6 posts tagged “culture”

I've been thinking over a little concept for last few days. How much external influence and authority have influence on our actions. I can start the discussion with Milgram's experiment, but I would like to look at the question in a more personal and Indian contexts.

What Milgram Experiment suggest is - Human beings obey to external authority if they believe in its veracity and even in cases, The correctness of the authority isn't very clear but If the subject (Person participating in experiment) assumes that what is being asked is for some ultimate better purpose, People are willing to do what is being ordered. The Aim of Milgram's experiment was to suggest a reason for behavior of Nazi soldiers during Second world war for execution of thousands of Jews - Why didn't they protest it? What happened to their Morals? Their common sense?

The Experiment gives out a surprising result in overall statistics. People behave strangely as opposed to common sense. They perform actions which they rationally can't justify. They know that what they are doing is somewhat wrong but still as the external authority wants it and gives a plausible reason for it (which they would never believe during a rational discussion), They do it. A very cruel real life example is present here.

I would like to discuss on our personal lives. A lot many times in our life, We are asked by our supervisors, our parents to act or follow some command. A very real example would be some guy who is on site, to work continuously for 28 hours and then report next day after some 3 hrs sleep. I've never encountered a person who would not come to office next day at the right time. People would whine and complain but still they would obey. Why? Because they believe that such an action is the right action. Talking of parents, i've seen few of my friends trying to do a love marriage. The lucky ones have their parents agreeing to them but to the other ones, It's something strange. Parents give absurd reasons - caste problems, religion problems, families status problems, Society pressures, yada yada yada - All of which are rationally unjustifiable. And yet my peers never say it boldly to their parents. And what i feel most disturbing about this is - They accept the authority of their parents. I'm very sure that there are instincts in human beings which enrage them when it comes their basic moral values. But when it comes to parent's advice people don't get enraged.. they just feel depressed and lost.

I've many roommates with whom i've had discussions on this. All of them agree with futility of arranged marriages but still none of them agrees that their parents' and families' views are absolutely absurd. What i'm trying to say all along is: They accept the authority of their parents even when these people are 25-26 years old, are intelligent, are more well read than their parents ever would be, but still accept the views of their parents. None of them has a stand that they are as intelligent and rational as their parents and therefore, they are capable of making right decisions about their life. All of them say "I can't fight against my parents, I'll try to pacify them and change their stance" - A decent approach but flawed basically. The usual approach is - "I know you're angry but please listen to me. I love this boy/girl and allow me to marry him/her". Why does no one ever say "I'm more intelligent than you would ever be and I'm going to make my own choices".

Coming back to job life, Most of us are not satisfied with our pay packages, our work profiles. And yet, when at the next boss-to-subordinate interaction, when he says that Our company has the best work, even though it doesn't has the best pay package.. Most of us believe him. At all water cooler talks at office, People cry about the pay packages but i've never heard anyone crying - This company has no work or challenging projects. Why are boss always able to project to their subordinates that the projects they are working on are Challenging enough. It's again the authority given by team members to the Boss. When he says "We've got fantastic project.. a challenging project and enticing prospects ahead" Nobody crosses him even in his own mind. Yes, i know that people do switch jobs but still everytime it's the pay package that's the driving factor and not the delusion about work challenge prospects.

I know that some people would say it as "Respect to elders" is a age-old Indian tradition. But traditions have to have some basic grounding. If we never question our traditions, our society would always remain a backward society no matter how economic growth we achieve. What i feel is that in the garb of Elderly authority, Most Indian youths are making fool of themselves by not challenging the age old beliefs.

How many times do we question the existence of God even when we can always justify every act rationally or scientifically? How many times we ever believe that our parents are normal human beings who are capable of making erroneous judgments as We youths are at an age of 25-26. We, in fact, never believe that our elders are just plain simple men and women having a limited understanding of the world as we all human beings have. I know that some people would argue against me but my point always was - "Why do people give authority to others just based on perceptions of the society on Power and Authority hierarchies?". The debate was never against elders or teachers or company bosses. It always was - Do we all lack so much authority in ourselves that as soon as somebody else exercies it, We are willing to accept it.

If you are not yet satisfied with my reasoning, Watch Black Friday. It beautifully tells the story of Badshah khan who is lured by Tiger Memon to murder Hindus for avenging Muslim blood. Never during the conversation, Badshah khan questions the authority of Tiger Memon which Tiger Memon gets only due to being group leader of the Terrorist Gang. In real life too, The bloody politicians are able to incite mobs for riots only because The Mob itself gives an unquestionable authority to the politicians to sway their views on truth and lies, and all this happens in a democratic country like India and not a totally communist country like China where the Mob has to agree. Perhaps, it's the biggest flaw of human nature that we all need a leader, for our Society to be organized. And it's the same need for a leader, an external authority which will make us realise, How big a fool we've all been.

I was just wondering over a trivial question, Why do men generally have shorter head hair and women longer head hair in Human societies. I tried to find the answer but couldn't find anything satisfactory than shorter hair for man are proscribed in military services just for the purpose of maintaining discipline.

In Indian context, i can't find any specific reason for this practice. i'm not saying that this is something horribly wrong happenning with our society, still just for a curiosity. One thing about men and women hair i know for sure - only men become bald, not the women. Women's head hair density becomes low but they don't become bald. Is that got something to do with shorter hair for men.

The only reason i've been able to conjure up is, it just started somewhere as a tradition and since then, its been continuing without anybody ever questioning it. Well, The Great Indian culture!!

Note: I understand that sikhs have long hairs, but again that's for a traditional reason. Similarly, the dudes having pony tails or boys who keep long hairs nowadays are doing it just for the sake of individuality (read - for pretending to be hip and followers of western values) So, somewhere in our society, it's not natural for men to have longer hairs. The same kind of argument will apply to women also. They do have bob cuts, etc. but still the ratio is heavily skewed in favour of long haired woman.

huh.. In the end, what a silly question when Indian Economy is growing and india's youth (i'm surely not one of them, according to the surveys done by business magazines all over india. Though i've never met even one person who personifies the ideal indian youth presented in these magazines) are sucking the lifelines of the West with their firang accent, writing software codes and by answering one or two profound questions of the world in BPO call centres? I should better get going to get a haircut. At least it will help to beat the mumbai humidity.

Indian express writes:

Yesterday, i had my friends were having free evening snacks in our canteen. By chance, we enjoyed a great evening at i-flex :)

It consisted of two parts. first was the food. Now, my company never wants its employees to become fat. that's why the taste of the food is always such that even if you are hungry since last two days, you won't be able to eat more than two chapatis. Yesterday, i think by some mistake, we had some nice tasting snacks on our tongue-buds. Ok, that was the first part.

In our canteen, we are having two flat screen televisions so that whenever an outside visitor would visit our company, He would be led to believe that we employees enjoy so much freedom that we can watch television also. Obviously, there is a catch. The television is 'ON' between 7 to 7.45 p.m. only. you can't change the channels nor the volume (due to god damn Child lock.. hail i-flex).

And the biggest advantage being, the channels shown on these televisions. yesterday, One of them was showing 'Janmat' and the other was showing 'Channel 7'. Now, definitely i-flex doesn't wants its employees to watch television even for half-an hour. Who the hell on earth watches janmat or, channel 7??

So, i along with my friends was enjoying my free snacks and then, something happenned. The television beside me started showing images of bikini-clad women shaking their bodies vigorously while doing samba. Now, that was a sight for us. all the women sitting nearly started blushing. But obviously, the television was child-locked so, nobody could do anything about it. So, we guys kept on enjoying the beautiful brazilian females while women sitting around tried to behave as if nothing was happening :)

Well.. at that moment i cried loudly (obviously, i wasn't caring about women employees. i don't think i have any chances of making any girl-friend even here in i-flex. curse of ITBHU :( ). So, coming back to my crying loudly.. i cried "JANMAT ZINDABAD". (hail janmat). "junta ka mat" :) (public's view)

Hehe

I've been living in mumbai for about 1 year now. i've went through all kinds of emotions about mumbai. i've loved its diversity - endless people everywhere, endless faces with wrinkles, sweats, rich and poor, its one of its kind life in india - the city respects every individual. Here in mumbai, Nobody asks you questions, you are free. your next-door neighbour won't ask you about your personal life. you live life in mumbai, you die and you are forgotten, still the pace of the life moves on.

And then there are scenes of traffic jam, pollution, utter chaos and waste of time due to roads and flyovers being constructed in every nook and corner of the city.. it just makes me sad and sometimes cringe for shifting to some other city.

Perhaps i haven't really understood mumbai in its totality. still when i found this link on flickr on photographs of mumbai, i again went through all those emotions and those memories.

When you live in mumbai - you have all kinds of questions in your mind. Everyday, the pace of life remains same. you get up, you run and you do your job in office. your only interaction with the city being the long traffic jams and broken roads. you find yourself crying for some relief.

Sometimes, there are reports in mumbai newspapers regarding mumbaikars loving their city the most in India and i wonder what might be the reason behind it. There is no space to live in the city. Even a 1 BHK in far suburbs would easily cost 25 lakhs. infrastructure of the city is collapsing.

Still, people love it. i've talked with my friends - my room mates and they love this city. Anurag said to me - This is the only city which is alive no matter when you step out of your home. Even at 3 am in the night, one would find roads filled, highways being plied upon by vehicles, you can always find a roadside cigarette and coffee-wala at this time, sitting beside the highway.

There would be girls and boys enjoying and partying in pubs. Even at 12.30 in the night, i've found girls walking alone while they are in tee shirts and low waist jeans. i don't know whether such girls are call girls or not as it rather seems strange to find a girl being so much prepared with make-up. But then, i think that i respect the city's attitude - rarely any man would dare to approach the woman. you are respected. "mumbai mein har koi apne kaam se kaam rakhta hai" i had heard this line often before coming to mumbai but now, i realize it.

In cities like bangalore, i've heard from my friends that the native people of city don't accept the outsiders like me, ridiculing us as north indians. There is no such attitude in mumbai. Regarding pune, it closes down at 10 p.m. in the evening. no open shops, nothing.

I think we all have a tendency to curse the system sometimes. Even when we are satisfied and things are going according to us, our basic system cringes for a change. that's why we humans rebelled in the first version of The Matrix :)

i think i cry because i try to go down into my memories of my college days of BHU. its a completely changed life now. i get up, i go to office, i come back, watch TV, chat to my friends for half an hour or so and go to sleep. i think the 'the fun part' of the life has become rather subdued.

i'm slowly trying to make a sense of all this. i no longer cringe for that night life. however, i do get bored whenever any newspaper brings out an article regarding night life of mumbai. i know that i can be blamed as a case of sour grapes as i myself am not living a very active life, i might be termed 'sour grapes'. But still, with the kind of job pressures, crumbling infrastructure and roads which keep you stuck in traffic jam for 3 hours daily, one might think that night life is only for the sons and daughters of the ameer junta (super riches).

Still, watching those flickr images and the time which i spend in my balcony watching the blue sky, watching slums stretched across many kilo metres, and just observing the passing time and life, i think i forget all my complaints. The city has its charm. i might not cheer up whenever i listen "Mumbai" but yes, it's a different kind of city.

Perhaps we don't know how to live the life. perhaps if i had more money and a less hectic job, i would have enjoyed mumbai more. perhaps if i lived in the posh areas of mumbai - bandra, juhu or south mumbai.. i would have complained less as there would be lesser traffic jams, better roads and infrastructure.

i've never made an effort for anything in my life. i've slowly become a mumbai wallah. i've never watched a sunrise or sunset in mumbai. my balcony faces west and from ground there are tall building everywhere that i can never watch the sun setting in the mountains.

I think we all keep on running for getting something in our lives that has been eluding us. But i don't know whether achieving money, time, life-partner will make me reach there.

PS: the title of my post is mum-bhaiyya. we north indians are called as bhaiyya log in mumbai. that's why i'm calling myself as mum-bhaiiya :) but still i believe that i am always accepted and forgotten in mumbai :) the city doesn't care for you. it won't stop. it won't bleed for you. it would just keep on moving. this is mumbai, and i'm a mum-bhaiiya

This is from Apple's think different campaign. Once upon a time, it gave me the spirit to rebel and still gives. found these lines at wikipedia for "Think Different". Here are the lines:

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,

disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing that you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.

They explore. They create. They inspire.

They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?

Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?

Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can

change the world, are the ones who do.