Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Great Indian Bi -Polar Disorder


                           Ask any Indian and he would say Culture, History and Tradition are what he/she  is most proud of about his country.The sudden interest of Media regarding Rape and Women's rights in India has prompted me to think on what would cause such a thing as rape n murder so brutal ? Out of all why does this happen in the self proclaimed "CULTURED" country ?  When trying to find a reason, do understand, I don't condone what happened. I am the one who believes the culprits must have been hung by their balls right away. I know a civilized society needs them to have defense lawyers and a publicized court trial using tax payers money, But my feelings are just too raw about such a thing. I also am not finding a reason for rape , which is as obvious as as the fact that some men are dick heads and their libido wins over their humanity.

                           Getting back to the reason on why such a thing would happen on a consistent basis in a country like India, I keep going back to the rapid pace at which our economy has been growing and the impact or toll it has had over our society. This rapid pace has brought on such a vast divide among the haves and have-not's, that as a society India is starting to feel the impact. This impact is also specific to Indian society, because Rapid economic development has also brought on rapid westernization. The lower middle class and poor always have been the last to adapt to this and remained a bit more conservative than their counterparts of society. This is irrelevant to a society like Brazil, which has seen about the same pace of development,  as the entire culture is a bit more Sexually libertarian. China, which more or less mirrors our society, has dealt with it in its usual dictatorial methods of law n order.

                           The abyss that exists between these 2 classes in India is not only economic at this point but cultural too. Half of the country has moved forward with new ideologies and has left behind a confused and to an extent disgruntled section in the society. I am not pinning this epidemic entirely on poor, mind you. The conservative structure up on which Indian society is built is also a reason for this. The advent of 24 hr entertainment through media & Internet and the sleaziness just thrown around with Item songs and bikini clad women parading in the movies does not help. You watch a Bollywood movie where the so called hero's have to take a dump or a heroine licking a Ice cream cone ... It has to be shot  sleazily & stylishly either in London or NY.
                            Most Indian women, conservative as they are, do not put it out there like women of other western cultures do. Conflicting signals, the media content & women in real send is also a distress factor in this.  Imagine the psyche of a Bihari immigrant worker living in New Delhi, who comes from a conservative premise but has access to see first hand how the other half has moved along without him. He sees that men are allowed to have girlfriends and date and still be accepted society and he imagines what happens in all the cheesy Bollywood movies is real. Add cheap liquor or drugs to the mix, all reasoning is off and you end up with a Delhi rape scenario, where brutality knows no bounds. They have no discretion left and cannot accept rejection. Some rape and some throw acid. This has been happening all too often even in educated communities.

                           The Socio-economic change India has underwent over the last decade, first world nations had close to a 80 year head start to go through the same. No wonder this sudden jolt to what has been a resilient culture to outside influences, has had so many repercussions. This two faced generation will take at least a couple of decades to settle down and sink in the realities of what effects true and rapid globalization can have on Long standing conservative societies.