Exploring Random thoughts

While flying from Mangalore to Delhi, I had a fascinating chat with a sailor seated next to me. He shared his experiences at sea, explaining how Indian captains are overly submissive to ship owners, leading to excessive workloads for sailors. In contrast, foreign captains boldly stand up to them. This rings true and exemplifies our deeply ingrained submissive nature. It reflects a broader trait in our national character: a pervasive fear of authority and the powerful, traceable back to our feudal era. Feudalism isn’t unique to India—many societies, including Europe, were once feudal—but the Industrial Revolution largely eradicated feudal mindsets in Europe, while India still grapples with them. Communal and class divisions remain deeply entrenched in our society as well. This fear of questioning authority makes our country fertile ground for high-level corruption, dragging us backward. Fear stifles free thinking and innovative ideas; nothing can flourish in an atmosphere of dread. Our parents instill this fear from childhood, as do our schools, where we end up rote-mugging whatever is taught. Education rarely encourages questioning or out-of-the-box thinking; instead, it produces an army of walking robots from our universities. Things are worsening today, as right-wing ideology seeks to capture educational institutions and instill hatred among students. They aim to erase the noble aspects of our history through xenophobia and propaganda.Thus, truth has become the biggest casualty—it’s increasingly hard to discern fact from fiction. Indians are constantly fed lies and propaganda: our media has been bought, the judiciary silenced or coerced into issuing government-favorable judgments, honest people jailed, bright young Muslim scholars imprisoned, elections rigged, elected representatives bought off, and scams an open secret. Yet we remain scared to question authority. This stems from an education system that silences the masses—one that chases money at the expense of conscience. As long as our families are safe, we hardly care about others. As the saying goes, “Catch them young.” For India to change and hold politicians accountable, our education system must transform. It should be value-based, fostering innovative thinking. It’s astonishing that a nation of over a billion produces only job seekers knocking on the doors of rich countries. We merely copy the West, with no original inventions or creations to claim. We must stop being blind devotees of politicians and religions; instead, embrace true spirituality and elect inclusive, kind leaders over divisive ones. Above all, we must teach our children to ask questions rather than blindly follow the herd.