Note: This post came about from effects of a discussion on FB about ongoing changes in Indian governance by Narendra Modi. Thanks to Jyoti R. Shah and Ravindra Nadkarni for sharing their views on the matter. I thought it proper to only include my thoughts on the matter in this post as their views helped crystallize much of what I've written here.
“When elephant trainers in India catch a baby elephant, they tie one of its legs to a post with a rope. The baby elephant struggles and struggles but it can’t get free. For days the elephant pulls and strains at the rope. Gradually it learns that struggle is useless and it gives up.
When the elephant grows up, the trainer keeps it tied to the same rope in the same way. And even though it can now break the rope and get away, it stands passively and waits for the trainer to come and get it.
It has developed what is called learned-helplessness. It has learned that the struggle is useless as a result of repeated failure experiences earlier in life, the elephant has learned a self imposed limitation.”
Hasthyaayurvedam: Though
this chaining method is crude it's used commonly, apparently there are more subtle
and gentle ways to train elephants as per "Hasthyaayurvedam" (Elephant
Ayurveda) but this may be a lost art now : namboothiri.com/articles/hasthyaayurvedam.htm
I remember reading a story book from Kerala called 'Chatu The Elephant Boy'.
It's
about a Royal Mahout family that falls from grace when the King's
dearest Elephant goes into Mushth and kills the Royal Mahout due to
callous treatment by one of the assistant mahouts.
The normally
kind and gentle elephant goes berserk and runs away into the forest. The
Mahout's son/nephew Chatu vows to find the elephant and bring it and
the Royal Mahout status bestowed by the King.
Chatu is aided in
this impossible task by his grandmother and her hermit brother and the
family's best kept scriptures on Elephants written in ancient Sanskrit.
The
book truly delves deep into what an Elephant thinks and feels, what
affects its moods and rhythms. How a good mahout must go beyond
brute-control and become a true-friend to the elephant. It even talks
about
the use of marmas and herbs to help control and heal elephants. Ankushas
then become merely ornamental or to be used in dire-situations as a
mere touch or even glance is enough to direct the elephant. It becomes
more of a partnership than master-slave relationship.
Chained Baby Elephants, Mind-Blocks, License Raj and Development :
Common man is the most powerful person who
doesn't know his/her own power. What the removal of red-tape, and setting up of good-governance
does is to simply free the common-man from the chains of bureaucracy and unnecessary authority!!
Like the baby elephant who's been chained
since childhood the concept of freedom and the fact that it is no longer
small but a full grown elephant will take some time to sink in.
That is why young people who are not conditioned by years of repression
do so well in taking advantage of changed circumstances. They simply do
not have the mental-blocks and respond to changed conditions instantly
and naturally.
Successful Indian children in US have 3 things that help : 1) Parents helping/egging them on 2) Resources to fulfill their potential. 3) And of course lack of mind-blocks/license-raj as in India.
Nature vs. Nurture: US
being an extremely 'individualistic' country doesn't believe in
enforcing values on children. They must struggle to find their own way
which is good if they manage to do so.
Indian
parents however have very clear idea about what constitutes success.
They ensure that the child will succeed whether it likes it or not.
An
in-between path where parents are open-minded and have resources to
evaluate and help children find their own path this will lead to
successful as well as happy children.
If
Indian society becomes more open from restrictions we may see such
explosion in growth at individual and societal level here too.
Narendra Modi is the first Bharatiya Pradhaan Mantri born AFTER Independence from British Raj. His Independence Day Speech 2014 was radically different from those of preceding PMs : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOwD2S3oHjU
The country is having the highest young demographic in the world. ALL these youngsters (including myself) are born AFTER independence. However India being a conservative country the transference of mind-blocks is quite high across generations. The lack of self-belief is passed down from generation to generation. However it gets watered down in each subsequent generation. Especially the generation of tomorrow is growing up in a land of plenty compared to it's predecessors. How will this affect the self-perception of a young nation wanting to achieve and succeed?!!
There is much to Hope for Bhaarat the evergreen land!! My motherland!!
