'Quote'shwara

"Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much. Wisdom is humble that he knows no more"

My Take

The Curious Case of Two Indians

Hail the great souls!
Who just fret, growl and scowl
No Wonder!
India is still a begging bowl!

Be selfish! Think about yourselves and nothing else – Did we need this gyan darshan and especially from a person who prides himself to be an academician, an able administrator and always on heels for a social cause. But then this is just one face of the coin, the first Indian.

What the boys saw the other day was the other face of the coin, the second Indian and it was conspicuously dissimilar.

The tale revolves around a bunch of boys who, one fine evening, were discussing the problems plaguing the country and indifferent attitude of a section of citizens towards it. The casual talk which started in a tiny living space of our vast country transformed into a well fed discussion. Ideas flew across the room. The potential of youth who can and certainly have to transform the country were talked about. And it was also realized that to change the nation, the youth have to change themselves. The people who adore cleanliness abroad and fret over dirty India are the same people responsible for the dirt. The people who spit on our roads are the same who would even swallow their phlegm to keep the roads clean overseas. This is the paradox of two Indians.

The boys in our tale decided that next day they take first step towards converting their ideas into pragmatic action.

They woke up with the rays of hope. They had decided. They would organize a voter registration drive in their college campus where everybody can register to vote. They would also utilize the opportunity to spread the awareness among the fraternity. The awareness to vote. Lok Sabha elections are a couple of months away and a non-profit organization would help them in this regard. They needed college management’s support as well. The boys were optimistic about the support as this is a social cause and their head of institution is renowned for his social service (?).

The boys approach their head and in a span of 5 seconds, literally 5 seconds, they get a flat rejection and the gyan they get from a person who is supposed to guide them not just academically but also morally and socially – ‘Be selfish! Think about yourselves and your career and nothing else’

Jai Ho!!!

Well, this is the second Indian and the boys they were meeting and discussing (for 5 sec!) with the first Indian. We would not be surprised if he again dons his first Indian mask in case media or his higher authority or any other means through which he can broaden his popularity, were present.

The whole lot of second Indians is plaguing the country to the core. The disaster is that most of us are brought up that way. One Indian is a selfless person. The other carry masks everywhere. We encounter the masked second Indian so frequently that we seldom come across the first Indian and worse whenever we come across first Indian we mistake him to be our second Indian. The first Indian promises all basic amenities and soon after the second Indian takes over and the promises remain, well, as promises. The second Indian cries n shouts about the country being in doldrums. The first Indian, who can be the knight in shining armor, is in deep slumber.

These two Indians are in the heart and minds of every one of us. What matters at any point is who overpowers the other. I think when Swami Vivekananda said ‘Awake yourself’, what he meant was to awake the second Indian inside us. In case of youths, the second Indian wants to continuously hog the limelight. He wants to devise his own rules, his own way. He does not need the advice of anybody. In fact, the second Indian will not tolerate any attempt to undermine him. He is ready to revolt. The senior second Indians (read as old people) just see the Jr. second Indian and continuously find fault with him. And as mentioned earlier, the Jr. second Indian cannot tolerate this and revolts. This sets up a vicious circle. This fault-finding mission gets carried over to Jr. first Indians as well and all the goodness of the youth are masked by second Indians and hence the youths are always suspected for whatever goes wrong. Perhaps that the reason this maxim was coined – In youth, we want to change everything. In old age, we want to change the youth.

Coming back to our boys, the first Indian in them were ruthlessly suppressed. They know the severity of the wounds inflicted on our country by the whole sea of second Indians. Every one of us is involved in this war. The war between the first Indian and the second Indian inside us. No other enemy of the country is as disastrous as the second Indian who is analogous to cancerous cells. They have the capability to kill us from within. It is time for each one of us to throw away the mask of second Indian and wear the mask of a true warrior fighting for his love for the country.

Hope the boys continue to keep their first Indian in good spirits and realize that ‘A bend in the road is not the end of the road’.