The Idea(s) of
India
The Idea of India is a handy phrase that has
found currency in India’s pol(l) itical battle and is bandied by all and sundry
who have no idea about the original author
of this phrase or any knowledge about the contents of the book with that phrase
title. It is a catchy phrase overarching India of the past, the present and the
future. It comes handy for politicians of all hues to bandy about issues facing
the nation today by tagging them all to the ‘idea of India’. Those who freely
use this stock phrase as a part of their election drumbeat and those who
mistakenly equate it as their political Weltenschauung, fail to answer a simple
question as to whether their idea of India is an endorsement of the past or a
deviation from it and whether it will serve as
a roadmap for the future. The simple
reason for their inability to answer is they have no idea what the Idea of
India stands for.
Idea as a political term is about opinion or
principle that potentially exists, waiting for its transformation into
actuality. As a philosophical term it is a transcendent concept of reason, of
which reality is but an imperfect replica.
The two meanings contradict each other as the philosophical concept of
idea seems an abstraction and its transformation would only result in an
imperfect actuality. Bertrand Russell defines idea as an image and therefore
the term ‘the Idea of India’ is nothing but a mental concept that is either
undeliverable or imperfectly actualized. Idea therefore varies from person to
person. All human conflicts can be traced to differing ideas that are neither
implementable nor can they be easily
reconciled.
Hence the phrase is useful for all political
leaders as they know that these ideas shall ever remain dormant as they are incapable
of being activated. For example, it is easy to say that my idea of India is
Ramrajya knowing well that Ramrajya can never be actualized as we are not in the
Treta Yug of SriRama but in the Kal Yug, the ‘Age of Downfall’. Even in the Western
reckoning according to Giambattista Vico, the 18th century Italian
political philosopher, the world civilization follows a cycle of four ages. It develops in a recurring cycle of three Ages-
the divine, the heroic and the human. These three ages correspond to the
Theocratic, the Aristocratic and the Democratic phases of civilization. The
last mentioned- the Democratic age -according to Vico will morph into a fourth age
of Chaos as a result of the anarchic tyranny of individual freedom and liberty-the
two founding pillars that hoist democracy. So it is easy to speak about
Ramrajya as the Idea of India only as a notional concept as that cannot be
realized. So to indulge in rhetoric that pretends to significance but bereft of
all meaning is the art of politicians who promise the perennial flow of honey
and manna if they are voted to power.
Does this mean we do not indulge in
ideas? No, we need ideas, though it is a
regrettable fact that we are actually living in an idea-less age where computer
technology continually gives us an overload of information leaving us with little
time to sift and analyze and form new ideas. Generation of ideas is the key to
the progress and development of human beings and the world they inhabit. H.G.Wells
says that ‘Human history is in essence
a history of ideas’. Wells uses idea in the plural as he is aware that
nothing is as dangerous as having just one idea. It is in the blending of
different ideas that human civilization marches on. This is the reason why it
has become imperative to replace ‘the Idea of India’ with ‘the Ideas of
India’ , with their inbuilt flexibility that can be coalesced to give a
direction that would sustain the present needs of the nation without
diminishing the prospects of the future.
The first and
foremost Idea of India is a corruption-free India. Corruption cannot be rooted out in
absolute terms and it is not a phenomenon that ails only our country. It is a worldwide
phenomenon. The effort should be to promote an economically developed nation
that would enable the greatest number in the country to have a share in its development.
This may sound naïve and utopian, but it is not an impossible try as it
attempts to maximize all round development that will reach a very large number
of beneficiaries. Corruption arises from deprivation and greed disproportionate
to one’s requirement and ability. It is worthwhile to understand and adopt
Amartya Sen’s Capability Theory that enables every individual in the society to
seek a platform to realize his true potential. The Idea of India is an India that provides equal opportunities for the
growth and realization of potential inherent in every individual.
Complementing this idea of a corruption- free
nation is education for all. Education, as it is given today lays emphasis only
on attaining minimum levels of reading, writing and arithmetic. The Idea of
India is to implement in full measure the Right to education that should
include moral or value education. Values cannot be taught but can only be imbibed. Education should expose the young minds to
the Wisdom of the Ages that have come to us from distinctive thinkers belonging
to different religions of the world. The essence of religious co-existence
hinges upon the education offered to the young students at different periods of
their stay in schools. No religion preaches hatred, enmity, revenge and intolerance.
What India needs is inclusive education, where learning the conventional or received
wisdom is as significant and effective as analyzing and revising it as per the
demands of the new world order. The idea
of India is an India that brings forth an intellectually sound and morally honest,
truthful and righteous generation of young men and women whose preference will be for building societies which
share with them an abiding respect for individual human rights.
The next Idea of India is a clean and
healthy India. Charles Dickens wrote ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ where ‘Godliness ‘ is a consolidation of humility, faith, respect, discipline
,obedience and kindness or generosity. It
is again a sad fact that India lives in dirt and filth partly brought on by
lack of civic sense, partly contributed by lack of sanitation designed to
protect and preserve public health. Children have to be trained in personal
hygiene and sensitized to the filth and dirt created by our own acts of
negligence and indiscipline. Schools have to compulsorily make young students
in charge of cleanliness in all areas of the school so that they take back with
them the idea of a clean home and a clean environment where they live. The
illness and diseases that periodically spread with the change of seasons can be
minimized by a scrupulous adherence to cleanliness both inside and outside of
home.
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