Creative
Truth: Scripting a new Narrative for India
In advance of
Modiversary, two articles appeared in the Hindu(one of them comprises five short pieces under the overarching
caption “Year 1: Still waiting for Acche
Din?”) and one in the Times of India, all three of which are intellectually
stimulating, thought provoking with a balanced and objective analysis of Modi
and his style of governance. These are articles that demand penetrative reading
to enable us see India both in the
present and in the future tense instead of yielding up to the reams of words
and images that flow through the
different media channels, spin doctored by the Modi(and the BJP) brigades.
These articles are in canonical frames of good and sound journalism with malice
towards none and resonance towards all. They beckon us to think objectively and
wisely without being hamstrung by political affiliations and biases. Though the
TOI article appeared last( Monday, the 25th), it proved to be the
catalyst to activate the ideas contained in the Hindu articles that appeared
earlier on the 23rd ad the 24th respectively.
The TOI weekly column
“City City Bang Bang” by Santosh Desai is an appeal to the thinking class,
though it is addressed to Rahul and the Congress to conceive an idea for India and not remain smug repeating the
hackneyed idea of India. This is a
pertinent advice as the hackneyed idea of India has lost its meaning with
overuse by divergent political parties to win over the simple and gullible people
who form the majority of the Indian electorate. It now sounds an empty rhetoric as the idea of
India has by now outlived its central purpose of coalescing different ethnic,
linguistic, cultural and religious groups of the pre-independence days into a
single united India (now more chauvinistically referred to as Bharat). Can the
idea of India today represent our inherited tradition from the Ramayana, the
Mahabharata, the Manusmriti etc or is it a new concept that looks forward to a
new 21st Century India? Does it blind us to a make-believe concept
that all wisdom originated from India(from genetic engineering to head
transplant to aero sciences) or does it take us to a futuristic heady mix of
modernism that leaves behind the inherited legacy of many centuries and apishly
follows all that is sourced from the West? If the right-wingers fall back upon
cultural reversion, the opposing group seeks to chart a new course that is
antithetical to cultures, customs and praxis of the traditional past. The
cacophony let loose by these two groups has resulted in the blurring of the
concept of the idea of India. Santosh
Desai has rightly argued for an idea for
India in place of the outdated and cacophonic idea of India. This is the
central thrust of his article titled “Rahul Gandhi and the Political
landscape”. Crediting Modi with a rare sheen of magic that has catapulted him
to the PM’s chair, he argues that unless a new narrative for India is written,
it will be difficult to dislodge Modi from his exalted position as a game
changer. He wistfully wonders whether Rahul can ever rise up as a challenger if
he continues with the hackneyed idea of India, romanticizing poverty like Don
Quixote who employed a simple farmer Sancho Panza as his squire and lived like
the knights errant of the old, out of sync with contemporary times. In a slightly stretched manner even the
current PM is similar to Don Quixote, with his love of Selfie, his obsession
with himself, his wardrobe and his theatrics. This narcissistic streak of Modi
is affirmed by Shiv Viswanathan, the eminent Sociologist in his short article “A
Victory of Propaganda” in The Hindu. He warns about the growth of a new
cult around Modi, which when combined with Modi’s love of himself and his
trumping of dissent and criticism against him, signals the rise of a new
Goebbels, wholly at odds with democracy and democratic institutions. It is not
just his wearing a bandhgala suit priced at nearly one million rupees, but the fact
that the suit was decorated with his name all along the pin stripes has earned
him the sobriquet “megalomaniac”. Shiv Viswanathan says that the only
significant achievement of the first year of Modi regime has been the
institutionalizing of Modi image making him out to be a cult figure. To the
NRIs in the developed West( but not those in the struggling Gulf countries that
Modi has till now ignored), Modi presented
himself as a Rock star who covertly applauded their exodus from India as the
country had offered nothing to them till he took over the reins of the nation. Modi’s
idea of India all these years seems to have been one of deep shame and embarrassment
which he promises to undo in his new scheme of things. This is narcissism at
its heightened worst and signals his idea for a new India- an India for him, by
him and of him. Taking off from Sagarika
Ghose’s recent article about NRI’s long-distance Nationalism, that talks about
the frenzy of NRI nationalists in the Western hemisphere to put “I” before India, I would say that this
trait suits the present PM whose idea of India is I+ nd(I)a where “I” alone with concession to the coalition partners of
‘nda’ is the only visible and ubiquitous alphabet shining in the Modi
firmament.
With no big bang
reforms in the first year, Modi’s government has disappointed the business
community, says Sriram Srinivasan in the second of the five pieces. This is
largely because of the excess promises made before the election without either
finding the means to fulfill them or understanding the inherent problems of
execution. The third speaks of the
ecological suicide not only seen in the budget cuts for the Ministry of
Environment, Forests and Climate Change(MOEFCC) but also in blocking the funds
of leading NGOs like the Greenpeace
India which basically address the problems of
people affected mainly by a government that favours the corporate over
public interest. The fourth talks about the lack of promised good governance
and sees Modi’s inability to push through reforms as a sign of timorousness in
the context of post-Delhi elections where his party was routed. The last by
Prof. Krishna Kumar talks about the pathetic state of education- primary, secondary
and higher education which is an index of the government’s apathy and lack of
understanding of this vital area that is a singular contributor to the progress,
development and welfare of the society. This piece is to be read alongside the
one that appeared in the Hindu a day earlier by Anjali Modi that encapsulates
the government’s indifference to Mass Public education as it is not a priority
in the government’s agenda for development. The quality of education is of no
concern either to the Ministry or the bureaucracy that runs educational bodies
like the UGC, RUSA, NAAC etc. Simply coining new acronyms like MOOC(Massive
Open Online Courses), SWAYAM(Study Webs of Active learning for Young Aspiring
Minds),CBCS(Choice based Credit System) seems to be a fetish with the present
Ministry of HRD without wondering who will deliver MOOC( as even the regular
institutions have a woeful lack of quality faculty),who will provide the study
webs and what those studies will include or how to work out CBCS without
improving the needed infrastructure and making fundamental changes in the
teaching learning processes. Previously we were used to words and words-an
empty, verbose dilation on “What ails Indian education”. Now words have been replaced
by alphabets that satisfy the creative genius of the coiners of acronyms.
Who will now rise up to
write a new narrative? What shall be the content of that narrative? The BJP and
the Congress spend all their time in and out of Parliament, sparring at each
other. They have made an art of “tu tu, mein mein” and their shrill shouting passes
off as intellectual discourses. For both
the national parties, coming to power is the only goal. And towards achievement
of that goal, they are averse to taking risks of introducing new and dynamic
changes that may seem unpopular at the beginning though they may prove
beneficial in the long run. The best
they can do is to change the names of schemes and change the names of the
leaders after whom the schemes had been conceived. Old wine in old bottles is
what they would choose rather than seek fresh wine and shape new bottles.
I am neither an IAS
bureaucrat nor a politician. So without fear I can lay down my narrative that
will be purely a new narrative for India, by India and of India. In this
narrative the dramatis personae are We, the people of India whose modern
aspirations form the pivot of the narrative. Hence the contribution to satisfy
those aspirations has to come from the people themselves. The essential
components of a narrative are the characters, the setting, the plot (action),
the conflict and the resolution.
The characters are the
individuals that the narrative is about and they are the ones who act and whose
action leads to the unfolding of the story. Indians have enormous strength and
potential for braving the hardships of life. We may grumble and groan but we
will be able to put up with long hours of power outage and scarcity of water
unlike our Western counterparts from well developed nations who cannot be
without these bare essentials of modern life. This is a genetically inherited
strength and we are hardwired to physical hardships. We should recognize this
inner strength and turn it to our advantage by sheer hard work. We can
certainly draw upon our past tradition where starting with Surya
namaskar(homage to the early rising sun) ,we gear up for the daily chores. All
talk about education must begin with helping young boys and girls to understand
that there is nothing impossible to achieve if they recognize their inherent
strength and apply it to the work on hand. Graded physical training should be
given to boys and girls from primary school till they finish their higher
secondary. They have to be trained to gain confidence in their physical
strength so that they can take the load of any kind of work. What is gained in
the early years does stand us in our adult years. It is time that we, the
people of India learn to work tirelessly and not baulk at physical work. This is one of the lessons we can learn from
the West, from China and Japan. If our young students( I include the fairer sex
also) are made to work physically in the construction of roads and buildings,
in cutting canals for water to flow to
the fields and rural households, working
in agricultural lands and in building schools and hospitals in rural
areas, installing pipes, drains and
electrical posts to bring water, sanitation and power to the rural areas, we
can raise smart villages and not wait
for the government to chug-chug its plans for creating smart cities with the
help of foreign investments. Why should educated boys and girls, men and women
fight shy of physical jobs and only prefer soft jobs in air-conditioned offices?
Hence the need to make compulsory physical labour a part of high school and university
education should be a new daring policy to be introduced and followed by us.
According to the
statistics available for 2012, India has a work force of 487 millions of which
the organized sector has 27.5 millions only. The unorganized and unincorporated
enterprises from push cart vendors to migrant workers constitute 94% of the 487
million work force. It is time to elect a government that can boldly take steps
to increase the work force in the country and engage them productively and profitably.
This will be the beginning of a classless society where physical hard work is
not regarded as low and inferior, where the high and the low, the rich and the
poor all mingle to work for the construction of a new India and a new mind-set.
PM’s Swacch Bharat is a good scheme that has to be implemented by all
organizations by involving all people to bring cleanliness and hygiene in the
country. This is not a one day photo-op activity. Rosters are to be drawn in
schools, colleges, universities, in offices and markets for everyone to
compulsorily participate in cleaning the premises and the environment. In Delhi
we have planned residential colonies that are administered by the RWAs(Residential
Welfare Associations).RWAs should engage every member of the residential
colonies to work at least once a week towards Swacch colonies. This
participatory effort can bring a new clean India, even as it removes the
cobwebs in our minds with regard to physical work. A sparklingly clean and
shining India is in our hands as much as in our minds.
The second component,
the setting is ready. India is at the crossroads between emerging capitalist
economy and earlier socialist economy, between private and public enterprise,
between the wealthy class and the poor class (and sandwiched between them is
the aspiring middle class), between the educated and the illiterate, between
corporate and field workers, between the traditionally backward groups and the
creamy forward groups, between tradition and modernity. The characters have to
come to terms with the present setting branded by contradictions and play a vital role in the development
of the new narrative.
The action, the third component of the narrative, is to find
a middle path between these two extremes that divide the society. Overarching
this action is to bring together the heterogeneous forces pulling in different
directions to some form of homogeneity. This is the idea for a new India. For the
last seven decades there has been a consistent attempt to raise the deprived
backward classes and the government’s affirmative action centred on
reservations for them in education and employment.
Time has come to take bold steps to gradually withdraw reservations and
treat them as equal members of the society. This constitutes the last two
elements of the narrative- the Conflict and the Resolution. It is easy to stay
with crutches, but it requires remarkable courage to do away with crutches and
walk aright. In place of reservations, let there be equal opportunities to one
and all, commensurate with their individual talent and temperament. Not all the
scions of rich families are good at study nor all the descendants from a poor
or backward family are poor at study. The tamil proverb says “Pathiram arindu pichai idu” –i.e., whenever we donate, we should donate to the
deserving. Identify the talent and the strength and provide opportunities that
satisfy every individual’s capability potential. Those good at sports, in
music, dance or drama, should be provided with learning and employable
opportunities in these fields. Reservation as it is enforced today is just the opening
of the doors of universities and professional colleges to all and sundry who
may not have the aptitude and the interest in pursuing studies. People should
not demand more than they can chew. They should be given opportunities that
they can explore in keeping with their talent. In the bargain ,universities and
academic institutions will have only dedicated students to pursue research and
generate new ideas for the growth and development of society. Education is not
to be limited to academic knowledge, it also includes knowledge about fine arts
and performing arts and developing sensitivity to art and aesthetics. It is the
refinement of feeling and thoughts that will promote the holistic growth of an
individual and enable him/her to cultivate humanity.
The most important attention has
to be given to high quality universal education. At present the focus is on
numbers enrolled in schools without bestowing a thought about who teaches them
and how well trained they are to be teachers. It is no secret that the quality
of education in a large majority of schools set up both by the government and
the private commercial minded educational entrepreneurs is appalling. The
present government has also cut the budget for the midday meals scheme, which
is the most important aspect of school education. Nutritional food in India is a
luxury enjoyed by the moneyed class. The Middle class finds it difficult to
provide two decent meals and that rules out the possibility of their children getting
high calorie meals. As for the lower classes, the staple fare of chapatti twice
a day is itself a luxury. The strength of a nation is dependent on the strength
of its youth and therefore mid- day meals of good nutritional value is the best
way to get children to the schools. Eating together without class
consciousness, observing table manners, washing one’s plate and spoon after the
meals are lessons they learn and which will stand them good in their later years.
Re-building character, inspiring a
passion for work, sensitizing people to the emotional and physical needs of
fellow citizens, encouraging a spirit of friendliness and compassion, exalting one’s thoughts and
feelings to apprehend the best and the noblest ideas and instilling refinement
in thoughts, actions and words are the possible means to overcome the current
apathy, unconcern, insensitivity, crassness and selfishness that have become
synonymous with Indianness. This shall be the new narrative for to be enacted
by We, the people of India.
To the simple question who
shall script this new narrative, the answer is simple and direct. This is a
unique narrative where the characters are in search of the author and discover
that they alone can script and re-script the new narrative as and when required.
The coalescing of the author and the players will make the new India narrative a
riveting and absorbing one.
To those who read this article may come with a
parting question that cannot be ignored. Does this narrative belong to the
fictional genre or does it belong to our world of reality? The answer is
straight and simple. It is a new script,
introducing a new genre that transposes fiction into reality. This script is open-ended
to accommodate revision of required. It is to be scripted and performed by us,
the people of India. Till now, we have allowed
others to script our narrative as Creative falsehood. We now have the chance to
re-write our own narrative as Creative Truth. Fact or fiction, it is for you,
the doubting Thomas to find the answer.
