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Ramblings
Progression or Regression?
by G. Swaminathan
The term ‘Development’ carries a significant meaning. Oxford Dictionary
says ‘a stage of growth or advancement’. When there is a growth or
advancement in a particular area, the earlier one becomes redundant. It
exists for a sometime but slowly turns extinct. It is a progression.
Equipments and instruments and their spares become dear and scarce after
the new versions arrive. Some are retained just for the purpose showing
the history of development.
Look at India. Her growth scenario is absolutely different.
 We see every day different brands and shapes of two wheelers and brand
new cars. I am not sure whether even Singapore roads would have enjoyed
these many varieties of vehicles on their roads, which are more enviable
than our rickety roads of metropolis.
Modern attires are crowding the market. Unisex dress like jeans, tops,
salwar kameez occupy the place of fashion, style and are considered
marks of modernity. But, now only we have more numbers of silk sarees
with ‘muhurtha pattu’ with thousands of colors. We see
advertisements of silk sarees carrying zaris weighing not less than
several kilos.
Gold ornaments are said to be vulgar ostentation of wealth. So those who
are educated, enlightened and cultured prefer to wear and bear the
minimum loads of jewellery. Growth never stopped there. We are stormed
with advertisements showing hands overfilled bangles, fingers covered
with multiple rings, ears and necks carrying heavy and light-weight
ornaments of different designs.
A man called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi gave a clarion call for
simplicity and more especially in marriages. But today marriages
provided extravagant shows and excessive food.
Bharatiyar sang ‘There is no caste my child’ (‘Jathikal illayadi
pappa’). But now we have political parties and organizations thrive
on caste and caste alone.
We have surfeit of eateries everywhere from no star to Five Star. But
still we find road side ‘Kai Endi Bhavan’ doing brisk business
notwithstanding the unhygienic conditions around.
With MNC’s deluging India with IT jobs, we see IT companies recruiting
thousands of fresh candidates not for a song but for a bang. A twenty
five year old IT professional’s salary is thrice that of his dad with 30
long years of service.
Agreed. Developments are visible. Then
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Who are
those people who still pedals cycles in the arteries of the city
adding chaos to the traffic?
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Who are
those who crowd the unclean eateries?
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Why there
is milling crowd in the silk saree shops?
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Why the
unemployment problem is being discussed even today as a perennial
bane?
Any growth should wipe the old and obsolete. Here old and new continue
to co exist adding to the chaotic conditions. The problems are as
follows:
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A Benz
car owner sends his servant in a bicycle
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A modern
girl prefers only an expensive silk and cart load of jewellery for
her marriage which should be a show of pomp and pageantry because
the elders like it that way.
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Even a
poor lady who suffers for a daily meal needs gold mangalsutra
for marriage
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Even the
retired oldies want to be reemployed or fight for extensions of
services
Adding to all these, the arithmetic progression of development is being
continuously stymied by the geometric progression of population growth
in the poor and needy.
So our problems are unending.
Our philosophy says that a man should relinquish every thing as he
grows. When we are unable to reject the useless where is the question of
relinquishing the pleasures and prides of life?
India is no wonder a paradox and bundle of contradictions to many.
December 4, 2005
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Ramblings
The Week of December 4, 2005
India
and the New World Order by Rajinder Puri
India's Democracy Validated by Bihar State
Electoral Verdict by Dr. Subhash Kapila
The Quest for an Indian Paradigm of Management
by Pradip Bhattacharya
The Wheel of Law: India’s Secularism
in Comparative Constitutional
Context A Book Review by Aruni Mukherjee
Home of the Brave? by John Steinsvold
India's Trade Deficit Widening: Anybody
Listening by Vipin Agnihotri
Vastu and Pregnancy by
Niranjan Babu Bangalore
How Birth Order affects Children's Behavior &
Personality by Michael Grose
This "Didi" Talks
Sex by Ranjita Biswas
God's Sorry, He has made a few
mistakes.... by Michael Levy
In the Dock by NS Murty
Candid Camera on Violence by V. Radhika
Pounding the Polluters by Stephanie Hiller
Sikhs on the Silver Screen by Naunidhi Kaur
Human Trafficking: The Tragic Social Evil by
Rajesh Ramasubramanian
Progression or Regression? by G. Swaminathan
Do Hindus Believe in More Gods than One? by
Dr. R.K. Lahiri
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