Agono Iralu
I interact with people and youngsters from Slum areas of Delhi. “It is a challenging job”, that is what my friend told me and she has worked with them for eight years now. But it is one those experiences in life which enables you to see more beyond the peripheral and unassuming structures of society. Somehow looking into society from bottom-up gives you a ground-knowledge and also a broader view of the canvass. One needs to mentally prepare as well, in addressing and adapting to their existence of urban poverty. Although it is a humbling experience, I also imbibe a certain level of indifference and objectiveness to blend in and I like to see them from an equal point of view whether its observing societal bondages or relating to another human being. I seem to learn a lot from them. However, something I notice which they themselves also admit is this mediocre approach to their lives, career or circumstances, even, which have constructed their lives as they see it. I won’t say it has not baffled me before how India’s ‘potentiality’ has yet to leave its mark in history.....
Not during or after the decades since 15th August 1947, not during or after the Emergency, or the 90’s when Rajiv Gandhi and his “IT buddies” wanted technology to sweep across Indian infrastructure. The reforms which eventually came then (in the 90’s) gave more freedom to the private sectors and we have eventually seen their growth. Yes, we contribute 41% to the world’s poorest and this is almost one half of the bigger picture and with a population of 1.22 billion it is indeed staggering to take in all these facts. Democracy takes more time to see progress, yet I hope this isn’t a small excuse for mediocrity too. In my last write-up, we saw growth in India through globalization, but more than that we saw what potential India has of becoming more than just that “Democracy” label. The ‘untapped resource’ of raw material in the form and shape of human beings, sheer population work force and Foreign Institutional Investments in the country can be used for a lot more progress for India. I guess I can say I command a good view from where I am standing right now.
Jewish-American satirical Novelist Joseph Heller says: “Some men are born mediocre men, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.” Statistics with the government show corruption cases against government servants have risen from 17.68% in 2008 to 28.39 % in 2011. Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio has even been called out by the BJP state unit as the most corrupted chief minister in India. But Democracy only on a surface if we critically observe and why would that reason be? Why are we not responsible individually, while the blame becomes someone else’s?
When I walk in the streets I like to appease my conscience that I am doing something in society. But it is not exactly easy to ignore the legless beggar in the street or that horribly crippled beggar by the roadside. And in that ‘alien’ society of Caste and Class system, or of indifference, I am tempted to renounce what I had just said and give a ten rupee note to the poor rascal with no shoes, hungry and homeless. But one of my student told me, “If they don’t have hands why can’t they use their legs? Because the person is crippled doesn’t mean he can’t do anything other than beg?” It struck me and I wonder if mediocrity should be eliminated even through these raw essences of human existence. Why do we not try to achieve beyond what we ‘can’?
In a recent article Nagaland saw the highest rise in poverty level in India. It comes as a bit of a shock but what if this is true? What if this is a statistical analysis of our society? What does say it about us and how we have achieved mediocrity now? I believe sometimes our mediocrity is so layered that we think when we actually do something our achievements should be seen instantly. We see few examples through failed businesses which never even managed to keep consistency to prove its worth. Our infrastructure and development are held in abeyance and our mindset becomes further and further retracted to a comfortable level of mediocrity, ‘comfort zone’. Creatures of habit.
When we see the amount of educated unemployed among us perhaps we need to ask that question on how this impresses on society. How society can even deteriorate because we have become stagnant and irresponsive beyond that certain level of ‘achievement’. It also becomes easier to blame one another, blame the higher authority, blame Fate etc. but in reality some inevitable facts fall in line before us. We will need to account a little for what we achieve, what we do not achieve and even circumstances can no longer hide us from addressing the issue of layering upon ourselves levels of mediocrity. Although I am left a little shaken and disappointed, somewhere I have seen enthusiasm and changes coming from small and even humble beginnings too. Of businessmen who started from scratch and tried to make the best of what they had. Of some starting on a 1-3 rupee savings to exemplify how one can create that into an entrepreneur’s associate even. Or the youth voicing out their concerns about society and also trying to bring change within it. And I like to think perhaps mediocrity should be addressed from small beginnings like these. Learning lessons and also its experiences while hacking away its influence in small progresses and challenging ourselves each step of the way, slowly peeling away the layers of mediocrity that have been thrust upon us.
