The upwardly moble middle-class of our country has invited this slavery upon itself by blindly aspiring to imitate western lifestyle and culture at the cost of our impoverished masses. It is the slavish mentality of the middle-class parents that forces the youngsters into the rat race. Instead of inculcating traditional values of simplicity and sacrifice, the parents and teachers of today are teaching the students techniques of running faster in this race.
The current so-called economic boom and growth is nothing but the process of becoming the mental serfs and slaves of the white people who control the world with their stronghold on electronic media. It is the East-India Company story all over again. But this time they are not using spices for gaining entry.. They use tools like Hollywood/Bollywood, Cricket and Fashion Shows. This time the enslavement is even worse because during the British times, at least we could identify the exploiters by their white skins. This time around they are of our own flesh and blood riding mercs and hondas along roads dotted by slums ! This time it is not the white man pillaging the countryside for timber for the railways, it is we ourselves who are destroying our environment and converting our fertile country into a degraded wasteland where even simple living is going to become impossible in a few years because of the greed of the its people for material good.
So it is futile to complain about poor work-conditions in these boom-time
RE:Slavery once again !
by timepass on May 01, 2008 11:28 AM Permalink
Very true. We should realize the strength we have a drive the world instead of enslaving ourselves to west. We will prosper with the kind of good engineers we produce, but we need not setup BMW factories in fertile lands and drive it by slums. If anything, we should build mor emetro networks and public transportation to help masses and improve env. than inviting BMW and Mercs.
RE:Slavery once again !
by Gajendra Borkar on May 01, 2008 11:42 AM Permalink
Yes, Very Very True.
The only solution to this is when we as a nation change our priorities and redefine development to be in tune with the stark reality that India is completely different from the West. It simply does not have the resources to provide for a happy western way of life for its vast population. But it has great resources if it realises that it first-and-foremost is a Spiritually gifted nation. India's true wealth lies in its spirituality, its infinitely deep cultural roots and its ancient civilisation based on Dharma which commands its people to regard this world not just as a place for sensory enjoyment but as a feild of righteous action and that teaches its people to regard the earth as a holy mother fit for worship and not plunder. Until we remind ourselves of this fundamental truth of our national character, we will continue to be enslaved in one way or the other by the western countries. If there is to be hope, we as a nation need to evolve a lifestyle ethic of its own that restores the ecology and heals the degraded environment. In fact if we look at our history, and our scripture, we will not only find guidelines, but concrete formulas and procedures of how we should make this happen. There is no need to look to westwards to Harvard and Oxford to know how to manage this.
RE:RE:Slavery once again !
by Gajendra Borkar on May 01, 2008 12:02 PM Permalink
Yes. You are correct. We must talk about how to correct this situation. What comes to my mind, is the Swadeshi movement. We can start by changing our own life-style. We stop craving for needless imported goods as far as practically possible. Wherever we are forced to make use of these, we optimise their usage and minimise wastage, (eg. Using the same computer many more years beyond its stated obsolesence lifetime, turning it off to save electricity etc.) We must refrain from buying needless luxury goods, we must find low cost indegenous alternatives to wasteful modern utilities like say water-coolers instead of air-conditioners, etc. Though these examples may seem trivial in dealing with a problem so huge, I think that making an attempt in this direction at the individual level will ultimately snoball into a collective attitude and consciousness. What is important is that we, as educated english-speaking elite, declare our allegiance and commitment to our own native culture and solidarity with our own impoverished masses.
As Gandhi said, what we need is not mass production but "production by the masses". This can be possible only if we as consumers with the purchasing power, exercise it in a way where the demand for goods and services where "production of real value is possible by the masses and not only by the huge factory owners.
Dear Mr. balasubramnian, I will take the liberty to humbly suggest that for starters you may advise your close friends to give up th
RE:RE:RE:Slavery once again !
by Gajendra Borkar on May 01, 2008 12:04 PM Permalink
Dear Mr. balasubramnian, I will take the liberty to humbly suggest that for starters you may advise your close friends to give up their Pepsi and opt for Coconut water for a month. Coconut water can be produced by the masses for the masses. As for Pepsi, we know where the money goes and where the pollution sinks in. Don't we ?
