HOW GOOD IN YOUR VISION?

SHARP EYES BUT POOR VISION

Arundhati Roy is a well known though not necessarily liked crusader for many causes-- the environment and rights of tribals being just two of these. Now would you believe me that Ms. Roy has done what she has been vehemently fighting against ? She has violated tribal land rules and environmental considerations and built a house in a remote forest area in Panchmarhi.

SHARP EYES BUT POOR VISION

When the courts struck this down she said that she did not know the rules and the law!

Now this story brings a facet of human behaviour that remains unchanged across centuries and across all cultures.

I refer to human beings held hostage to one’s world view which in turn is shaped by the socio- economic strata to which one belongs. Also our experiences in life also determines our viewpoint on many matters.

I cannot but refer to the ‘ India against Corruption’ movement that recently grabbed TV time and print space –and is fast fading away.

I noticed for example that the ‘ show’ was almost entirely a middle class spectacle with the poor left out of reckoning. Also left out were any cries about corporate and business corruption . How many of those rooting for Anna Hazare cared to talk about the kind of corruption that affects poor people including tribals ? What about the hafta that street vendors are forced to pay to the local cop, the local goon and even the ‘ grassroots’ politician? If you get to the bottom of such issues you will find a paradox—that the poor part with a larger proportion of their meager earnings than we do, by way of bribery !

I can see one reason why corporate corruption is not covered by the draft Jan Lok Pal bill.—we the middle class stand to benefit by the kind of corruption that happens when an entrepreneur bribes his way in acquiring tribal land at ridiculously low prices, and obtains through dubious ways a myriad licenses and dodges a range of taxes and duties so long as at the end of all this our son or daughter gets a ‘fine job’ with big perks. The kind of job that makes us exult at the ‘ fantastic’ job opportunities that are available to the Gen Next. In effect we are blinded to such issues simply because we stand to benefit from them.

In saying so I am not condemning human behavior .I am simply referring to a human predicament. This phenomenon surfaces even in mundane situations. Even the meaning of words differ from person to person—despite the existence of a dictionary—depending on your life experiences ,prejudices and biases and conditioning.

Take my my dear friend Bernard a Christian who is married to a Hindu cousin of mine and with whom I share great affection. We often engage in loving debates on matters religious with a view to promoting mutual understanding between an agnostic like me and a deeply religious guy.

He once remarked that the Hindu faith has too many rituals .I tend to agree with this but decided to play the Devil’s advocate .I told him that his religion had at least 52 rituals that Hindus did not have. Startled, he asked me for an explanation.

‘You guys HAVE to go to Church every Sunday don’t you ?’

‘But THAT is not a ritual’ he protested .

We laughed. He knew where I was coming from.

I never cease to wonder at human foibles and have made it a subject of deep study for decades now .

It’s fun , believe me.

To end with another telling example. A friend of mine works for a very big industrialist. He often happens to receive the big boss’ wife at Mumbai airport . The lady breezes past the customs and tells my friend that she has brought at New York some crockery—the world’s best—that involves paying customs duty of Rs 20 lakhs .

Then she adds ominously ‘I will not pay more than Rs 2 lakhs. Make sure if that’

My friend is a master at this sort of thing and is paid rather well.

Executives at this company are often quoted in the media as saying that it is corruption that is holding the country down !

KR.RAVI

WWW.KRRAVI.COM