“All are equal but some are more equal than the others” said George Orwell in “Animal Farm”. The statement most accurately depicts the tussle between egalitarianism and social divisions. Governments and intellectuals eulogize the romantic concept of egalitarianism but, reality remains starkly different. The Preamble of the Constitution of India declares her as a “socialist, secular Republic”. It also includes the Fundamental Right against Discrimination. Yet, in modern India, caste and religious differences are seen in prominence as never before. The flames are fuelled by political motives. The USA granted equal rights to blacks but, only years later were they able to hail the first black President. Worldwide, such differences have perpetuated, generation after generation yet intellectualism still strives and upholds egalitarianism.
Classlessness is a fundamentally right concept. Each human being is equal in the eyes of God and in the eyes of law. Equal rights should be enjoyed by John Doe and the billionaire capitalist. A few societies do realize this state. Like the nomads, some Chinese tribes and certain North Australian communities. In a Chinese tribe, which survives on hunting, the one who makes the kill is teased in proportion to the size of the beast to deflate his ego. In North Australia, each person is bound by custom to share anything that his neighbour needs. Everybody’s needs are hence taken care of. The nomads own nothing but the bare minimum and hence do not fight over what belongs to whom. These egalitarian societies have been built upon the principles of kinship and collective ownership of resources.
Individualism, privatization and the notion of ownership of resources– ubiquitous concepts in modern world, all but destroy the possibility of egalitarianism. The countries who gave equal share of wealth to everyone, saw their economies in tatters until they allowed some form of capitalism. Anti-egalitarians also argue that nature creates genetic differences. It makes some men more able than the others then why should their progress be stymied in the name of equality for all. Society being divided into strata is so strongly a part of every society that it must be essential for a stable society. It thus stands empirically correct even though morally, egalitarianism stands higher.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Awesome Day
It’s a good time to be alive.
I had my first MT prac today. It was a good and at times funny thing. Electrical Experiments are all about connecting wires. You try to tie three thick bush-like wires to a single knob and the lab assistant comes at pulls at them. Unexpectedly they are seen in his hand instead of on the transformer. Next, my partner was trying to adjust the load on a motor. Somehow she rotated the handles such that the spring balance that was hanging from it unscrewed and went down with a clang. The instructor and assistant came running. First incident in that lab. Then after some time, when we were done with the readings, we tried to turn the motor off. I lowered the voltage. The motor hissed and then the silent lab came alive with the grinding sound. Our assistant was standing a few feet apart. We told him “Sir, our motor is making a sound”. That guy turned his back to us. Then seeing at a distant star, as if having a premonition, he said “Wait, I can hear some sound”. Till that time, the instructor who had been at the other end of the lab realized where the sound was coming from and rushed over. No damage done, thankfully. We didn’t exactly appreciate the idea of blowing something on our first day itself.
The evening was made fun by a DJ nite organized for Lohri. Maybe the name Bhangra nite would be more appropriate. I danced this way after quite long. One and a half hour of non-stop of dancing with friends – sheer joy. Doing फुगड़ी is another exhilarating experience. For the uninitiated, fugadi is a kind of dance step where two people, usually girls, hold each other’s hands and move around in a wide circle. The faster the better, even though the world is dizzy afterwards. And if you haven’t clasped tightly, you are flung out and land as a heap on the floor. Punjabi songs are fun to shake a leg to. Even last time’s Lohri DJ nite had been fun. Unlike the one in Waves where Nikihil Chinappa was the DJ. It is desi music that rocks.
So folks..my life is becoming better by the day.. how’s urs?
I had my first MT prac today. It was a good and at times funny thing. Electrical Experiments are all about connecting wires. You try to tie three thick bush-like wires to a single knob and the lab assistant comes at pulls at them. Unexpectedly they are seen in his hand instead of on the transformer. Next, my partner was trying to adjust the load on a motor. Somehow she rotated the handles such that the spring balance that was hanging from it unscrewed and went down with a clang. The instructor and assistant came running. First incident in that lab. Then after some time, when we were done with the readings, we tried to turn the motor off. I lowered the voltage. The motor hissed and then the silent lab came alive with the grinding sound. Our assistant was standing a few feet apart. We told him “Sir, our motor is making a sound”. That guy turned his back to us. Then seeing at a distant star, as if having a premonition, he said “Wait, I can hear some sound”. Till that time, the instructor who had been at the other end of the lab realized where the sound was coming from and rushed over. No damage done, thankfully. We didn’t exactly appreciate the idea of blowing something on our first day itself.
The evening was made fun by a DJ nite organized for Lohri. Maybe the name Bhangra nite would be more appropriate. I danced this way after quite long. One and a half hour of non-stop of dancing with friends – sheer joy. Doing फुगड़ी is another exhilarating experience. For the uninitiated, fugadi is a kind of dance step where two people, usually girls, hold each other’s hands and move around in a wide circle. The faster the better, even though the world is dizzy afterwards. And if you haven’t clasped tightly, you are flung out and land as a heap on the floor. Punjabi songs are fun to shake a leg to. Even last time’s Lohri DJ nite had been fun. Unlike the one in Waves where Nikihil Chinappa was the DJ. It is desi music that rocks.
So folks..my life is becoming better by the day.. how’s urs?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)