Is there anything bigger than nation for a human being?
This is the time when BJP came to power on its own. People have given a clear mandate to it in elections. We all know it is an ideological party. Owing to their allegiance with RSS it loves to live more in history and past rather than with economics and future. Deviating from this, Modi showed a difference in approach. He did not talk about history and past with people. He spoke about economics and future. Obviously the youth of India liked it. Nobody has time and interest to dwell in past in India’s youth today. They only have a road to see a head. Today’s youth don’t sit in a bullock cart to have a back view. They only like to sit in a car and wish to only have a front view.
Nevertheless, even if the party says we are now very bad students and history and good students of economics, the fundamental principles governing the party may not be forgotten. These fundamental principles emerge from history only.
Seekh hum beethe yugonse naye yug ka kare svaagat…..Beethe yug means NDA, not treta yug or dwaapara yug. Even if youth are assured freedom from boring lessons of history, the party should not forget its past. Economics devoid of idealism and history has its own drawbacks. It means mindless consumerism. That is one thing to remember. There is no significant difference between NDA and UPA ideologically if history is set aside. That is another thing to remember.
I have no clarity about the subject actually. I am a confused person. During the course of life I took many decisions, what influenced those decisions I myself do not clearly know. But I dwelt on many questions like – what is my relationship with this world….can anyone thrust upon me any identity that I do not (or may not) like to be identified with, what is the difference between a citizen and human being, what is the role of government in my life, what is the role of corporate or employer in my life, how far I can bend my back before his authority for the sake of salary etc.
Some people are born with silver spoon. Their parents would have assured that they live comfortably without having to depend on job to ensure minimum standard of living and basic amenities in life, food, shelter and clothing. Their job is now to add on to the wealth that already assured life and its comforts lifelong with good bank balances, fixed deposits, houses in their names inherited from parents and other properties inherited from parents, ancestors etc.
I am not one amongst them. I need a job. I need earnings that come from a job. I need money to fulfill my basic needs food and clothing. I have no bank balances, properties etc. given by my father. I am yet to own a house. There are millions like me.
Can I afford to spend time on such questions without doing a job? I do not know. But I did.
Let me share what are the questions I put to myself and what answers I got.
Am I an Indian?
No. I am a human being first. Citizen next. Nobody can thrust on me any nationality. How do I define a Human being and a Citizen? A human being is someone who has land under feet and sun above head. He is part of nature. He is given water to live, light to see, air to breathe by nature. A Citizen is part of institutions of law that a nation binds human beings with for peaceful coexistence with other citizens.
Am I part of Indian society?
Who took care of my mother when she needed services on death bed? Nobody has time in the world for others. Whatever we could do to her we did and whatever we could not do, we paid to servants to buy their services. So I am not part of Indian Society.
What do I owe to this Nation?
I don’t know what do I owe to this nation. If I die, the amount of food, cloths other things that I consume to make a living may reduce to the extent of one person and that may have an impact on inflation somewhere (though negligibly). I may do some service to nation in terms of supply of goods in an economy divided by number of people requiring them if I die. That is what I owe this nation.
Can I afford to live depending on nature only as a human being not as a citizen?
It is not possible. I cannot live like an animal though god assured food for every living being. I cannot eat grass and live without cloths like an animal. I need to get goods from markets which are produced by some other people which involve their service in production, for which I need to pay in terms of money. I cannot pick up goods from market freely. Nobody will allow me to. Hence I need money. In order to have money, I need to do a job. So it is not at all possible that I live like a human being without depending on the goods produced by others. As their service is involved in creation of those goods, I need to pay them.
What I have to do to have money? I have to work. If I work somebody(employer) will give me money. With that money I can purchase the goods and things I want from markets to survive as a human being. Food, cloths, bricks and cement to make a house, land etc.
Is this what my relationship with nation? To go out everyday to contribute in terms of work, get money from employer, and again go out to pay it to someone to get what I want…is this my relationship with my nation? Only monetary or anything beyond that? Say, spiritual. Is there anything else that I could have contributed other than work which can be measured in terms of salary? Is there anything that I have contributed other than work?
My relationship with my Nation is only money?
I go out to work to get money and I go out to get goods that I need and pay money that I earned. Is this all my relationship with world?
What do I have to sacrifice to do a job?
Self respect. If I need money I have to do whatever work he (employer) says. He sits as authority over my head. If you do this….this…that….I will pay you this much of money. I am compelled to do a job whether I like his authority of not. Often it offends my self respect to obey the orders of employer. He thinks I am living at his mercy. I don’t like it. Though it is true to say that for the services offered I am eligible (legally or otherwise) to be paid money by employer, it is not so easy in our country where labor is very cheap. For the amount of services offered or work done he gives money, but the mercy factor comes into play in the thought that he gave me a job. And I should not be living in a system where one is dependent on another’s mercy for survival.
So I thought can I go into a forest and live the way sages lived in our epic stories Ramayana and Mahabhaarata eating whatever is available in a forest without depending on human beings for money or for goods produced?
That is declaring independence from Nation, Nationality and Citizenship.
Who are you to feed me? My mother nature feeds me…I can say to people if I can do that. I still believe that is total independence and freedom from association with nation and nationality with which I only bear a monetary relationship. And nothing beyond is ever recognized to exist by anyone.
Mercy is presumed to exist in many forms. Amma does good work in Tamil Nadu. People get so many things free, rice, laptops etc. People presume that Amma had given them. Modi had done good job in Gujarat. People presume Modi had given them. UPA Government build houses under Rajiv Awas Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi is presumed to show mercy. Political power is such a brazen instrument that you can get name and fame for distributing things produced by others in charity not for distributing the things produced by you
MPs and MLAs operate from their houses in India. They do not have any offices from where they function. They do not sign any attendance register in any public office. What do they get from government and what do they spent is not accounted for in any register. (correct me if I am wrong) They are not in the purview of RTI Act to the best of my knowledge. As they operate from house it is presumed by people that the money spent by them is given by them personally in charity. Ofcourse, even that they do not like to do that is a different aspect. But these days things have gone wrong for losing politicians with the burgeoning media and social media. People don’t enjoy the success of a politician as much as they enjoy his loss in elections. So the insult and agony of losing has doubled and tripled for politicians and many of them have decided strongly that they should not lose elections even at the cost of public service. Whatever it is, it is still considered mercy. I want a system where I have a right to work, and nobody feels I am living at his mercy. If anyone feels like that it hurts my self respect.
I agitate sometimes against government as an unemployed person. 21 to 23 years parents invested on my education aiming that I can get a job and ensure them a good life in old age. If I am not to get a job can the government be sued? You created universities. You offered courses. I studied wasting my time. Instead I had done some labor job I would not have wasted time on education and dreams.
Does it not amount to cheating (on the part of government) the people who spend their valuable time, efforts money to get educated? When Nations and Governments bind human beings with institutions of law and legal framework, they are not supposed to say, it is your responsibility to get educated and it is only a matter of chance and luck if you can get a job. If you are to say that let us live like animals.
But that (to sue) is only an institutional solution, though even that is remote to become a possibility. So I have much better answers at least for my problems, though I may not promise to people the same would be applicable to them too. Surely I have found out something else that nobody could in this journey. That is, exploring my relationship with nature and nation. I owe only in terms of money for what I get from things produced by people. What do I owe to god for things that he had given to people using which people produce goods? Say Water. God gives rains. God gives Air. God gives ENERGY TO WORK. What do we owe to Him for giving all that to us?
So, in my personal ideology, Nature is above nation. BJP says, Nation first, Party next, Self last. I say, Nature first, Nation next and there is no difference between Self and Nature because I am part of it. So the answer for the primary question is in affirmative.
