THE ROOT CAUSES

The situation is grim beyond any doubt. Then why is it that we have sunk to a such pitiable depth?? Why do we find ourselves in the grip of such a deep malaise? Where have we gone astray?? It is apt to pause and ponder on this question and get at the root causes before we set out the remedy for the ills. By far, the most common cause attributed to this pathetic situation of the country is theselfish and self-aggrandising politicians. Greed and selfishness are definitely causes, but these are not limited to the politicians. The entire society has deviated from the ideal of contentment and is hurtling on the path of possessing everything instantly. If analysed properly, it would be clear that the emergence of a 'professional' 'class' of politicians itself is a symptom of the stinking rot in the polity. In a republic, leaders ought to be part of the community, living as others in the community live, and doing generally what others do for a livelihood, but have chosen to take the additional responsibility of serving the society. But today, a separate 'class' of people, nay goons, who 'choose' 'politics' as their 'profession' has risen because of the indifference and resignation of the citizens towards all social and political matters. The so-called 'leaders' are, in reality, mere useless parasites in the system. If the forces of resurgence and nation building have run out of fire, it is because of the self-centred life-style chosen by the citizens and the general ignorance or indifference of the citizens towards societal matters, nation building and above all their duties in making the democratic system work properly. Overwhelming majority of Indian people are yet to realize their responsibilities and duties in a free democratic republic. People are, in fact, yet to realize their responsibilities as citizens. Majority of the people are yet to realize that gaining political self-rule without taking interest in actually making self-rule a success is futile. And as a result, people are, in fact, yet to become citizens in many ways. In democracy, the role of citizen is neither limited to nor ends with casting vote to elect his representative. He has more or equally important responsibilities, which include, performing his fundamental and other duties as a citizen, auditing, as a individual and as part of the community, the functioning of the government and his representative, and taking corrective measures in cases of inefficiency or corruption. Indian democracy in this aspect is yet to come of age. Even those citizens who are quite aware of their duties, choose to remain indifferent or turn a blind eye. Everyone desires a perfect system, but almost everyone is weakening and tearing it apart from within. Or at least not everyone is doing even his/her small bit to protect, nurture and strengthen it. People shamelessly jump signals, barge into no-entry zones, spit and trash all over on the roads and parks, violate building bye-laws as a rule, bribe to speed up work, obtain undue favours or cover-up violations, and yet want the system to be clean, fair and efficient!! Nation and society are hardly a matter of concern for the individual. For a common person in today's India, with rare exceptions, himself/herself, his/her immediate family i.e. his/her wife/husband and children are the only centres of attention, care and responsibility. He/she will go out of his/her way to do anything to keep this lot happy, but does not care to look beyond. This 'I, my wife/ husband, my children' syndrome has robbed the society and polity of its vitality and vigour, and the resolve of nation building. To top it all the 'educated' class, one which is supposed to lead and guide the society, remains largely inert to the plight of their country, unable to extend their love and service beyond their spouses and children. The 'nothing can be done' and 'I am too small/tiny a pawn to challenge / confront' excuses are used to cover up the lack of moral courage and will to stand up to clean up the system and set it right. Venting their 'frustration' with the 'system' over tea, in the drawing rooms, in the media or on the internet is a great pastime and probably the self-chosen 'conscientious duty' of many 'citizens', more importantly the ‘intellectuals’ and the ‘educated’. At best, people are content with doing a little charity or the like here and there.
Thus we conclude that there are two causes for the rise of this situation:

• Man's endless desires, greed, selfishness, reckless attitude, erosion and compromise of values, perversion, and misuse and abuse of democratic rights.

• Ignorance, idleness, passivity and indifference of the citizens and non-performance of their duties
  Lack of efforts on part of the people, generally, to curb evil tendencies and forces in their infancy has led to their growing into monstrous sizes and to their ubiquitous presence. This is due to ignorance of large mass of the people about their duties in a democratic system or willful idleness, passivity and indifference of the people who are capable of understanding things and appreciating their duties. Thus on the one hand, there has been rise of evil tendencies and forces and on the other hand there has been lack of defence or offence by the society against these or it has not been adequate. These conclusions can be arrived at by anyone at anytime with appreciation of the rich collective wisdom of past generations as well as good commonsense analysis. Therefore it is worthwhile to revisit the collective wisdom of mankind. The key to the alleviation of our society from this situation lies in the appreciation and and internalisation of this knowledge and wisdom. This wisdom helps us analyse and understand the larger concepts about life, the individual and the fundamentals on which human society exists or ought to exist for its smooth functioning. Having appreciated this, we would realise, whether we have failed to adhere to these basics? (which is the cause of our current pitiable state), and if we have failed, to what extent? Only then the right corrective action can be identified and adopted. Otherwise we may keep on doing patchwork or superficial things thinking those are the real causes. Also identification of the basics would convince us of the need for adhering to them.