Sublime and Silly

When I thought of writing, many things that bug me cropped up in my mind. There are range of issues from dirtiness to poverty, from silliness to cheating. Later when I showed some of my writings to my friend in Kolkatta, whom, I turn to have an opinion sometime,suggested, ‘not to write too many bad things about India, what a foreigner would think if he/she reads this’. He is right, I thought, we are the ambassadors of our country,so we should keep certain restraint from criticizing our country. Yet I can’t overlook the complaints I hear from my friends abroad about the poor infrastructure in my country, I can’t shy away from the ‘reality’ I am encountering in my day to day life in India. There may be poverty in every country, pollution and corruption... no country is an exception of this fact. But what has taken me aback many times, is the cheating attitude ingrained in Indian psyche irrespective of the social respectability or financial status.

Many times I was cheated by fruit vendors(they are very cleaver at handing over the rotten fruits by keeping aside the good ones you select) and was forced to argue with shop owners who take extra money for keeping the milk in freezer. Again this is the same with auto walahs and taxi walahs who try to over charge.While travelling in trains I witnessed many times the open bribery of TTEs for allotting berths to those who are in RAC list. I feel honesty is completely disappeared from our society with very few exceptions.

Seeing all this an optimist like me would feel very low and would say to myself , ‘Yes nothing will change in India’.
I do wonder why we cheat ? What prompt us to cheat others ? I don’t think it is financial troubles that force one to cheat. But this attitude is there generally in Indian blood. Evenif they are rich these cheaters would keep on cheating. So I want everybody to do a soul-searching before blaming the politicians or bureaucrats, because this very same society compose of them too. It is very sad we are from the land of a great man who devoted his whole life to truth- a man who preached high thinking and simple living. Yes he has been vanished from the heart of Indians, may be long back. He is the man whom Indians failed to understand, he is beyond an ordinary Indian can think of. I would like to quote the words of Tolstoy who was inspired by this great soul called Gandhiji, ‘A scoundrel doesn’t realise greatness’.