of thinking of a group of people. We have grown up with the stories of Snow White and Cinderella. How we adore the seven dwarfs! Looking at the other side, we do not find any of our characters having made this journey. Our fairies and demons have stayed local. But look at the Arabian Tales. Aladin and Sindbad have made this journey. Could this be lack of universal appeal of our characters or lack of better portrayal? Going one step further, consider the works of fictions by authors such as Jane Austen and Hemingway that are almost our reading habit. They easily connect with our lives. This has not happened the other way round except in university curriculum. Our books, for some of which we go rave, have not been able to cross the seas in that sense. Even Tagore's claim rests on mysticism and submission to the divine, curiosity at the time. On the other hand, consider Sherlock Homes, who is adopted in many of our detective stories including Satyajit Ray. No character from our books has made this journey. Some books drew attention out of curiosity such as Churchill reading the autobiography of an Indian. The characters of Rushdie and Arundhati have stayed local not being able to connect unlike the flower girl of Shaw or Mr Know-all of Maugham. There is none in our stories. The East may have failed to connect the West in this case.

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