After a long break from blogging, here s something that forced me to sit down and write something. This is being debated over and over for the past week or so. Moral policers, this is what the attackers call themselves to be. I have been hearing a gamut of views about these mangalore attacks spanning the entire spectrum from utter conservatism to complete liberalisation. I am not here to give a solution to the problem, but, to try and understand where the society stands with respect to this whole problem.
Most people, me included, when faced with this question come up with the most politically correct answer and say this is completely wrong. "We live in a democracy where people have the right to live as they please, to have alcohol or not, or to have them at pub or at home is an individual's domain. Who is this guy to interfere with that?", is the response that comes out almost spontaneously. This reaction to this incident will be completely justified although this kind of argument has it s own flaws. If people in a democracy want to consume 'cocaine', are we allowing it?
But, The people of sena, or for that matter, any organization or person, has no right to ask the people of this country to be as to be as they want them to be. It s the people's behavior that defines the culture and not the other way around, right?
So, can we conclude that this is just an aberration and ignore these events as signifying nothing? I dont think so. I have been able to observe a silent majority support for the sena activists with the people i have interacted with in the past week, in person and in sites like orkut. A deeper questioning of my own values and beliefs also suggest that this agitation is not completely unjustified.
Isn't there a prevailing situation in India which needs to be addressed? Dont we need to preserve our culture? Is stopping people from consuming alcohol in pub's, the way to conserve our culture and values? The immediate answer would be "Hell! No". Haven't men been whooping it up through out the course of history, what s the matter now? If you are targeting women only, isn't this male chauvenism? Dont women have the right to drink in a democracy!! Let me talk more about this on a relevant discussion in a detailed manner!! for now i am keeping the discussion to general culture preservation ignoring the male chauvenism part.
The alcohol consumption has nothing to do with the culture, let s say. What s been the basis of our culture? Honesty, bravery, respect for elders, abstinence from vices, especially in front of elders etc.., People have been consuming alcohol through out the course of history (from the days of soma banam..). But, indulging in liquor in a, so called, social manner has never been prevalent in India. People have always been consuming alcohol, but it has always been a forbidden fruit meant to be enjoyed with a sense of guilt. It has slowly started to become a part of social culture very recently.
Offices, IT companies, organize parties with beer these days where the subordinate and the manager sit and drink side by side. There aren't you breaking some tradition (abstinence from vices, esp in front of elders). Two generations ago children barely opened their mouth before their father. Wont it affect us, if there comes a day when father and son sit and have a drink side by side? Aren't we breaking the hierarchical, respect based society?
Every situation has a flip side and i am not telling these are entirely bad either. Going by our tradition, elders got respect just because they were elders. This culture manifested itself and is still very much prevalent in government offices etc.., where seniority is the only criterion. With this addressing by first name culture, i get to know the person much more and respect the person for what he/she is and not for his/her seniority. In spite of these explanations, every race/country should preserve it s roots. There is a uniqueness in every race and religion which has helped in the evolution of mankind and that has to be conserved.
Hence, there is indeed a need to reiterate the values of our society. The manner in which this is being done is wrong, as accepted by the respective organization itself.
(...to be continued)
Most people, me included, when faced with this question come up with the most politically correct answer and say this is completely wrong. "We live in a democracy where people have the right to live as they please, to have alcohol or not, or to have them at pub or at home is an individual's domain. Who is this guy to interfere with that?", is the response that comes out almost spontaneously. This reaction to this incident will be completely justified although this kind of argument has it s own flaws. If people in a democracy want to consume 'cocaine', are we allowing it?
But, The people of sena, or for that matter, any organization or person, has no right to ask the people of this country to be as to be as they want them to be. It s the people's behavior that defines the culture and not the other way around, right?
So, can we conclude that this is just an aberration and ignore these events as signifying nothing? I dont think so. I have been able to observe a silent majority support for the sena activists with the people i have interacted with in the past week, in person and in sites like orkut. A deeper questioning of my own values and beliefs also suggest that this agitation is not completely unjustified.
Isn't there a prevailing situation in India which needs to be addressed? Dont we need to preserve our culture? Is stopping people from consuming alcohol in pub's, the way to conserve our culture and values? The immediate answer would be "Hell! No". Haven't men been whooping it up through out the course of history, what s the matter now? If you are targeting women only, isn't this male chauvenism? Dont women have the right to drink in a democracy!! Let me talk more about this on a relevant discussion in a detailed manner!! for now i am keeping the discussion to general culture preservation ignoring the male chauvenism part.
The alcohol consumption has nothing to do with the culture, let s say. What s been the basis of our culture? Honesty, bravery, respect for elders, abstinence from vices, especially in front of elders etc.., People have been consuming alcohol through out the course of history (from the days of soma banam..). But, indulging in liquor in a, so called, social manner has never been prevalent in India. People have always been consuming alcohol, but it has always been a forbidden fruit meant to be enjoyed with a sense of guilt. It has slowly started to become a part of social culture very recently.
Offices, IT companies, organize parties with beer these days where the subordinate and the manager sit and drink side by side. There aren't you breaking some tradition (abstinence from vices, esp in front of elders). Two generations ago children barely opened their mouth before their father. Wont it affect us, if there comes a day when father and son sit and have a drink side by side? Aren't we breaking the hierarchical, respect based society?
Every situation has a flip side and i am not telling these are entirely bad either. Going by our tradition, elders got respect just because they were elders. This culture manifested itself and is still very much prevalent in government offices etc.., where seniority is the only criterion. With this addressing by first name culture, i get to know the person much more and respect the person for what he/she is and not for his/her seniority. In spite of these explanations, every race/country should preserve it s roots. There is a uniqueness in every race and religion which has helped in the evolution of mankind and that has to be conserved.
Hence, there is indeed a need to reiterate the values of our society. The manner in which this is being done is wrong, as accepted by the respective organization itself.
(...to be continued)
9 comments:
I think you are caught into the "captivity of negativity". It is not about democracy or male chauvinism or abstinence from vices..or etc as you say.You dont need to preserve culture, because you cant.
Are we still living in the world of Indian spices? absolutely not.
Atleast what are you trying to preserve here, how well you can define that. There is nothing needed to preserved or nothing you can preserve.
By the name of culture, some talibanism and hooliganism is uprooting to support the ongoing wondrous politics. Society stands nowhere, atleast it never did before.
Cocaine - It would have been allowed, but the problem is if it is allowed publicly, then it wont be a fortune anymore.
There is nothing to discuss here.
change is inevitable, dont try to change the change, anyways while you are trying to change the change, the change will change you.
I am just drawing the graph of future from the past. Think again!
@ above
Prabu, i know you are one of those souls for liberalism. I agree that it is tough to preserve the culture in the current scenario of globalization. But, there is indeed no harm in trying.
Change is inevitable, agreed!! And there are shades of grey in every culture. It s not that western culture is bad and our culture is superior. I am game to accepting good things from the west. But, pub culture is not one of them though. Me being one of those male chauvinists might be the reason for this non acceptance.
Agree partly with your points.. Partly not..
//"People have always been consuming alcohol, but it has always been a forbidden fruit meant to be enjoyed with a sense of guilt. It has slowly started to become a part of social culture very recently."//
You are very right.. There are so many taboo things in our society.. they still go on, but with a sense of guilt, as you have very well put it.. Why should one do things he loves with that guilt?? if one likes it, why shdnt he enjoy it as long as it does not affect others?
Am very much a traditionalist, mind you.. But I also agree with Kushwanth Singh when he says that Indians are very big hypocrites. Every man has sex on his mind, but we only wouldn't talk about it openly.
Vishy,
First of all, thanks for visiting my very young blog.
//Why should one do things he loves with that guilt?? //
I would subscribe to that view in some things such as 'public display of affection' etc.., However, by this pub culture, we are letting more people try alcohol, than in our traditional society, where this was done with guilt. That guilt is still stopping so many people from becoming alcoholics. IMHO, temptations are hard to resist and not many people who start this socially keep it completely a social practice within limits. Also, finding it difficult to cope up with the thought that I have to sit and have a social drink with women in my family :)
I don't think your logic is strong enough. I started writing a comment as to why it isn't but ran over space... so I put it as a post on my blog.
http://myalpinepath.blogspot.com/2009/02/re-is-india-in-need-of-moral-policing.html
In short, violence of any kind should be condemned, politically or not! Strange that you, of all people, are supporting a violent act. Do check my post and give your comments on it. I'm sure you would take it as two rational individuals having a conversation about the differences in their viewpoints. Looking forward to seeing this comment here and your comment on my post! But, great use of words :) Good going!
His take was that in a deeper sense, those attacks were not wrong - Alpine path
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With all humbleness, may i say you ve got it completely wrong. I wonder if my post conveyed that it was right. My post was about the support this stupid act was harnessing and the logic that was supposed to be behind that. It was an analysis of the prevailing situation. With respect to my blog, according to the name 'vox populi', i dint post my personal opinions per se, but, i posted my analysis about what i think is going on in a general sense.
I condemn these attacks as much as any man with common sense would do. I tried to go beyond that simple condemning and tried to find 'why all this'? May be that s what gave you the impression that i was supporting this?
Oh ok! If you say that the views of this post are not yours but the general public, then its different. For, you can't be held responsible for the general public's view,right? Anyways, my reply is factored to the general public view, not specifically to yours. So, no worries!
Alpine path:
Not sure how much satirical your comment is meant to be. However, I take your comments at face value.
I ve had a lot of discussions reg this and everybody condemns this initially. The moment, for argument sake, i start with some logic of sena, i see people switch sides all of a sudden and even tell me that they support that cause. :) That s what made me think of why people are identifying with this and my blog was just an attempt to empathize with those who support this. What could be the reason? I have said that the method they have adopted is completely wrong in more than one place. But, high western influence on the society, is an issue i thought and i have pointed out that. That s abt it.... Anyways, nice discussion. Thank you!!
Agggagggaaa.. Sabaash.. Sariyaana poatti :)
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