THE SYMPATHY OXYMORON

Our human mind is so complex that it cant be quantified like Mathematics and Physics and hence prediction becomes very difficult. We interact with our ourselves as well as with our environment. The thoughts and words not only depend on our personality and attitude but also on the environment we live in. Our perception depends to a large extent on our expectancy and we say something as good because we perceive it to be good.

We, human beings, are always utility maximisers. We always seek our welfare and development at the cost of others. Not every person is lucky enough to advance in his/her life without exploiting others knowingly or unknowingly. The chunk of our population lives below the poverty line and according to Arjun Sengupta ,former Chairman of National Commission for Enterprises in Unorganised Sector(NCEUS),93 percent of our labour force is unorganized bypassing the labour laws. An average Indian works for more than 9 hours a day to cross the 100 rupee mark.Leisure is hardly a thing in their lives.

There is one group that is the “elite” group who lives a lavish and leisure life exploiting others. I am not talking about the exploitation in terms of land or labour as is being done by most of our political business class. Here comes a new group called the “sympathetic” group who indirectly uses these proletariats for their innovations and inventions and market it with an empathetic tone so that outwardly it appears to be an act for the poor. For instance, we appreciate all those things which are tagged pro poor , be it the rural labour scheme or a diatribe against the rich or a movie showcasing the protagonist as one among the poor and fighting the rich. The ultimate gainers of these acts are again the elite class who are the creators. The poor’s condition remains the same. A ‘Peepli Live’ did not change the condition of the farmers or a ‘Aarakshan’ did not create a favourable discussion towards reservation. Whenever there is an article mentioning the rural India, we read it with awe just to get the feel of the moment.

Human emotion is a façade when the environment really doesn’t make you feel that emotion. I can even sympathize with the rich corporations exploiting the poor for the profit for atleast they are in bad light throughout the rest of their life but not people who are outwardly poor but don’t contribute an inch for them. The emotions these people show is a way of development for them. The ordinary people are fools to believe that such people talk for them rather these people benefit talking about the poor. These “elites” talk about RTE and the compulsions for a child to get educated in this country. I can see thousands of children working in hotels for their livelihood. If every child in this country is educated, who will work in these hotels then ! There are millions working in undesirable conditions. If all of them come under MGNREGA as propounded by this group, then who will fill that vacuum ! Here lies the oxymoron. Even the people who advocate for such changes like 100 % literacy and employment cannot live without these unorganized poor doing the daily chores in their homes. So what is the solution ! No solution ! Status quo ! The conclusion is that there is no such a thing called egalitarian society. At the best we can have a utilitarian society. As far as the world exists, there will be categories called haves and have nots. We may be in haves category today and may shift to have nots category tomorrow. One thing the haves can do is to get a real feeling of have-nots and not just exploiting it for their own benefits.(This writing is also part of that utility maximizing).

SHORT TERM MEMORY WORLD

People had used to give importance to history or pedigree or legacy in this part of the world. I meant history in a literal sense i.e. people used to remember things of the past and used to cherish them. In the past, whatever people had liked, whether it be a person or a thing or anything else, that used to remain in their life for days rather years. Maruti Suzuki earned a huge profit by popularizing just one brand i.e. Maruti 800 and it remained in people’s mind for years. People used to call it just Maruti and it is implied in the call that they meant Maruti 800. Hindustan Lever Ltd too had a similar kind of brand called Lifebuoy which it ran for years in people’s life. People use the word Lifebuoy more than the word soap!

The situation has changed a lot now. The time has come where there is no importance given to the past things or its legacy. The world has become a truly short term memory world. Everything has become a short term contract now. Today you can never say for how long a brand can survive in a market. You can’t say if your job can endure the impacts of the changing markets. You can never even say if your loved ones will love you the same way as they used to be! The markets have started realizing that very fact and they keep changing their brands every year for their survival. Every now and then, we see people change their jobs and they don’t like to stick to one company alone. The era of people working for a company for 30 years has all gone. Today you can’t expect a person to be so loyal to the company he is working for. Easy money and quick money are the keywords in the market now.

Even on a political background, elections were fought on the issues that were looming around in the past. People’s verdict on the mandate depends on the incumbent’s performance in their term. But now, that has changed too. Even when there is a spate of terrorist attacks in the country, even when the nation is reeling under inflation, even when there are communal flare ups in the nation, even when the entire nation is under darkness without power, people still elect the same persons who were responsible for the trauma. People easily forget what was done in the past. Not so long ago, people voted against a government of a state because of an increase in the price of onion. That era is gone. Today, everyday is a new day and the importance of what had happened yesterday is of no value now. Slowly our country is turning into a capitalistic country where there is no value of what was done or what had happened. The only question is “Can he delivers now”?

It might not be a bad idea of thinking of what is happening right now but we are living in a nation where we always give importance to the history or the statistics or its legacy. Or else by now, we would have seen Sachin Tendulkar, Rajnikant and Mohanlal living a reclusive life long ago. But we are slowly turning into a state of oblivion.