Degenerating ‘Values’, a Scar on Democratic Fabric
B.
Yerram Raju*
When
R. Durgadoss and I wrote ‘A Saint in the Board Room’ we never thought of being
prophetic. When we see the recent controversies on ‘Mahatma’ getting off the
mark on twitter, and the controversy over the Prime Minister Modi inaugurating
the Parliament on the 28th of March 2023, setting aside the chorus
in the country for the Lady President of India from the Dalit Community to
substitute him, the degenerating values and the decline in governance made me
recall the values emphasised in the 2011 Book referred above. Reinforced, as it
looked, there was a relentless fight of
the women wrestlers of repute waging a war in the streets of Delhi calling for
punishing the offender who intruded into their privacy.
“Leaders like Gandhi acquired discipline
to put to operation the knowledge gained into actual learning. He came across a
book titled, ‘Unto the Last’ by John Ruskin, while he was in South Africa. In
this book Ruskin states that the liberation of the individual lay in the
liberation of the community. This ideology transformed Gandhi. He said, “I
arose with the dawn ready to reduce these principles into practice”. These
principles are based on simple living and pursuit of honesty. Today, we have
many who speak of principles and few, who think of practising them.
Gandhiji felt that one who
cannot wage war over the internal conflicts that require no arms, it is
incredible that non-violence cannot stop war among nations. This recall bears
significance in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Except these two
nations at war, every other nation in the world wants them to be at peace and
this is refusing to happen.
Words of Wisdom from Gandhiji
“Cleaning
oneself is the first step to realize God. When one cleanses his soul, the
spreading effect will have a telling effect on others. He said it was better to
conquer desire and hatred than winning wars with weapons. Further he believed
that one should have humility as one of the main virtues with the outer
boundary of the humility being “ahimsa”
or “non-violence.”
Gandhiji said unto himself: ‘I myself do
not feel like a saint in any shape or form’ (Young India Jun 20, 1924).[i] It
is important to watch the biological clock in life:
|
Age |
Designated
as |
Our role in this
period |
|
0 – 20 |
Butterfly |
We
have colourful dreams; we do not bother for anything |
|
20 – 40 |
Migratory bird |
We
go in search of career to better environmental destinations |
|
40 – 60 |
Donkey |
We
bear the burden of the family |
|
60 – 80 |
Snail |
We
slowly withdraw into a shell, looking more inwards |
|
80 – 100 |
Crane |
We
wait for our final journey towards the eternal world |
Business
ethics, however, is not driven by such biological clock.
Philosophical
outlook these days is inversely proportional to the age. One can find examples
of politicians aged 70 and above are actively pursuing the wrong road to wealth
these days. The child in him has no role model to earn wealth by any other
means.
We
have people loving movies of hatred, street fights, wars, and unnatural
weaponry to show their winning streak. As they age, they learn only to lie and
earn money at any cost by dubious means. We see children getting used to opium
in one form or other. Not a day passes without hearing the news of police
catching hold of such persons.
Cultivating
the right values should start from childhood and their practice depends on the
world they witness. Young parents today do not have time to spend with their
children to teach any of those values, for, they are busy in their pursuit of
wealth. They suddenly realise that all this pursuit vanishes on a single day
when they are handed over exit chit. Lakhs of jobs are lost in the guise of
running their organization better.
The
purpose of the educational system is to prepare its students for a lifetime
learning experience that will go better and faster than it would have otherwise
done without formal education. The test of every religious, political, or
educational system is the philosophies that it produces and the spirit that it
preserves. “If the system violates intelligence, it is bad. If it injures
character, it is vicious and if it injures the conscience, it is criminal”.[ii]
Character
and governance are shadowed. Child of the day is in wilderness seeing those
street fights among politicians, and frightful support to ill-gotten wealth. It
is time for all of us to think – reminisce into the glorious past that produced
Gandhiji, Vijaya Lakshmi Pundit, Gopala Krishna Gokhale, Jawaharlal Nehru,
Vajpayee, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and not think of the colour of
the cloth one wears – white or saffron.
75
year-old independent India, growing economically as the fastest among nations
in the world, ranking fifth now, should not show cracks in its aspirational
century in 2047. Next few years should be the years of correction in thinking,
federal cooperation, respecting the views of the opposition, allowing debate
over dissent, and a determined pursuit of shaping the next generation based on
values and ethics. The saga of Mallyas, Nirav Modi, Chokshi, and the still
brewing Adani story should be consigned to forgotten history. The nation has
the right to freedom of expression and autonomy of institutions within the
well-defined boundaries, and transparency. The largest democracy of the world,
as it would emerge, should be the beacon light as it was during its epic
history.
New
structures always make the legacy, a forgotten past. But the new Triangular
Parliament Structure built on cultural ethos of the nation could herald a new
dialogue, symbolise cooperative federalism and usher in an era of value-driven
democracy.
*The
writer is co-author of ‘A Saint in the Board Room (2011)’, an economist and
risk management specialist.
[i] Mahatma Gandhi’s
Significance for Today: John Hick, Pg 2 of 11 (http://www.johnhick.org.uk/article15.html)
[ii] Henry Frederic Amiel,
Journal, 17 June 1852
