Development is something we all aspire for. Nations are busy in devolving themselves. Even those who have reached zenith of development have not stopped pursuit to develop further. Development will never satiate the needs of development consumers i.e. we the humans.
But as we all will agree that development is not a unidirectional phenomenon, it is multi-pronged, multi-dimensional and having countless expressions. The physical development or what we call ‘Infrastructural development’ is the highest priority in developing countries as no doubt countries have changed their destinies and lives of millions by merely creating infrastructure in the country or the physical development. China and Dubai are the best examples of it. And other nations like India are working round the clock to gain it.
But as we all will agree that development is not a unidirectional phenomenon, it is multi-pronged, multi-dimensional and having countless expressions. The physical development or what we call ‘Infrastructural development’ is the highest priority in developing countries as no doubt countries have changed their destinies and lives of millions by merely creating infrastructure in the country or the physical development. China and Dubai are the best examples of it. And other nations like India are working round the clock to gain it.
But there are so many other dimensions to development. As of now I like to write about intellectual development or what we can call the development of mind and the development of ideas, of thoughts, of thinking patterns, of traditions, of values and so on. In nutshell, the invisible development, the intangible development, something which you cannot see but certainly can feel.
Now, which society or nation is worthy of being called developed. One who excels in physical development or one who excels in the intangible infrastructure I wish to talk about. The questions sounds very simple so does it’s answer. In a fit of romanticism, anybody will go for the development of mind as the supreme development. But another point is that if you become realistic and shun romantic thoughts about the great ideas of justice, equality and equity, then certainly physical infrastructure will take a edge. Now here it is very difficult to prove the later point to those who have never actually felt the misery of having little or no physical development. Well, no more elucidation on these two views, and let me say what I am thinking about.
What prompted me to write today was a session of some talks with people who are highly educated, who are occupying chairs of honour and respect, they are reasonably rich too, they talk high and loud in terms of that what should be done to India to make it more developed and above all they are complacent people regarding the ideas they possess and the views they broadcast. But for me it was such a pity to have a glimpse of their minds and to hear their views about many topics which for me comprise that invisible development, the intangible development.
I don’t understand why Indian society is not allowing the penetration of ideas which in one word be called modern (I don’t mean western). This is despite the fact that efforts to inculcate modernity started almost two hundred years ago in India. The efforts of Raja Ram Moham Roy, of Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar, of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and those of Rabidranath Tagore started centuries ago but still their ideas are all Greek and Latin to many of the Indians or rather majority of Indians. Listen to the views of these people about woman, about what is woman empowerment and what is gender quality. Listen to views of people about the supremeness and infallibility of those so called Indian Values, Invite the views of people about caste, listen to them regarding self –suiting Indian culture on marriage, children and divorce etc. listen to them regarding religion, it looks like India was never ever the land which sometime produced thinkers like Tagore and philosophers like Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Their views are still rudimentary to core, unflinching in their belief, extreme in their darkness and above all unwilling to change and avoiding all talks of change. Is this that India for which Tagore wrote his poem calling for that heaven of freedom where India shall awake, is this the land where words are coming out from the depth of truth? Is this the land where the mind is without fear and the head is held high. Today after listening to the views and ideas of those people, I shook my head in shame that My India is still not free from the shackles of ignorance and the chains of complacency. Even in this century of reason, there are people for whom what is reason is nothing but the dark tradition and darker values for which they stand and will not change. May hundred Tagore(s) be born in this land, but we will not change.
It was painful to see, pitiable to ponder upon that how narrow minded people can be. How resentful to change they can be. A subject as private as religion determines every thing in India from your birth to death. Is life a flow of reason or religion? Unfortunately People in India will still live and die for religion than for reason. Someday before Andre Beteille wrote a article to argue that constraints of castes have eased in India, but I say not every where it has happened, caste may have been deleted on paper, but it is still so relevant in minds of people. Woman is still not liberated in India, things like women empowerment are still resisted. If you talk to how women have been mistreated in our society, then they will claim that they were not mistreated but rightfully treated as that is the treatment they deserve. They will invoke the words of mythological texts to prove their point and thus for them when mythology speaks all should shut up. Come to the great values which again many people will live and die for. Values which are not touched by reason what to say of originating from reason. Youths still carry on with the structured aims and see the doctored dreams. Many enter into the covenant of marriage and remain in that covenant just out of unreasoned social values and customs. It is so painful to see all this going on in our society. I understand many societies have gone through such things, the British society too in 18th Century was mistreating woman as is reflected by novels of Jane Austin and those of Mary Wollstonecraft . But change did occur in these societies and they left all those things behind. But Why it is taking so long for us, I don’t understand. If this is our pace, I don’t know how long we will take.
What emanates respect from me for European societies is the sense of Justice, and the ideas of equality and equity, and those of freedom they have been maintaining for so long. I respect them for that. However some months back while talking to a girl from Portugal she did say that not everything is not so good, but I still say those societies are million years ahead of us. What I will admire about these societies is that they have managed to live upto those ideas of freedom and fairplay and have indeed excelled in that intangible development. But caution myself and caution you, that European societies are causing loss to this achievement when you find that they discriminate on the basis of colour. Their practice of racism is not good in this perspective. But I understand, that this distinction between black and white owe it’s origin to economy rather than social mindset.
To conclude, my vote goes for the development of ideas, thoughts and thought processes. I believe that a society which has not witnessed this intangible development will remain a underdeveloped society no matter how much roads, bridges and electricity you built. I will go on to the extent of saying that a nation who cannot adopt reason over religion and where spirit of inquiry and inquisitiveness donot become the order of the day will never be able to cause any other kind of development. Oh My countrymen and women! Let us not be left behind, let us not be complacent, let not our optimism fade, let us not fail and forget the ideas and vision with which we started our journey to take our country into that heaven of freedom where she rightfully belongs.
