Mediocrity is my middle name, first is Indian

Monday, December 18, 2006 MEDIOCRITY IS MY MIDDLE NAME, FIRST IS INDIAN A friend who migrated to US a few years back bumped into me some time back. After the usual chit-chat I asked him. So, are you finally “settled”? Well, life is not too bad, but I miss India. Why? There are so many laws, you know. Even if you take a left turn, one has to follow rules; one has to stop at every red light even in the middle of the night and when no one is around. It gets under my skin. And on the other hand, in India, we are so “Free”. We can do what ever and no one stops us. We can piss on the roads, spit where so ever, take wrong turns, jump red lights and nothing happens to you. Even if some cope catches you, you can buy yourself out with couple of bucks. I miss all this “Freedom”. I wondered, is it true? Is this the reason why so many Indians, miss their homeland. Because, we can come back, we can break rules and get away with it. The NYPD (New York Police Department) had to face the worst phase of gang wars and crimes from 1970s to early 90s. The department was outstretched; out numbered and could not cope up with the influx and indigenous growth of gangs. There were rampant murders, burglaries’ and kayos. In New York Metro for example, 50% travelers used to travel without a ticket. No one cared about the Law. Then something happened. The department, under the new Police Chief, hired a few consultants who told them that 80% of the crime can be avoided- provided, Police focuses more on the “petty Criminals”. There were skeptics. How come stopping petty crime will help in stopping the gangs and hard cores from unleashing their mayhem? The answer was simple. The consultants named their theory as “broken window theory”. Some psychologists had done an experiment in a cafeteria of a local high School. They broke one glass window of the room and left it UN repaired. Soon, Students watching that one broken window, starting breaking other windows of the cafeteria for kicks and fun and soon it became a ritual among the student community. The same happened to crime in New York City. Police went after even the pettiest of the Crimes. They for example, did a thorough screening of Metro travelers and started arresting all who were traveling without a ticket. They discovered that out of every 10 guys caught, 4 were traveling with some kind of weapon and 2 were wanted in some homicide case. Soon, police caught up with other petty criminals. The ones jumping red light, smoking pot, engaged in street fights. It proved a deterrent to the 80% criminal population who were essentially not criminals but had previously engaged in crimes since they thought that “they could get away with it”. This 80% population turned straight and crimes came down big time. New York turned quieter and safer for its citizens. Now Police had to focus only on the hard cores and more organized gangs which it still does today. Compare it with India. We do not give a damn to smaller offences. If some guy teases a girl, the locals and the Police turn a blind eye to it. Soon, the guy gets bolder, he will try to physically assault the victim and eventually there will be a big tragedy like what happened with Priyadarshini Mattoo. The sheer brutality of the crime gets the attention of the entire country. People ask for the blood of the accused. There are candle light marches, blogs, News paper articles, talk shows but no one looks at the root cause. No one sees the first time the girl was stalked/ verbally abused. We think it is part of “Growing up” and teenagers and young guys do it any way. Indian consciousness is built this way, that we do not give a damn to petty offences. Nor do Police, media or “Intellectuals”. If some crazy Police Officer or bureaucrat, starts implementing “laws”, we get offended. Soon Political Parties jump in. Against brutality, against red tapism, against “Rule of Law”. We want our freedom from laws, from rules form “Code of Conduct”. We want to piss on the roads, spit on the walls, throw trash around, jump red lights and tease girls. We consider these as “minor things” and a fundamental right as per the Constitution. If you remind people that it is “unlawful & wrong” there can be different reactions- from a meaningful smile, to a grin to an argument over “WHY WE SHOULD NOT RESPECT ALL LAWS” to moral teaching on “OUR RIGHTS AND VIRTUES OF LIVING IN A DEMOCRACY”. Eventually we give in. Next time when there is Red Light and no cop is around, we also jump Red Light. Throw our coke bottle in the middle of the road and tease that girl we bump into the hotel lobby. We are happy with our filthy roads, traffic accidents and rape crimes and only once in a while, we come across something shocking- which makes us write a few articles, abuse cops and law, do some candle light marches and participate in some Talk shows. We are happy with our tolerance, our destinies, our Karma. We are ok till things turn really bad and once they become reasonably “tolerable” we again go about living our free lives. Indians are not extremists like Americans. We are ok with Mediocrity. Be it law and order, sports, politics, defense forces or education. In every walk of life, we are fine with “reasonable success”. Consider this- in US, 1-2% of the total Population is Jewish but the percentage of Jewish students among US Ivy League Colleges is 42%. This small community has so far taken more than 35% of Noble Prizes in diverse disciplines such as Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Economics. 60 years after Independence, we are producing more than 14K Engineers per annum and more than 8K Doctors. I do not have the figure for the no of PhDs awarded each year. A Country of 1000 Million people cannot produce even 1 Noble winner per 10 years? Look at Sports. We are mediocre in some and minnows in most of the Sports. How many Indians have won a Wimbledon Singles? We are happy with a Sania Mirza making it among “Top 40”. We make her an Icon. She brings pride to a Country of 1000 Million people who do not produce even 1 World Class athlete every year. But we feel happy with our mediocre performances. We give “justifications”. We are a “young nation”. We do not have “facilities”. We have “politics”. We are “naturally” not as strong as Caucasians or African Americans. I remember when Jansher Khan of Pakistan was World Champion in Squash; Indian National Champion visited him on a friendly tour with other athletes. Jansher and our player were staying in the same hotel. Our Champ got up at 6 AM to go for a jog. By that time, Jansher Khan had completed 20 miles jog and was doing weights training. Raw talent does not produce Champions. It needs to be supplemented with hard work, persistence, devotion and will. Mediocre thoughts breed mediocre talent. Look at our favorite Sports Cricket. Since 1983, we have never been able to win the title and only once made it to final. Look at our One Day or Test Records against any Country except Bangladesh, Kenya and Zimbabwe. You will think that something is wrong with the Internet Explorer. Forget Pakistan, even Sri Lanka would have won 60% of the One Days played with us. But we remain optimistic. Even single match win, gives us “hope” and “faith” that we have got the winning combination. We fail to see our average bowling, average batting and sometimes below average fielding. Our teams do not produce anything but momentary flashes of brilliance but even then they are made into Stars with millions of dollars in contract money, endorsement and advertisements. Indian mediocrity does not stop with academics or sports. It goes to Politics and Judicial System as well. We accept 2nd or 3rd grade people as our Representatives. Some of them are convicted felons, some have pending court cases. In front of the camera, they all “proclaim” their innocence and blame Political conspiracy to malign their name. And we buy that idea and re elect them. We think “BJP” is harsher on Terrorism and more “tough” on National Security- we forget that Atal Government allowed thousands of Pakistani Regulars take up hundred of miles of territory deep inside our borders. We still think he did a great job and “defended” our borders. That he got us “Victory” in Kargil. No one questions him, how the hell you allowed this to happen in the first place? A country with 1 Million plus troops and Nuclear Weapons, could not see something of this magnitude taking place on its borders? Why a party who talks so much about laws and courts, could not keep a charge sheeted leader like Advani, off Home Minister’s portfolio? Why could they not dismiss and prosecute Modi Government when 2000 Muslims were burning right under its nose? Some of us will vouch for Congress. Why? The oldest National Party. Their stomach is full. So they will be “LESS CORRUPT”. We don’t question why they make the widow of a former Prime Minister (without having any credentials or even Nationality) their “President”? We don’t question them why Nehru was not tried in Courts for the disastrous defeat in 1962? Why did Congress let something like 1984 riots happen and provided leadership and support to mobs? Why only Nehru Gandhi family runs the party? Read this- In New Zealand in recent elections, the Prime Minister was charged with a “Serious Offence”. Her driver, while she was reading a News paper, drove the Car for 10 KM at 90 miles per hour, where as the speed limit was 80 miles per hour. Prime Minister’s driver was formally charged by Police for reckless driving and it became a “BIG ISSUE” in domestic elections. Prime Minister claimed innocence as she was reading the News Paper. Police conducted actual experiments to figure out if someone is reading a News Paper; can that person be oblivious to increase in speed from 80 to 90 Miles? Now come to our own Ground Reality. Every Politician/ MP/ MLA, traveling with his entourage, can intimidate other drivers on the road, even assault or book them under cases. Even their Children can do that to us and we accept it as part of our “Destinies”. We don’t protest, we don’t ask for how much of exchequer’s money is spent on their “life styles”, their “Security”, their “Bungalows”. No Politician is ever prosecuted in this Country. No one is hanged. They all come out “CLEAN”. Indians, fail to ask their Home Minister how come 300 people are killed in Train blasts in Mumbai and you are still holding your job? 300 families loosing their loved ones for ever, 300 women becoming widow, 300 children becoming orphans, but no one takes the blame. Patil stays as Home Minister. There will be another blast and another but he will stay. He will stay because we ACCEPT mediocrity. We will not remove a Patil or Manmohan- no matter they do only “POLITICS”. No work, but we will keep them. We have accepted Political mediocrity and have learnt to live with it. Baba Saheb wrote a directive principle in the Constitution. All Governments were supposed to provide Free Education to Children till 15 years of their age. Government of India was supposed to provide this as a right to all citizens from 1960 onwards. No one questioned any PM what happened to that Directive? A government hell bent on providing Reservation in private colleges, in IIT, in IIM remains blind to the fact that almost 70% SC and 75% Muslims do not get quality Primary Education in this Country. Other Communities have similar issues. How do they solve the problem- by Reserving Seats in Institutes of higher learning- without providing Quality Primary Education? But we shall be ok with poor or no success of the Policy. We shall tell ourselves that at least the “intentions” are right. Steven Covey is one of the most respected experts on Personal and Organizational Leadership. In his famous book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” he talks about “Accepting the Reality” and then working on it in a “Proactive manner”. Our worst crime is not accepting the reality. We label this Reality check as “Negative Thinking” and solace ourselves that we are doing “OK”. This complacency with OK things breeds mediocrity. We don’t expect our Politicians to have impeccable track records, we are ok till they don’t kill someone on Camera. We don’t expect Sachin to score a double hundred when team’s score is 50 for 4, we are ok if he scores 50 in a team total of 150. We don’t expect our IITians to get a Noble Prize; we are fine till they get placements in US. We will always feel better off that we are not the “most Corrupt” Country on this Earth. Saving grace is that we are only among the Top 20. We will always feel proud on being a democracy. How does it matter that it is categorized as “flawed” along with others Nations such as Bangladesh and Afganistan. We will be happy to have a National average IQ of 81- where as the Chinese will be at 90 and US 98. We will feel great to call ourselves as “Indians” and “never accept that Mediocrity is our middle name”. 12:22:40 AM Posted By Rajneesh Sharma Comments (32) Society Comments MUNEERUDEEN Monday, December 18, 2006 1:13:21 AM Rajneesh !You know why we are mediocre ? Because we as individuals - give up easily- We say we cannot fight corruption and so we join them .UNLESS the "GIVER" is punished along with the BRIBE TAKER" -equally- we cannot STOP this !Its a shame ! Raja Monday, December 18, 2006 2:11:34 AM Yehi hai asli India. Enjoy be_patriotic Monday, December 18, 2006 3:49:50 AM i am wring blogs since june simply shouting that "we must do something to purify the politicians n politics"but noone is supporting. all i am doing now is praying to god Lord Shiva that he must punish each bad politician at the earliest.hope other people are also praying like that? justreason7 Monday, December 18, 2006 10:05:48 AM Our laidback attitude contributes to this state of affairs. We give a long rope and suffocate when that rope strangulates us. atanu das Monday, December 18, 2006 11:09:25 AM Let the light of education reach out to each and every indian, let not a single child cry in need of food, let not a single indian live without shelter , let this urge to remove the mediocrity from our lives be not confined to only cities and towns- I think most definitely we will be able to rise to a higher level of excellence in all walks of life. mindblower Monday, December 18, 2006 11:49:56 AM Dear RajnesshjiMy hearty congradulation! u have taken so much pain in writing thhis blog after so much research.The need of the hour is one CHANAKYA as PRESIDENT & one CHANDRAGUPTA as PM. but i dont see any one so pure as them in the present lot of politicians.In the present generation any two comes forward for the above posts I wish all Indians should whole heartedly support them. samaroy Monday, December 18, 2006 1:39:54 PM A very well written blog..true too betterlife Monday, December 18, 2006 5:13:48 PM Oh dear. Let me first thank you for spending so much time and energy in collecing so much information and then write this blog. Prevention is always beter than cure. If crime is caught and punished at its early stage, society will sure be rid of serious crimes. CEO_TIMBAKTU Monday, December 18, 2006 5:34:03 PM A laborious effort to wake up those who are pretending to sleep.What a collossal waste it would be, when champions of religions will barge in here to claim the greatness of their religion and a claim by them would say that RAJNEESH has denigrated their religion by calling them MEDIOCRE. you are my friend:BHAINS KE AAGE VEEN BAJA RAHE HO! respect Monday, December 18, 2006 8:25:20 PM see the brighter side. Our profile is different and so our attitudes. In many ways we r better and why dont u focus on them? HONOLULLU Monday, December 18, 2006 9:11:05 PM Mirchi kiyon lad rahi hai aapko agar sab 'mediocre' hain--intelligent hone pe kaunse teer maarne hai chori ke siway--hum sab chor hai--whatever education--religion--cate or creed-- hamare ko roti hazam nahi hoti jhoot bole aur hera-pheri kiye bina--chilla rahe ho kiyonki AAPKO MAUKA NAHIN MILTA CHORI KA---tum bhi yehi karoge-- sharat laga lo--nahi toh khao kasam BETE/BETI ki tum RISHWAT de ke Kaam nahin KARVATE--Kaun nahi chor hai is desh men. sab jhooth bolta hai--agar bolta ki chori nahin karta. YAHAN sab APNI MA ko bhi BECH de paise ke liye. respect Monday, December 18, 2006 9:37:34 PM aniljoshivndematramhonolulllu respect Monday, December 18, 2006 9:39:22 PM respects2aniljoshivandematramholullu HONOLULLU Monday, December 18, 2006 10:02:31 PM THANK u 'Respect'--"MAIN KAUN HUN" yehi hai na aapka sawaal? Yes, I will tell u at appropriate time--but none of the ones u r thinking of. I was fed up with this nonsense for the last two months. we have no other subject but blame each other or find fault with others--without looking at our own face. WE ONLY CRITICISE;DO NOT APPRECIATE. rinni_enjoy Monday, December 18, 2006 11:07:24 PM "Mediocrity" s thy word...xcellent article...if u dont mind ,i'm going to send this article to some of my friends...withh ur permission.. hand on Tuesday, December 19, 2006 3:20:17 AM Sir,I have not read your whole article, however, gone through more than 60 % of it. Somewhere, you have given example of USA. Well, there are two point over there you need to consider. First, is the population of USA during that period and second is the time frame that you have given. You have almost given three and half decade time frame. Now, this is very long time. It has been just 60 years since we got freedom. Britisher ruined India when they left our countries. They ruined us socially (divided Hindus and Muslims), economically, and geographically. Sir consider this factors and than compare with other nations. There are many issues which I will be difficult for me to write. But if I get some time than I will put forth.contd. Ratan K.Datta Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:02:45 AM Great article. Will the contents sink. I wish more people think in the same lines. Vivek Saxena Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:09:21 AM I agree with you that we get satisfied with "reasonable sucess" in every field but would like to highlight that we were far below par on almost all walks of life hence coming to base level and after that reaching "reasonable level" itself is a achivement. We used to be called underdeveloped now are called (or can claim to be)have to realise we are developing nation. This is a considerable progress and now if you say we are happy with this mediacore achievement , it will be undermining the efforts which have gone to reach at this level.Still i also feel we lack the killer instinct to be the best other wise how the other so called smaller /starving nations can stand above us inmedall tallies of Olympics and Asiad. We have our own problems But i don,t want to be compared with USA or any other so called "developed nation" they have their own issues and equally big artical you can write on the problems they have with their attitude. They don't have family values, their kids don,t know any thing other then their own city /country, level of education of avarge american is not as good as it should be,they still need to hire people from acorss the world(big proportion from India). So, let's not be fencied by thier so called progress but better to focus on our problems.And while doing all this we need to have the belief that we are good and trying to best.and I believe our country is not in a state of reaching to best but we are in a situation of between good and better. So don,t cal mediacore. Please have self pride. we we don't believe in ourself we can not grow. copycat Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:12:37 AM copycats do beter than originals jkeshav Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:02:35 AM WELL AGREED THAT INDIA IS NOT A DEVELOPED COUNTRY WITH MEDIOCRITY EXISTING IN MANY SPHERES OF LIFE. BUT SO WHAT. EVEN THE SO-CALLED DEVELOPED COUNTRIES WITH THEIR OWN HUGE SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS FACED THIS MEDIOCRITY WHILE EVOLVING TO WHAT THEY ARE TODAY.HENCE IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO COMPARE INDIA TO OTHER COUNTRIES BUT TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS WHERE THEY EXIST. Observer Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:43:11 AM When you look at the mirror and when see an ugly face , dont bash your head against it. You will not only break the mirror but your head also. Better look at your ugly face and groom it to look better. This is what many developed nations did !!!!!!!!!. jkeshav Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:52:04 AM SOME OF THE DATA YOU HAVE MENTIONED IS INCORRECT. NEW YORK CITY & NEIGHBOURHOOD STILL SUFFERS FROM PETTY & VIOLENT CRIMES RELATED TO MUGGINGS & DRUG PEDDLING. BY NO MEANS IT IS A SAFE PLACE FOR AN AVERAGE CITIZEN ESP. IN THE NIGHTS & FOR TRAVELLERS BY THE SUBWAY TRAINS. yaveshrana Tuesday, December 19, 2006 9:18:18 AM Sir, I do not agree with you as it is NOT MEDIOCRITY we are characterised with:it is the result of our SOCIAL PSYCHE due to our SOCIAL STRATEGEM, no matter what religion/caste/creed-we might belong to. we r due to the very nature of our SOCIAL SYSTEM, a very submissive people. In our system we were taught to RESPECT ELDERS( read AUTHORITY) at all costs. Do not question--BHAGWAN KA DIYA BAHUT HAI. We were designed to be SELF CONTENTED and satisfied--This is NOW CHANGING with ATENDANT SIGNATURES of modern ills. moorthyvlr Tuesday, December 19, 2006 9:25:01 AM This blog well described in film Anniyan. We have to be better citizens to make a better nation. yaveshrana Tuesday, December 19, 2006 9:38:31 AM Sir, If it was mediocrity, INDIANS would not have done well outside INDIA. You ARE AN IT-LEADER--not because you r mediocre. I don't think winning a NOBLE prize highlights anything. YOu mean to say CHINA is nothing.UNFORTUNATELY, our old SOCIAL SYSTEM got RITUALISED into recognising symbols/statistics/ records/ glorification and resultantly seek HEROES/ICONS--ur articles is reflection of that mental make-up. We lack self confidence b'cos we were brought up like this--look at the young ones--SELF CONFIDENT, VIBRANT, and ACHIEVERS but INDIVIDUALS on their own--not society. sumit Tuesday, December 19, 2006 11:28:17 AM Very well written ...cannot agree more !! wah-wah Tuesday, December 19, 2006 2:23:42 PM Wah wah! kya baat hai--mud mud ke wohi bud-buwala paani nayi chamkati bottle men!! wah wah wah yehi chahte ho--lo kar di--ab chalte bano. Nahin toh hahakaar ho jayegi--teri chaddi utar lenge log. kuchh toh khyal karo apni umar ka yaar. chalo Honolullu chale. HonolulluuuuuuuuuuKahannnnnnn Ho Saddy_007 Tuesday, December 19, 2006 4:34:56 PM There is no point in pointing out a point that doesn?t point to some idiots .Winning a noble price may not Make yaveshrana great Make some more money he would become great. India is filled with Hardcore conservative They are so very narrow minded that they cant think out of that box They feel everything right is happening only in India. We blame politicians ,beurocrats We do the same thing if in their shoes Some thing fundamentally wrong .You can put it in the mild way the Mediocrity so you got away with it yaveshrana Tuesday, December 19, 2006 5:45:52 PM Dear Saddy,How do I figure here? Oh, b'coz I said that winning a NOBLE PRIZE does not signify anything. It really does not Saddy. If one goes by this logic than CHINA should be ahead of us in NOBLE PRIZES. QUANTITY does not matter but QUALITY does. In any case, MEDIOCRITY is a relative term--it is inexplicable on its own. How do u measure this? Finally, I would request you not to carry out personal attacks, SADDY SADAN--u do not agree ,fine. K.Venugopal Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:32:57 PM Dear Rajneesh Sharma, Fantastic article. But even the most pessimistic person would have to agree that things are changing. Our capacity to offer quality in all spheres of life is steadily climbing. In the long history of our nation, we have shone aplenty, been down many times, but never out. After almost a thousand years of foreign rule, we are ready to fully throw off the yoke of subjugation. From Vivekananda to Vajpayee, there have been trailers of our glory to come. India has begun to shine again. We shall once more be the envy of the world and this time we shall not loose our freedom thereby. K.Venugopal Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:40:44 PM Dear Rajneesh, Kargil turned out to be a quick victory for India because of one unexpected decision that Vajpayee took right at the beginning of the incursion - he decided to use maximum force - the air force. Pakistan planned the whole affair to be a low-key Siachen type affair, expecting to bleed India thereby. Vajpayee’s bold decision forced Pakistan to back-up with its Army and the rest is history. That he did not detect the incursion in the first place is no longer a valid issue, considering the rout we were able to inflict on Pakistan. K.Venugopal Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:49:32 PM Dear Rajneesh, In your eagerness to be even-handed between Congress and BJP, you have asked how charge-sheeted Advani was made the Home Minister. What was Advani charge-sheeted for? Ayodhya. How can a charge-sheet for participating in the Ayodhya movement debar him when he came to power precisely because of the movement? Incidently, the Ayodhya movement is proof that we have shed our mediocrity. When the magnificant Ram Mandir comes up, before long, the nation shall be resplendent.