Is India facing a moral or an economic crisis?

The term crisis signifies undesirable changes which are expected to lead to dangerous and unstable situations affecting individuals, groups or even a state. In a developing country like India there is no dearth of crises and they are manifested in many forms like social, political, economic, moral etc. It is a common observation that while other form of crises especially the economic form are frequented by the nation’s population significantly battering the democratic machinery and overall development, however a crisis of moral code of conduct poses a far more greater concern as it is bound to tear apart the delicate social fabric of the masses. The downfall of morality is undoubtedly a precursor and an indicator to insecurity, mistrust and poses as a colossal obstacle to the coherent effort of the masses towards national prosperity and well-being.

Undeniably there has been a steady onslaught of economic concerns in the recent time. We were witness to the dramatic depreciation of the rupee against dollar, a policy paralysis knocking down the growth of the nation’s key industries and the miserable decline of Indian positioning in the various global economic indices. However the shocking proceedings did escalate the issue and numerous counter measures were tabled out as a response to the daunting wake up call. The Pradhan mantra Jan Dhan Yojana to account for the unbanked population is helping to achieve goals of financial inclusion. The scheme tends to attract funds from transactions which were till date never accountable to banking sector. These funds obtained are to be used effectively used in infrastructure development of the rural sector. The Make in India Initiative brings the much awaited drive from the bureaucratic fronts to engage in fostering private-public relationships. The initiative is aimed at breaking away unwanted regulations for doing business in India, luring foreign investors to come and manufacture in the country. It is a fact that there is a definitely a huge demand of inexpensive but good quality products in the global market. Apart from these steps, steps have been taken for vigilance and disciplinary actions against corrupt practices, raising caps on FDI, oil/gas price regulations and the economic machinery seems to be poised for growth in the near future. In contrast to the economic scenario, the moral landscape, however, reflects poorly of both developments and initiatives.

Today the morality has been compromised on many fronts. On one hand, there is an ever increasing frequency of violence against women making it a national shame and on the other hand there has been unprecedented corruption in public offices. Moral understanding of an individual is being exploited in the name of religion by various fanatic outfits, winding and twisting the ethics held sacred to heart. The striking fact to these developments is that there has not been a national consensus and a strong stance taken against the deteriorated standards of morality. A high profile rape case gets highlighted in the newspapers, candle light vigils are offered by the sympathizers, debates ensue with heated aggression on national TV prime time but what happens next day is a total disgrace. The next day, the same guy standing amongst the candle light vigils starts taunting the girls nearby, the same officer praising Anna Hazare receives monetary benefits of his position in a non-hesitant manner, the women mocking fake god men attend a divine session shouting propaganda slogans and many such instances. This brings us back to square one, an infinite loop of despair. Instead of being on the track of higher state of consciousness in a modern state, we are nose diving into feudal mindsets with girls being seen as an object of pleasure and commodity, power as a tool of exploitation and corruption and religion as a means of duping people at a mass level. The outrageously insane level of exposure in corruption scams, rape incidents and fanaticism demands serious attention on our part as Indians to be proactive and deal with this degrading morality.

In a nutshell, one may say that though the economic and moral crisis are perpetual in nature but their impact on the national spirit and development is dissimilar in nature as well as magnitude. One knocks the bottom out of a stable growth of economic foundations whereas the other tears apart the social conduct of the individuals. The fact there is no other tool for gauging a morally degrading society apart from an individual’s willingness makes it a far more threatening problem. Today, when we live in a modern society of a rapidly developing democratic nation with aspirations to become a super power, a moral crisis seems carcinogenic and far more precarious.

CURIOUS CASE OF DIARRHOEA!

“AAAaaarrrghhh!!!” exclaimed my friend, complaining that he might need to buckle up for the next day as he sensed something nasty might there be in cards for him. Having eaten profusely, the 4 mile walk through an exceedingly crowded town was no wonder sending butterflies down the pristine gastronomical kingdom of my friend’s stomach. Alas, I could only pray to lord for sparing him from the phenomenon which is called “diarrhoea”. The rapid, unwanted and highly toxic liquid bowel movements are definitely a force to reckon with. Almost the entire humanity has been its victim at one point or the other of their lives, wherein they have witnessed a comprehensive anarchy taking place inside their stomach and being thoroughly subdued by the supreme powers of nature. When the phrase “nature calling!” turns into “nature shouting!” people can’t help but keep conspicuously silent for the same (though the mouths are shut, something else seems to compensate!). Diarrhoea, but, cannot be overlooked as simply being associated with the intestine, rectum and anus…instead it is a philosophical concept spanning across numerous facets of an individual’s life. The sadistic, vile, domineering and despotic nature of diarrhea makes it a powerful tool to highlight the chaotic proceedings in life.

We may classify the analogous relations of the diarrhea phenom into the following broad criterion:

1)      MORAL DIARRHOEA:      Probably, most of us have witnessed and will agree to the fact that there has been an increasing trend towards degradation of moral values. The so called moral values of the society are in constant clash with an individual’s perception of ethics. This clash is bound to make a person go haywire, confused and distressed with his surroundings. An individual stuck in a public office with every person indulging in blatant outrageous corruption, will be hammered by the sheer intensity of the breach in individual ethics but alas his micro society of corrupt people have a rather conflicting version of societal morals. In this case the micro society upholds the right of the people in power to engage in corruption and will unite to fight against any finger raised against anybody. Thus, the hapless fellow is bound to witness a moral diarrhea and engage in the mal practice, against his individual code of conduct-his ethics but in line with the morals of his micro society.

      

      Same thing happens in case of terrorism as well, youth are bound to lose their ethics under the colossal pressure of survival, persecution and religious exploitation for political propaganda. The micro society yet again offers its own definitions of ideal morals which force a diarrhea of emotions and batters an individual’s humanity.

2)      EMOTIONAL DIARRHOEA: What else can be more terrifying than a complete collapse of the emotional machinery of an individual? Venting out the anger of piecemeal monthly targets upon your girlfriend, friends and parents, an unanticipated outpour of anger against somebody etc. When it becomes so difficult to find how to behave appropriately like a civilized person and instead act like slapping the taste out of the other guy’s mouth. The sickening feeling when you feel demonized, being possessed with a constant chitter-chatter in your mind temple with the incessant talks of a confused and brash alien personality.

3)      MONETARY DIARRHOEA: When there is hailstorm and all you do is pull out a crispy 1000 rupee note to cover your head. That day, when your purse seems to be draining out like the SUEZ Canal. You try to build your defenses, build dams upon your spending habits, a barrage to monitor your lifestyle expenses and a contingency relief squad to guide you through panic situations but nada, none helps. A massive landslide of currency befalls upon, making you shiver with the phenom of monetary diarrhea.

4)      PHYSICAL DIARRHOEA: Define it yourselves now people, when you keep pretending normal but your ass is going to burst out like “buaaaaaaah!” reminding grey bearded folks of the celestial “BIG BANG THEORY”.

Having said that, there may be a thousand other forms of diarrhea prevailing in our day to day lives. These may be prevented but like the physical one, but they are inevitable and one does face it at some point of his life. So keep identifying the symptoms and diagnose yourselves for this menace of diarrhea. Peace out!