India's Convoluted Thinking; America's Moral Dilemma; Education As The Only Capital

India as a nation has a convoluted thinking: India has 30-odd states, 1,500 languages and dialects, dozens of ethnic groups, several religions, not to speak of the great North-South divide. There are over 200 political parties which fight under different ideologies. Different political leaders have different visions, missions often at conflict and loggerheads with each other. There are perhaps at any given time dozens of visions about what the country should be like or where it is heading. India is bogged down in its past. It is preoccupied by history. As a result we have become introspective and regretful. A healthy human psyche calls for a forward-looking momentum. People are at their best when they are moving ahead with a strong sense of purpose, and people without a purpose become breeding grounds for all sorts of problems and social illnesses.

 

The average Indian is not particularly bothered about the future of the country. To hell with the country, he says. Not surprising because the Indian state has done very little for the poor man or the common man. Self-serving politicians and political parties have put themselves before the country or its people. But there is a future and you can’t evade it, and when you reach it you can't change it. That’s why its important to face the future with care and concern. Most Indians are preoccupied with themselves, their caste, their colour, their bank balance, their jobs, their religion, their status and their class. What is missing is a community or a national purpose or will. Indians have individual personal goals but no collective goal. 

A person is psychologically healthy when he stops over thinking about his own inner self and rather focuses on the outside world and what it is like. Indians have a sense of moral superiority but there is no evidence to prove this. Indians mock, ridicule and are sarcastic about change agents. People who bring in a different or new way of thinking are severely persecuted, socially isolated and harassed and even threatened with dire consequences. Often this has got a lot to do with the psyche of the political leadership. Indians must develop a sense of forward momentum, a sense of national purpose, a focus on the future so that India can maintain its own national equilibrium.

Indian polity is hopelessly polarized: Today, there are two main political parties, the Congress and the BJP. The Congress heads the UPA and the BJP heads the NDA. Often the Congress can't stand the BJP and questions its ideology and agenda and vice versa for the BJP. The BJP has developed the concept of the Muslim bomb while the Congress has developed the concept of the Hindu bomb. Both parties are extremely caste and religion conscious where only the upper class or the favoured get a chance to make it. To hell with merit and meritocracy. No doubt this has led to the mushrooming of regional parties and caste parties. The problem is that most Indians do not identify themselves as Indians but as Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Brahmins, Baniyas, Rajputs, South Indians. North Indians, Bengalis, Marwaris, Gujaratis, etc. There is no sense of belonging to the country. 

This is because the erstwhile two parties have divided the Indian polity along communal, regional, casteist and linguistic lines often at the great detriment to the country. If you have leaders who view the general public as fair game to serve their interest than divisions will be prominent and divisive forces will have the upper hand. No wonder MNS can't tolerate the Bhaiya migrant from UP and Bihar and is hounding them no end. But there can be a vicious backlash which can spread to other parts of the country. If all regions in India start practicing the politics of MNS very soon there will be civil war and internal rebellion in India. It can safely be said that strong centrifugal forces are at work in the country right now which can seriously challenge its unity and integrity. This is a distinct assessment by the way things are going at present. That is why it is important for the main political parties to tolerate diverse ideologies, bury the hatchet, think of what is in the public and national interest. You don’t have to be a genius to understand that you join politics to serve and protect the public interest and not for your own self-serving agenda.

AMERICA'S GREAT MORAL DILEMMA; THE CRISIS WITHIN: Events in the past few decades and particularly the past few months show that America is fast slipping as the sole world superpower. American foreign policy in particular has proved to be not effective in retrospect. It is now being increasingly debated in many scholarly forums across the world whether the US should reserve the right to meddle in any part of the globe. This erstwhile policy of the right to interfere has cost that nation dearly in terms of prestige and credibility. This has come out whether it was the Korean War in the 1950s, the Vietnam War in the 1960s, the Kuwait War in the 1990s, the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars in the 2000s. America has shown a lack of respect and tolerance for other ideologies. 

The Cold War of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s saw the development and stockpiling of the largest nuclear arsenal. Developing and maintaining this arsenal costs a bomb (hic). What will become of this arsenal is anybody’s guess. American troops and defence forces have not really won a war anywhere. American military doctrine favours a show of strength to actual combat experience. It is theoretical than practical. It emphasizes show of power and large scale infusion of funds at the cost of tactical and strategic gains. That 9/11 happened as a result of this flawed policy is nobody’s gain. 9/11 was the first planned attack by an outside guerilla force using American civilian planes. America was caught unawares because it never expected the unexpected.

It is a tragedy that a great nation of brilliant minds, phenomenal human resources and sterling values, ideals and qualities should now be tottering and on the brink of an existential crisis. Its financial system is in a mess. Even as AIG, Merril Lynch, Goldman Sachs see red, the Congress readies a trillion dollar package for subsidizing bad fiscal management. The Iraq War has cost 3 trillion dollars. There is rising poverty and crime in American cities. Joblessness and homelessness is on the rise. The family structure in America has crumbled leading to social problems, broken homes, flawed relationships, violence and gun-totting hoodlums. America’s moral values have declined. Free sex, gay and lesbianism, pornography can now safely said to be America’s greatest export to the world. 

Mind you, the world does not need it and we will imbibe from America only what we think proper and fit. The decline in moral values in America is a definite sign of a decaying civilization. It is reminiscent of the Roman empire decline which was preceded by party sex and large scale orgies. America’s business credibility is also in question. Large scale corporate frauds, embezzlement have made their headlines by the dozen. America’s erstwhile friends are slowly getting wary of the world policemen. The European nations have regrouped as the EU prominently led by Germany. The European Union's rise as a global power and a force to reckon with is a welcome development. The rise of Japan and China as centres of power in Asia is a development which will balance the flow of power in the world.

For India there are profound lessons in how America conducts itself in the world. We should not and need not blindly hold America in awe and endorse everything it does. India should ape only those qualities and values that helped America become a great country in the first place. We need not open all sectors simply for the sake of a free and open market. We should have our safety valves in place. We should be choosy what we want to copy and bring in from America. US President-elect Barack Obama's win shows the American people too are aware of this decline in their polity and Obama’s call for morality should hopefully turn the tide in favour of America.

Universal Primary education: Education is a liberating force. According to Peter Drucker, the American management guru, in the knowledge society a good education is your only capital. The best way to inculcate a sense of learning is to catch children young. That’s why primary education gains importance. Teaching young children is an art and a science. The focus must be on learning through play, coming to a play school regularly, creating curiosity and a sense of enquiry, ability to adjust in the school environment, ability to adjust with their peers at school, ability to stay away from home and their parents. Emphasis must be on audio-visual learning. A picture is more than a 1,000 words, goes a popular saying. Videos, movies, slide shows must be used more frequently while teaching young children. This must be supported by the right sound track. Learning to listen comes first, followed by the ability to speak, and finally the ability to write and read. Learning at the primary level should be fun and relaxing, without creating unnecessary stress and pressure on the child.

Compulsory secondary education: By the time a student reaches the 6th standard, he has entered the secondary level. The classes 6th to 12th should be made compulsory for all Indian students. This is the time to learn sentence structuring and idea presentation. What should be developed is the memory, understanding and imagination. Teaching another Indian language apart from the mother tongue at this stage is also important so that the student gains appreciation of other parts of India. A general education is a better option at this stage than a vocational education. Vocational education of 1-2 years can be imparted at the plus 2 or later stage. At this stage the focus has to be on writing, reading, arithmetic, the ability to think and conceptualization, the ability to identify and solve problems, the ability to create. Students must be taught to manage their thoughts, emotions, imagination, behaviour and actions. At the plus 2 stage, they must be encouraged to identify their long-term goals, develop a sense of purpose and mission, shoulder family and social responsibilities. While more schools are definitely needed, what is more important is the ability to use existing resources and infrastructure to the best. Dual shift in the morning and afternoon is a good option. The existing classrooms must be well equipped and basic facilities and amenities in the school must be provided.

Higher education should be valued: It has been reported that the IITs will now offer cross disciplinary courses. This is indeed debatable and needs a rethink. Just because the Massachusetts Institiute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology offer cross functional courses this does not mean that India should follow suit. It is better to have different specialized colleges in various disciplines as part of a university. By making top level engineering colleges multi functional one will dilute their strength and effectiveness, What is needed is to promote understanding and interaction between different disciplinary colleges. It has been argued that India needs more universities and colleges. More important is to strengthen the infrastructure, facilities, equipment, recreational and playground facilities in the existing colleges. It is more important to manage existing universities and colleges better and make a sizeable number of them as world class colleges and universities. 

In the age of computers and internet, online courses and course content, online examination at flexible timings and duration gains more importance. Existing universities and colleges must start more open schools and correspondence courses. Learning and education is a continuous process and people should be able to educate and gain degrees at different stages of their lives. Learning should be lifelong and what is needed is that the stigma associated with learning at an advanced age must be removed. The ability to think, create and innovate must be imparted. A good trend in India is the proliferation of vocational and professional courses. This brings about specialization and makes a student job ready. But at the same time a student may pick up the wrong course and switch careers later. Then his training and grounding may go to waste.