Mixed Doubles
Feature these events that have unfolded over the last couple of months…..
Shilpa Shetty goes to the reality show ‘Big Brother’, a certain ‘Goody’ gets “jaded” with her and throws tantrums at her with a liberal sprinkling of “beeped” phrases;
Subsequent Action --> An entire country awakens from its slumber, cries “foul” and “racism” gets a makeover.
A bomb explodes in the Samjhauta Express killing scores of people and leaving hundreds injured and devastated.
Subsequent Action --> A probe is ordered; Countries hurl/deny accusations; Compensation given to the kin of the dead; the world joins in the ‘We hate terrorism” chorus;
Now compare the above events with these…
Members of a family are brutally raped and burnt down at Khirlanji village in India, the biggest democracy on the face of the planet for the sole reason that the family belonged to the so-called ‘out-castes’ or Dalit fraternity.
Subsequent Action --> A probe is ordered; The remaining members of the family are threatened of dire consequences; The guilty are still at large.
The students from backward sections of the society are shunned by the other classes at even premier institutions like the AIIMS;
Subsequent Action --> The Dean orders a probe; Students confuse their anti-reservation feelings with this; The student from the backward class is left to fend for himself.
A 4 year old kid gets mauled by a pack of dogs at Bangalore and is killed.
Subsequent Action --> The BMP goes on a stray dog culling spree.
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Each of these events seem to portray a character that is inherent in most of us- what i prefer to call ‘Chameleonism’ – the trait of having double standards in things that we profess and things that we do. What is applicable to another man – another family – another race – another country – another species is not applicable to you – your family – your race – your country – your species.
Casteist feelings are still prevalent in 21st century India – more so in the rural hinterland than the urban localities; Haven’t we often come across situations where a person is identified/recognised by his caste/religion/class/profession rather than his name/individuality?
Our pseudo patriotism/ solidarity seems to find no bounds…We tend to become hyper sensitive for trivial issues (the Shilpa episode being a case in point where she ended up as the sole winner – richer by a few million pounds along with global empathy and recognition) while serious issues seem to be getting a miss (the problem of immigrant workers in UK, the Khirlanji killings, the Godhra’s, the Ayodhya’s and the like)
A few stray dogs kill a kid and the repercussions are felt by the entire population of stray dogs;
A few terrorists/ anti social elements kill a few hundred people and the repercussion being the rhetoric, “We shall teach these anti social elements a lesson”. Well, when/how is it going to happen, if at all?
If Shylock were to be alive today and if he were to be a victim of these terrorizations,
this is what he would have probably said
“Do I not have eyes? Do I not have hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Am I not fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a terrorist is? If a terrorist pricks me, do I not bleed? If a terrorist tickles me, do I not laugh? If a terrorist poisons me, do I not die? And if a terrorist wrongs me, shall I not take revenge? If a dog wrong a human being, what is the human being’s humility? Revenge! Cull the species out!! If a terrorist wrong a normal human being, what should his sufferance be by the example of the dog? Why, revenge it will be!
The villainy the terrorist teaches me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.”
Well, when we can take a tough stance against the menace of dogs, why cannot we do the same against terrorists? Its simply because the resistance you might face or the effort/will required to eliminate the dogs is negligible when in comparison to weeding out human irritants from our society.
All this is a manifestation of the larger attribute inherent in the human personality – the capability to play “Mixed doubles” – where we have multiple facets to our personality – choosing to highlight that facet/ mix of facets that is most beneficial to us in a given setting while the rest go into hibernation.
