(Dear readers, this is an article I wrote for Bharati, a campus magazine of IIT Madras in 2004. You can observe the element of immaturity and the quest for immediate change of the system in my words. This is my second article in Bharati, first one was about corruption which will be posted here soon)
I still remember the days when I was asked to kneel down by my teacher for coming to the class without shoes. I was nine that time. One night I asked my mother why such a big punishment for such a small crime. She consoled me and told me that all these punishments are to shape me into a perfect individual and a good citizen. Then it was rules in school. But now, it is rules in the society and rules regarding religious practices. Ideally, these rules are trying to teach discipline and a moral code of conduct. Though the intention behind these rules is public order, today they are not serving their purpose much!
For example, take a contemporary issue like ragging.
Though many people quote, ragging is an effective means to communicate with the seniors, it was worse in many incidents and infact worst in many other incidents. We witnessed such an incident in
Great !! The crime rate came down ! There were number of ragging and eve-teasing cases filed in the Police stations before this law was introduced. But now there is not even one ragging case in Chennai ! Does that mean the ragging stopped in Chennai colleges?! The reply is an absolute ‘NO’…. The rule is too excessive for a student. We know that every odd-semester IIT has a tradtition to open with a ragging incident. Followed by Dean(St.)'s spying in the hostels. Is IIT not in Chennai? Then why are the Chennai Rules not applicable to IIT?? Its not just in the case of IIT but all the institutions trying to save their students from such a dirty punishment. No institution is ready to spoil the career of its students. So no ragging cases in the court ! Did the legislation work?? Did the rule stop ragging? Then what is the use of such an excessive rule??
Inside the campus of any educational institution drinking(obviously alcohol) is strictly prohibited. But there is no need to tell you what happens in our hostels. The wardens are so much concerned about the alcohol flow in the hostels! In a campus where even driving a powered vehicle is considered a crime, is the alcohol flow justified?? Here I am not just complaining, but trying to expose the imperfections in the system, and the failure of our rule based mechanism to fulfill their duty.
Coming to the point that rules can shape an individual’s character, there is always a compromise in our society.
Indian Constitution gave a special status to our Fundamental Rights, at the same time it expects its citizens to fulfill some Fundamental Duties. These duties work as the moral code for a citizen. Interestingly, some Fundamental Duties are very simple, like respecting the nation, flag, constitution etc. But the true spirit of our constitution expects each one of us to love our nation. Is that so simple?!!
Today many of us are not happy with the nation!
They have many reasons to feel ashamed of being Indians!
Lets go through them,
Old — “Indian Youth is irresponsible, they don’t know anything.
Though we know, we don’t have strength”
Young— “We are unemployed and there is no hope in this
Corrupt country, and the aged will always restrict us”
A religious minority— “It’s a Hindu dominated country. We are
insecure and ignored by the governments”
A low caste community— “We are suppressed by the higher castes
and we are facing discrimination in
the country”
A high caste community— “As long as reservations are present in
the system,
Reservations should be cancelled”
Great reasons!! I am not going to the aspect of criticizing their views and I am not going to judge whether they are right or wrong. But its true that at least large section of these groups have these ideas. Is this the way a true Indian’s thinking process should go??
When a child is brought up by their parents in such a disciplined environment, why are they behaving like this when they grew older? It is their parental views which are imposed on them. When education, society and parents cannot shape the character of an individual, what is the need of rules in the society?
Why the teacher should punish a student for not wearing shoes or not wearing a tie?!! Uniform?! When the society in which he lives, is not uniform, is it necessary to punish him for not wearing shoes?!. We see in many cases a drunkard punishing his son for being a drunkard.
Our parents and our educational system should teach us how to love the nation, and how to treat fellow Indian. They should not impose their feelings and views in our hearts. Last but not least rules should not be excessive. Because we have seen that excessive rules will never serve their purpose they are intended to. Still we have our reputation as Indians in changing ourselves slowly… Can we expect a change atleast now???
