Angry Young Indian

These days I am worried and restless. It is not because I have developed any mental illness. I go through the newspaper, more I read, more I feel the tightened grip of fear and dejection. I don’t know why I feel uneasy. But, a self-intervention helped me clear the smoke screen. It appears I am least bothered about events around me. I prefer to play a mere onlooker than act, unless I see an incentive to act. Just like you. You know it. If two people get into an altercation, I won’t offer to strike peace, instead, I wish I could pull in a chair and watch the high drama unfold… live. Ahh… that’s why we love Big Boss so much! I am a voyeur, just like you. Hang on. There’s some serious stuff coming. Corruption. Someone tries to introduce a change (Lokpal) to our system for my betterment; I don’t pay attention to it, rather I choose not to because I am careless. To add to that we have these so called “intellectuals” who work day & night on government payrolls in media debating it’s benefits to me, trying to confuse me. Sadly, I am gullible enough to fall prey to their arguments (i.e. traps) Where is my Lokpal?

Though not fresh in my memory, I bear terror attacks almost every year now, as if it has quietly transformed into an annual event, with unpredictable dates. Government hates to take strict actions, the most it does is stop talking and playing sports with our neighbour. We capture terrorists and feed them until their execution can be capitalized for damage control or win over some votes. The government is unable to think beyond that because most of their time and energy is channelized to loot the national treasure. On the other hand, to appease me, I am labeled a resilient for silently tolerating these attacks. During my school days, a fellow mate used to bash me during recess, every day, but I never retorted. May be I was resilient! Really? Actually it’s not my resilience but I am ignorant. The worst part is I know all this. I am a stupid, just like you.

The real Dirty Picture took place in the capital last week, a young girl is brutally victimized in broad daylight, no one helped her, worse is the role played by the police. I see the public outrage, sadly it isn’t going to change me either because I am shameless, just like you. I forget too early, I suffer from amnesia. Do you remember A Raja, Kalmadi? My anger no longer boils when I hear their name. Do you remember Manu Sharma, DGP Rathore’s smile? I forgot them long back, because I am hapless. People are swiftly arrested for cartoons, tweets, comments and likes, but police takes more time to arrest rapists, murderers and looters. I am angry and frustrated at all this, just like you.

We have scams launched like new products, each one promises to be bigger, murkier and uglier than the earlier one. To name a few, 2G, CWG, JijaG (starring Mr. Raaabert) and Coal-G, we must have Incredible India ads running showcasing the amount of money swindled in these scams. It would be a hot USP! The government is trying to mold our democracy towards a government of the family, by the people, but for the family & their friends. Wow, it’s really Incredible India. A chief minister says Rs600 per month is enough to feed a family of five, probably we need to ask her to disclose her grocery shop address. I don’t want to talk about inflation anymore, I’ll go into depression. It takes a lot to survive when you are surrounded by so much negativity. But still I won’t change, because I am just like you, a stupid common man, coincidently an Indian and proud too. For what? Of course, for all above achievements!

Right from my childhood I hear “Yeah public hai, yeh sab jaanti hai”. It is correct, I am the public, I know everything but what do I do? I promise, may many scams, corruption, scandals, uncover but I pledge I will still elect the same chaps, because I love it. I love to vent this anguish and despair. I love to keep doing it over and over again, just like you. It is what makes me a proud Indian. I am angry yet careless, resolute yet inactive, cynical yet proud. Yes a proud Indian. Really? Think over it again.

I know after reading this too you won’t give a damn about it, because after all you too are still a “proud” Indian, just like me.

To innovate, undiciplinize

Can a watch innovate? For example, imagine can it ever show a time like 13 o'clock. The obvious answer is NO; a watch can never show such time. (Yes, I agree we don't need such a watch) I know the idea itself sounds stupid, but lets try and avoid being judgmental and think from a different perspective. Why will the watch not be able to show such a time? Becoz it is not manufactured to work like that. Becoz the watch is bound to work in a specific way or in other words it is disciplined to work within some boundaries. Please stress on the word ‘disciplined’. Discipline, by definition means, the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, sometimes even using punishment to correct disobedience. What will you do if the watch starts showing 13 o'clock one day? I know, you’ll get it repaired or probably disown it (the punishment :))

You might have heard about discipline, at some point. Let’s talk more about it. How is a discipline formed? For example, take our daily life; I am sure every one of us performs some routine tasks. They (i.e. idea or an act) originated some day and eventually you kept on repeating it until it graduated into a routine. Then it no longer stayed there, it quickly matured into a practice. This is a state where your mind enters into a territory where you subconsciously start training your mind to follow the rules (formed based on your routine experience). And it is in this state that you also program your mind not to break these established rules, else punishment will be waiting for you (this is done by showing the fear of change). If disciplinize were a word, I would call it a process of disciplinizing your mind. After this process the idea/act is transformed into a discipline, making the transition, move ahead unnoticed. You may still choose to call it a routine, a practice, etc. But you have actually, formed a discipline. A discipline could be as simple as watching a television soap serial everyday to anything like being aggressive in all your financial decisions. Every one of us has developed a discipline. Discipline can be categorized in various types some good, some bad, some you like, some you don’t, some you form based on your comfort level and some..... Actually all/most are based on your comfort levelJ. You tend to cultivate a discipline by practicing it, regularly, without fail. Most of the times, you develop a discipline, err... a routine and then convert it into a discipline, unknowingly. And naturally, as people fear a change, they don’t change it. Hence, the discipline further enters into the elite club of ‘habits’, resulting into imbibing the idea/act deep into our personality.

Now, let’s move towards something different, Innovation. What does it mean? The word Innovation derives from the Latin word, innovatus, which means to renew, i.e. to rebuild, and to rebuild in a new way, with a new approach. Innovation is always new, afresh and young, it has no predetermined formula, and it cannot be achieved by following a set of rules or a code. In contrast to innovation, discipline is like programming your mind to work in a particular pattern. It is like programming a system in a box. You can’t think out of the box if you are programmed, to stay in the box (refer the watch example). In the example of the watch, the watch is programmed to show time till 12 o'clock, so it won’t be able to show 13 o'clock. Similarly, when you are disciplined a.k.a programmed, you will not be able to innovate or least to say, innovation will require more efforts, time and energy. Inventions are made by humans not programmed devices. So now I ask you, do you think we will be able to innovate, if we are disciplined? Can you innovate if you work in a set of rules or follow a code of behavior? So is discipline within us, stealing away the innovational sprouts from us? It seems to be moving in that direction, if not completely, at least partially.

So what if you disciplinize your mind? Caution: it may affect your ability to innovate because it will constantly fear about the punishment for breaking any established rule. Have you ever abandoned an idea during conceiving it just for the fear of rejection because it may not be normal to think like that? That’s what happens. For this you will have to overcome this fear and gather enough courage to stand through to innovate. You may also tend to get bored by following the same rules over and over again.

World leaders have been stressing on innovation in the 21st century. Innovation will lead the way. In the past, those with innovation have always stayed ahead of others. History is replete with examples of the innovation from people who were not disciplined. They use to think unconventionally, out of the box; far from normal (please read, undisciplined) coz thinking normal will not yield you innovative solutions. Look at the insanely great i-Series, why are they successful? Becoz of Innovation. In order to innovate we need to stop living our lives following processes like programmed devices. Look at the current Indian polity, they have developed a discipline to stay corrupt, incompetent and effete, and we as citizens have developed a discipline to still re-elect and tolerate them. Team Anna has come up with innovative ways of gathering mass movement (read social networking) and uniting India for this great cause. The recent ‘Kolaveri Di’ song which went viral on internet can qualify as another innovation. It doesn’t qualify in any genre. It’s rather a case of genre bending. It got more than 10 million hits on Youtube in just 10 days, after release. Super mama… more than 1 million hits a day! That’s the power of innovation.

So is there a conflict of interest between innovation and discipline? Now, you to decide. I can only say, Let there be light. Or can we form a discipline to innovate?