a matter of perspectives

Beauty and Indian-ness are two topics, the perspectives on which i want to talk about.

Beauty is a function of time whereas character is permanent. so while we accept beautiful people in our social circle with glee, we also end up ignoring people who dont comply with our definition of beauty. and one day when the black duckling becomes a swan, we do an about-turn. of course the duckling should feel good about being accepted now. but does it?

i do not want to create the impression of being cynical towards beauty. let me also add, that appearance and character both contribute to the personality. i am only questioning the attitude towards considering which one as a more important measure of a person being acceptable in a social circle. what would you base your evaluation of a person on? appearance or character? framing this question makes us think in obvious terms. but when faced with real life situations, we flounder. so to keep it simple i follow a rule. if you change your behaviour towards me as a function of my appearance, i do not give you the chance to do that anymore. i stay away.

Indian-ness is about tolerance. on one hand tolerance has given us the treasure of diversity - a rich heritage of cultural influences, a highly-evolved multi-religious fabric, and extensive thought leadership spanning back to centuries ago. on the other hand it has led to the tendency of accepting what should not be accepted. right from the plundering during the British era, to today's corruption and lack of discipline.

also we like to live in past glory, and like to blame the british for our lack of progress. i believe the problem is with us people. we chose to remain as they left us. why do we look the other way when someone breaks the law? why do we restrict the freedom of thought in our children? why do we mix religious preferences and political views? we choose to live in our limited world because we cannot afford to spend time and money on changing the society. for it will not change by the efforts of one person. if you don't be like the crowd, you will be crushed, and the crowd will continue to be as it is.

when i thought about social initiatives i didnt find any takers in India who thought this could be a profession after MBA. here almost everyone, including Indians, thinks about giving back to the society and how MBA will make the process faster and more efficient. its time to refine out tolerance levels, customizing them to different aspects of life.

let me leave you with some food for thought. this article to me reflects how tolerance to being segregated and victimized has led a section of people to continue to struggle to become a part of the society at large.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/the-liberal-hindu-is-on