WHEN THE STORM BLEW AWAY-3

CONFUSED GENERATIONS versus SKYWAVES GENERATIONS!


Amit had not only read this article by Gurvinder Thukral but had also made a photo copy of the same and kept in his ‘TREASURE FILE’ of noted articles. He was at IIMC, New Delhi when this article had appeared in THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE of January 2000. Amit was not sure of the date as he had forgotten to put it on his photo copy. In the institute, he had not only witnessed heated debates but also actively participated in them on the lopsided thinking of what Gurvinder called “CONFUSED GENERATIONS” .

Gurvinder had argued that the post Second world war, the sudden collapse of the COLONIALISM had created a euphoria of self- greatness in the developing world. Anti-colonial leaders of AFRO-ASIAN region had niether considered nor planned a strategy to move ahead beyond freedom and independence. When the colonialists departed , there was sudden vacuum in experienced administration and management. There was thought-bankruptcy on the future guidance, directions and movement of society and the polity. In a fit of things, old was sought to be discarded because of its colonial connections but there was no real ideas ever espoused as to how to move forward with a new identity. Thus, new nations and polities either adopted ‘Hit and Trial Method’ or left it to their ‘Bigger- than -Life- Leaders’ to chart out a course of action. Most of these leaders were despotic and one-track minded and so on their whims and fancies, the grappling in the dark began. The 20th Century decades of Fifties and Sixties were decades of “ Confusion and Chaos” in the Afro-Asian nations. India was no exception despite the towering personality of Nehru and his elk in the freedom movement.

The generations born in the aftermath of the Second world war had to rear themselves up on a system set up by the colonialists but run by the impractical yet idealistic nuances of leaders with nationalistic fervour. Therefore, there was a huge gap on what was practically admissible and what the theorists of idealism wanted. This led to dilution and adulteration of social, political and moral ethos. Thus, the children who grew in these environments were practically torn between the two extremes of what the heart wanted but the head did not approve of. This inner conflict led to mental confusion through out. Most of them were mental slaves of old values while putting up a façade of a free person. Mental inhibitions had closed their minds to what is new and desireable. They were out of sync with the fast paced growth in the developed world. They continue to be so even in a world flatened by technology and communications. Gurvinder was more harsh with the development in India. He wrote an auxillary on the CURSED GENERATIONS OF INDIA. He had advised the CONFUSED GENERATIONS to stop moralising the young and let them get on with their task. In fact , he had said , “---the young ones know what is to be done to take India forward. Retire, you old fogies! Hand over the reigns of power to the young.”

In the light of preponderance of fog about the truth on the case he was currently handling, Amit wondered if it had something to with the moralities of ‘Confused Generations’. He opened his brief case; took out his “Treasure File” and pulled out this article by Gurvinder Thukral on the ‘Confused generations’. He began to read. It read:-



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THE AGE OF SKY WAVES GENERATIONS

By

Gurvinder Thukral



“Did you rape your sister?” , a young college girl from TARN TARAN in punjab had fired this bullet at me from a very close range and I dropped dead in my thoughts. She had incapacitated my mental faculity with one simple shot. I was not only stunned but also mentally immobilised. In response, I could only utter, “ Miss! Your question was irrelevant and unthinkable---------.” It was a very meek response to a very powerful burst of anger but it was adequate to ignite the volcano in her. She discoursed me on how ‘unthinkable” has become “thinkable”. She was absolutely right. We are confused. My generations are confused as to what we really want in life. We are confused whether we want our children to be modern and forward looking or we want them to be entangled in the web of old moralities----- designed for some other age; some other centuries and some other people , long gone from the surface of this earth. In the name of religion we regiment their minds on true and false gods. We bind their mental processes into “THINKABLE” and “UNTHINKABLE” human acts. We preach something else; we do something else.

All religions forbid violence but it is the die-hard followers of these religions who kill and prepetuate violence. Do I take it that the teachings of all religions are false, fake and man-made sermons? In pursuit of the ‘Hitlerite’ principle of "SELF- EXCELLENCE or WE-THE-BEST”, we ridicule others. We sit on judgement on their beliefs, faith and their way of life. We want them to follow what we think is right. We want to impose UNIFORMITY on all and sundry. This is the basic cause of all human conflict. “ Be-like-us-or-Perish” philosophy of all religions, polities and societies has been the cause of man-made destruction, devastation and damages down the centuries.This has become more pronounced in the aftermath of second world war—the war to end all wars. In their single minded pursuit of an objective of enforcing self-perceived uniformity, all social, political, economical and religious philosophies unleash violence on their opposing philosophies. There are no exceptions. Although, percepts and contexts might differ but the the contents of end-product, the violence, do not. The architect of racial abuse of THIRD RIECH, ADOLF HITLER, might have died half a century back but his clones dominate the earth under different skins, colours and names. Killers roam the earth like never before.

How do pure, simple and sensitive children turn into desensitised monsters--- oggling venom and practicing extreme violence. Is it due to eloping old moralities? Is it a transitional phase? Does it have a more sinister face for the future? Will there be a turn about to the past? What is the future of humanity—nay, our golden earth. These are questions---questions desperately asking for answers. Who will provide answers? If you take my advice, the answer to your last question is very simple i.e Leave it to the emerging generations. Do not stuff them with OLD, OUTDATED and OUT MODED moralities to confuse them—like our generations are. They will find a way out with new moralities and new social, political, religious, economical and global doctrines and strategies. How do I explain this to you?
Let us be clear—the world is flat and getting flatened everyday more vigorously—with undulating surfaces getting evened out with great pace. Therefore,when such a process is on, how can you protect your specific old identity. The more you resist, the more damage is caused to your social, political and individual self, for, you are up against the tide of the times, whose final bell had been rung when USSR collapsed. The age old maxim, “ SWIM WITH THE TIDE” is your saviour. In other words, accept the reality that old was no more gold. It ought to be consigned to the archives section of human history. Such efforts need more emphasis in the Third World and developing nations. They are more emotionally stuck with their past and not ready to discard it easily.

Let me illustrate this with the examples from our own national life. No doubts, India is in the forefront of this turf war between the old and new. Trouble is with its ageing generations of 'Confused Decades'. They want to cling on to past—which they never understood and followed, but suddenly realised its virtues. They, in their old age, have found the significance of joint family systems and its accompanying moralities. Their self interests have suddenly pitch forked to the top of their brains, the greatness of old social ethos and values. While they harp on them and swear by them, new social and political values as befitting the flatened world are emerging. These new values are reshaping the frontiers , definitions and scope of such terms as honesty, integrity, nationalism and social parameters.
‘Continent Hopping’ global citizens understand these new values whereas old, faded and jaded do not understand them. The difference is : while my generation keeps crying on as to what has gone wrong, the new generation simply says, “ Change the course and ‘Move On”. There is a mismatch in our thinking. Younger generations think we do not practice what we preach. They do not trust us because what act we publically put up or swear by we flounder it in private. We tell a child, do not tell lies. But the very moment when the door-bell rings we ask the same child to tell the visitor that papa was not at home. We do not have the courage to face awkward and difficult situations. We endlessly criticise corruption but we shamelessly accept DIWALI and X-MAS gifts from strangers as recognition of our authority and status. Like chivalary, corruption, too, begins at home. A new trend has begun. Parents go out of their ways to ensure their children do well in school and college examinations. They teach them copying and unfair means. They bribe teachers, examiners and supervisors.

We fix quotas and reservations in the name of social upliftment of down trodden. But who has benefitted in the last 50 years? Reservation has become an INDUSTRY. Government jobs, education and professional institutes are all inflicted by them. What competent professionals would the third rate candidates become in these automated factories? Incompetent doctors, half-wit engineers and inefficient bureaucracy from these privileged reserved classes lay the foundation stone of corruption. When incompetent , undeserving and self-oriented people of low personal values get into position of authority, they have only one agenda to pursue i.e to seek self advancement. Their logic is simple and understandable: “Seen enough of poverty and miseries, it is my chance to alleviate my sufferings and of my family, let moralities be damned.” How can you remove corruption?

We have legalised corruption. Why do we crib about it now? In the process we have sowed the seeds of terrorism and militancy. When we deny the deserving candidates their place in educational and professional institutes, aren’t we practising discrimination? When we tell the youth that there was no place for them in the govt job because they were born in the upper class, aren’t they being denied their fundamental right of equal opportunities? Won’t it cause frustration? Simple, when we deny desrving persons their place, do we expect them to sing songs in praise of constitution? This constitution needs to be changed, it is discrimnatory. The fore fathers of the constitutions were not wrong. They gave 50 years for these classes to come up. But the policy was not allowed to be properly implimented by the power brokers in these lower castes. They wanted to keep their flock together by keeping them illiterate, uneducated and uninformed. Same thing happened to minorities. But the leaders of CONFUSED GENERATIONS are extending these provisions beyond 50 years because of lack of vision. Today, every one who has some clout is getting its quota of reservation. It is a big sham.

How ironic it is, we want to undo the injustice of thousand of years of class and social deprivation, but we repeat the same mistake that MANU is being accused of. We are creating new privileged classes at the cost of competent people. What is the fault of the generations born in the modern times? Is it a good logic to make them pay for the excesses of their ancestors? Who should be held responsible for the past 50 years? Reservation is a retrograde step. It is moving us back by thousands of years. How can you remove the caste system from the society when you sanctify it through the provisions of your constitution? Haven't you legalised the most abohored Caste-system? On one side we want to remove it, on the other side, we keep it alive and prepetuate it throught the law. This is our confusion.
“India is one”, we all say. But you can not buy agricultural land in Maharashtra, if your ancestors were not farmers. You can not buy property in J&K. You can not buy land in Himachal Pradesh & Uttaranchal. There are so many inequities in our so called EQUALITY FOR ALL. We are for sure a confused lot of people. We can not move forward unless we sort out this confusion. My simple question is who has benefitted by this CONSTITUTIONAL DENIAL— which you call reservation or article 370 or simply protection of Hill State and interests of the FARMERS.

The age old maxim, “ Do not give fish to eat to a hungry man but teach him how to catch fish” is either not known to our leaders or it has been glossed over in a competitive politics of expediency. Democracy in our case has become a curse because we are doing only the wrong things what the democracy can ill-afford. In the 50 years of this democracy, we might have created a few feudal lords amongst the lower castes, but general profile of the society has not changed. Perhaps, it was a noble dream of the forefathers of the constitution to rid the society of its caste system. Their motives are well understood but this open ended provision has created another more dangerous evil for the society. Corruption flows out of the constitutional longivity of reservation. Consequently, militancy and terrorism are born out of its corrollary of “CONSTITUTIONAL DENIAL OF EQUALITY” .

No modern nation seeking rapid growth and development can move back into times to correct a social wrong by applying corrections to its past history. This is what Indian constitution is doing? History can not be changed. It must be made to change course by modern dynamism. Such historical corrections, provide analogies for the justifications of more dangerous historical blunders. Demolition of BABRI MASJID on 06 december 1991 was a similar folly. History must be accepted as it is.Change its future course by not correcting it but by breaking free of it. Those who defy history and tend to correct it, undoubtedly become its victim. India ,certainly in recent times, has become a victim of its own history. If it moves forward three steps every day it is pulled back two steps next day.

When this young girl from Taran Taran in Punjab asked me if I had raped my sister, she might not have literally meant it. What she probably equated the word “SISTER” was with our high portals of self-acclaimed “MORALITIES”. And we rape them everyday in the name of law and constitution. We do so when in search of honour and glory, in pursuit of riches and comforts. We do it in a bid to create a public image. We create an aura of self greatness about ourself.

We do it as public servants; we do it as men of media; we do it as politicians; we do it as judges; we do it as parents; we do it as men and women; we do it as religious people; we do it as businessmen; we do it as administrators; we do it as law enforcers; we do it as defenders of our borders; we do it as legal practitioners; we do it as champions of human rights and civil liberties; we do it as teachers and preachers; we do it as ministers and men of authority; we do it as common people and we do it as previleged people. We do it and we do it. Every day we preach to each other; we sermonise each other; we debate and discuss but every day we forget what we had said. We excel in moralising but we fail in practising our own philosophies. We take pride in our history one moment and condemn it the very next moment. We make bagful of promises to all and sundry but we fulfil none. This is the bane of our society—theorists par excellence but the poorest practioners of theories. This is our modern dilemma. It is because of our social hang-up of the past. Our moralities are of old joint family system which has been ripped apart. These moralities keep humming our heads like a melodious symphony. Enchanted and mesmerised by them we close our eyes and go to sleep. We are totally oblivious of strides the others are making in the social reforms and national security.
People born in the confused decades of fifties and sixties of 20th century are caught in this hang fire of social confusion. They can not come out of this CHAKRAVYUH (Encirclement). We need an ABHIMANYU to break this 'Confusion Aided Encirlement' (CAE). Mercifully, our SKY WAVE GENERATIONS (SWG)----the children born in the era of 'Space Age', say after Niel Armstrong put his foot on the moon ------- have broken free of this CAE. We must trust them and fully supprt them. Our hopes lie with SWG. The young girl was right .We must think of the UNTHINKABLE. We must not shackle ourselves into known and unknown truth. We must not reject the new customs and new values. Accept them. If kissing in the public is no more a taboo, do not keep making it a horrendous sin. If love marriages are becoming a fashion, acknowledge it. If Valentine's day is a bigger festival than your RAKSHA BANDHAN then, so be it. Let the SWG hold the banner and march forward. Let my generation gracefully retire—even if we do not like the type of change and the direction of change. SWG knows what it is doing---it is their future—let them build their own moralities. Burry the past for ever. Let us make a break with history. My bet and hope is on SWG. I hope so. I can only hope.”





Amit kushwaha had liked this plain speaking by Gurvinder Thukral. He knew the present case has some rough edges but its answers lay in breaking the CAE about the real truth. Will he be able to this? Could he think of the unthinkable about the case? He was happy he had not formulated any personal opinion about the case so far. He refused to join either of the two clubs—one supporting POACHERS , other standing by the prime accused Mr. Sanatan kumar, ex-SP (operations) of Bhatinda police in Punjab. He had liked Pritam khullar’s advice, too, who had told him to wait for the judge to give his verdict. What mattered to him was the truth. And the truth was far away. Amit lost in these thoughts when his lordship, Shri Shashank Sen Gupta, had begun to read his judgement. Amit was shaken by the person sitting next to him. He regained his posture and started listening to the honourable judge very attentively to filter out truth from judicial pronouncements.Was it possible?



-----to be continued in Part -4 “ THE JUDGEMENT”