Shame on India!
Riots in Orissa a Shame on the Nation
Mayawati's shame, India's shame!
Corruption ‘On’ full scale-India
Illicit trafficking of drugs in India-a matter of shame
Shame On You, Mr Vice Chancellor
TAMIL SHAME INDIAN SHAME
A tragic incident took place in rural Tamilnadu a few days ago that has serious implications for our country.
A Sub Inspector of Police[SI] was attacked by a set of goons who threw a bomb at him, near fatally stabbed him, and using a sickle chopped off his legs. He was writhing in agony and crying out for help and a glass of water.
Used as we are to even more heartrending stories of violence the national media gave it some coverage before moving on to more ‘ serious’ topics like the box office success of the movie ‘ 3 Idiots’. .There is a startling aspect to the murder story that the media has just not thought fit to highlight.
Shortly after the attempted murder of the S.I a convoy of vehicles ferrying two ministers and an I.A.S officer of the state government drove past the dying policeman. Reports say that the VIP’s looked on even as the SI was gasping for breath. They were seen talking on their mobiles apparently trying to summon an ambulance BUT NOT ONE OF THESE V.I.P.s DECIDED TO CARRY THE S.I. IN THEIR CARS TO A HOSPITAL. By the time an ambulance showed up the SI was dead.
The attitude of the ministers and the IAS man was symptomatic of an essential aspect of the Indian ethos. Let me explain.
It is a fallout of our caste system and the kind of thinking and attitudes that the system has fostered that WE DISFAVOUR ANY ACTIVITY THAT REQUIRES US TO USE OUR HANDS. WE PREFER CEREBRAL PROFESSIONS.. I CALL THIS THE FORWARD CASTE ATTITUDE
I hasten to add that this attitude permeates people of all castes. The ministers in question may have built their political careers attacking forward caste people but now that they are in a position of power they are loath to get down to the street level to, carry the SI in their arms, dirty their hands, get their arms and clothes blood soaked and try and reach the man to hospital. These acts require the use of hands, Far easier it is to dial a number on the phone!
That few engineers choose to opt for an engineering career and prefer doing an MBA from any obscure Business school shows their preference for a ‘ management’ career. Not for them the dirtying of hands in a factory . Even among MBA’s ‘ selling’ is looked down upon and ‘marketing’ looked up to.These students are victims of a society that devalues vocations that aren’t ‘ office; jobs. The Mandal phenomenon and the demand for reservations is entirely confined to office jobs.
I recall once ringing up my Maryland based friend Bob who is the owner of a big company that maintains residential houses/I was in India on a visit when I saw on CNN how a blizzard had covered my locality in two feet of snow. I panicked and requested Bob to ‘ send’ one of his ‘boys to clear the snow in my drive and on my car parked there.
An hour later Bob called me to say that the job had been done. I requested him to convey my thanks to his ‘ boys’.
‘ ‘ Thank me Ravi. I cleared the snow. For Bob a job is a job.’
A final question—when did you last see an IAS officer jostling with common people to get forms for admission of a kid into KG class ? When did you ever see an IAS man struggling to get into a train or bus on the streets of any city in India?
K.R.RAVI
CHENNAI
