We are feudal, come what may

This happened a few years ago when KSOU had not yet been derecognized. I wanted to meet the professor of Sanskrit and was in the corridor searching for his office when I heard a commotion behind me with someone saying, ‘Give way, give way’. I turned around to see two security guards clearing the way for a group of people with the Vice Chancellor in the centre and others fawningly following him to pass unhindered. I was taken aback. Is this 21^st century, I thought, when a Vice Chancellor is treated like royalty. It was disgusting to see such feudal mentality and kowtowing even to an appointed official.

We see similar behavior all the time. MPs behave as though they own the place and demand special privileges as it happened at airports in two recent cases. They are invariably not apologetic and claim privileges as their right. And there are instances of followers on of minor politicians vandalizing toll booths when asked to pay the toll as normal citizens are supposed to. I do not know if it is a hangover from the days of Maharajas, Zamindars and Pallegars but we seem to instinctively pay obeisance to anyone in power. Despite adopting the so called socialistic pattern of governance where everyone is considered to be equal, we seem unable or unwilling to shake off that Ji Huzur mentality.

This feudalistic mindset also influences our attitude towards obeying laws. As the so-called rulers think that they are beyond the law, the ordinary citizen takes vicarious pleasure in breaking the law which he feels is imposed on him by the ruling authorities. If you can break the law and get away with it, perfect- there is nothing like it. Don’t even ask about the law being for the common good and that there is a case for consideration for others in a civil society. It is remarkable that a highly feudalistic society such as the Japanese has transformed itself into an extremely law abiding one. I do not know if the White Anglo-Saxon Ethic has anything to do with it but in most of Europe and USA people are by instinct law abiding. There was a case of a visiting Indian minister in Europe wanting to skip the line because of being a VIP when he was pointed to someone in the queue who was the Prime Minister of that country!

The only place in India where this feudalistic mentality is vanishing seems to be Mumbai where utmost importance is given to the work at hand rather than the person handling it.

Can we ever see a truly egalitarian India where everyone is equal and treated as such?

Whither Language?

At the recently held Mysuru Literary Fest which was more like a Government Sponsored Conference than a Literary Festival it professed to be, one of the speakers, Professor Harish Trivedi expounded on How the use of English was hindering the rendering of social justice to millions of English-illiterates in India, that is Bharat. His contention was that the English based Administration system which has been inherited by us from the Raj, is skewed to favour only 5% of Deshwasis as the rest are disadvantaged by the lack of literacy in English. While there certainly is merit in what he said, the topic raises the issue of language and its importance in our daily life.

To state a fundamental point, language is essentially just a means of communication. All languages have evolved over time as per the needs and characteristics of people in each region. Languages are constantly subjected to modification under the influence of interaction with other languages with the import of new words as well as by the introduction of new words internally. Languages spoken anywhere at present differ substantially from those spoken, say, even fifty years ago. Also, languages probably change every 200 Kms, geographically due to local influences. This is true of any language anywhere in the world. There is no such thing as a perfect language.

As languages only evolve, no one can impose a made-up language anywhere. There was an attempt to introduce what was considered a simplified and logical language called Esperanto which failed miserably. Another point to note is that one does not need to learn grammar to pick up a language. A child learns a language just by being around people speaking that language. When one goes to live in an area where the language spoken is different from one’s own, one picks up the new language just by being there. No one can teach a language by teaching grammar except academically. A grammarian can only record the generalities and exceptions of a language but cannot impose a rule.

Though Prof.Trivedi says only 5% know English in India, he probably refers to the so called correct English spoken by the elite. But the fact is that English is spreading all over India in myriad forms as people realise the advantages of learning it. Just as the so called uneducated have taken to use of mobile phones and associated internet because of their immense utility, they will adopt English as their own for their benefit. This will lead to transformation of English in India depending on the region, local language and effectiveness of communication. One can expect that English in India will be extensively used all over but with any number of variants such as Punjabi English, Kerala English, Bengal English etc.

Shakespeare may turn in his grave but taking liberties, one can say

The only thing certain in this world is change