Stray thoughts of Dr. Y. V. Rao -4
Dr.
Yerneni Venkateswara Rao
M.Sc.,
Ph. D
Retired
Principal
GUDIVADA- A.P
yernenivrao@gmail.com
B2-4
A true
friendship is a game played by two equal players , each eager to win yet not
averse to lose , for each knows how to savour success in the other’s victory.
They both know that whoever wins in the game , it is their friendship that
would ultimately be the winner / triumph in the end. Friendship is thus quite
unlikely other games in that it not only takes the sting out of the defeat but
also performs the near miracle of converting it into victory.
How nice it would be if every couple were to
grow into such an ideal pair of friends and every home becomes a congenial and
convivial place for all in the family to live a life of harmony, peace and
happiness!
B2-5
Artistic
freedom is a hallowed value that has been sustaining human progress and all
great civilizations down the ages. It seems to have suddenly become the
rallying point for all kinds of people these days in our country. Under the
guise of artistic freedom , wilful misrepresentation of truth, motivated
manipulation of history and diabolical distortion of art are being wrought by
either the rightists or the leftists so blatantly as to outrage natural
justice, moral norms and aesthetic sensibilities. Can such abuse and
vulgarization of it be condoned , much less defended? Now, the question of
questions is who should it be that decides what is to be permitted or
proscribed. Is it the self appointed guardians of our culture and values who
tend to see everything as grist to their mindless morality mill that should be
the final arbiters of what is decent or decadent, moral or morbid? Such a
thought police coming as it generally is from some fundamentalist outfits or
organizations—the intolerant fringes of the society—if allowed to impose its
notions of right and wrong and its beliefs on others, will wreak havoc on the
society and jeopardize the artistic and cultural future of the country as it
has already started doing in a blatant way. The situation today is pretty bizarre
making it difficult for one to know which is more condemnable , the
vulgarization of art and the distortion of truth in the name of artistic
freedom or the intolerant and reprehensible acts perpetrated in the name of
countering them.
Needless to say, misuse of artistic freedom
is as bad as its ruthless suppression if not worse. Some choice we have :
progress in degradation and debasement in the name of creative freedom and
liberty or no artistic or cultural progress at all, not much different from choosing
between the devil and the deep sea. The impasse evidently owes its origin to
the attempt to counter excessive freedom with excessive restriction. Indulgence
in excess, even in excess of goodness has never solved any problem nor ever
will; on the contrary, it spawns many more of them. So the general lesson
lurking in the present predicament is that the subtle distinction between
freedom and licentiousness on the one hand , and reasonable restraint and total
suppression on the other should never ever be lost sight of.
If this were to be the case, there would have
to be more understanding, more tolerance, more accommodation in any society and
more so, in a pluralist society like ours with multi religious , multi ethnic
and multi lingual groups and interests, which though competing for space, both
existential and developmental, have through the free intermingling of their
diverse cultural belief systems mediated and shaped our history and moulded and
fortified our civilization.
Conscientious objectors can have a voice
which they can raise in protest against anything aberrant in their view but not
a violent veto on artistic, literary, cultural and other creative rights and
liberties democratically sanctioned/granted.
B2-6
When
politics becomes the first resort of scoundrels as it appears to be the case in
our country today, how long can parliament and legislative assemblies,
institutions designed to be the temples of democracy, guard themselves against
their desecration and defilement arising from the internal sabotage in the form
of outrageous onslaughts on their processes and procedures in the form of
vulgar theatricals , bullying tactics and bedlam and such other wanton and
depraved acts of the worst kind imaginable, all aimed at obstructing and
disrupting their proceedings by the so called people’s representatives!
Certainly not until the honourable members of Parliament ie MPs –now accepted
as an acronym for the most privileged by many--learn to subordinate their
narrow personal and partisan ambitions to the institutional forms and
conventions, and etiquette and decorum which is the sine qua non of both
genuine democracy and good governance. And it should yet be possible to restore
semantic strength to the phrase “Hon’ble Member” so that we may use it with no
trace of irony or embarrassment or compunction. But left to themselves , for
one thing, they may not care to learn at all, and for another , even if they
care to learn, it is bound to be a very slow process. Someone’s quote that “the
arena meant for the battle of wits on occasion has turned into (one for the)
battle of fists” has already acquired the verisimilitude of a fact of life in
respect of our Parliament and our legislative bodies. So, before it is too late
the presiding officers should formulate a rigorous code of conduct for the
legislators with provision for punitive action and enforce it strictly in
conducting he proceedings of these institutions .
More important, this sorry state of affairs
being essentially a reflection of the fast growing canker of criminalization of
politics, the saner elements among the parliamentarians drawing on the
resources and expertise of agencies like the Law Commission should get down in
right earnest to the task of recasting the country’s electoral laws—Representation
of People Act and other allied acts—so as to make it (a)virtually impossible
for the anti social elements and those with criminal background on the one hand
and (b)relatively easy for public spirited individuals with proven record of
service on the other to enter these shrines of democracy before people’s faith
and confidence in the democratic system itself is shaken to the roots. In
addition, people at large should become more vigilant and watchful and exercise
greater care and caution in choosing their representatives and elect only those
with exemplary character and ethical and moral values.
Would it be too much to expect that dignity
and decorum should return to the Houses as also their efficient and effective
functioning free from disorderliness and interruptions to justify the huge cost
of running them—running the Parliament , for instance, costs Rs. 6, 700 per
minute—sooner than later ? This is well within the realm of realization for
during the early decades of Independence
There are occasions in life on which we have
to go slow, others on which to hurry and still others where we have to hazen
slowly(cautiously). Intelligence is to
know which is which and wisdom is to act accordingly. Likewise , in every life,
there are bound to be occasions on which one acts but knows not and one knows
but acts not highlighting yet again the role and need for intelligence and
wisdom to correct the imbalance in life by eliminating any scope for lapses and
distortions.
It is their disuse or their relative scarcity
that makes life what it is—a tragi comedy.
A
cardinal principle in life which can guide us in making intelligent choices by
delimiting these different categories is “avoid excess – excess of everything,
even of goodness—at all costs by embracing a ‘balanced life’ marked by
‘moderation in all things’”
When in
doubt as to what constitutes excess and what is appropriate , follow the golden
rule—“ Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” and “judge not,
that ye be not judged” as Mathew prescribed/ preached .
Wisdom dictates that one’s ideal goal in life
should be truthfulness in thought , beauty in being and love in action. Yet it
is good to be forewarned that even the golden mean as the way to a balanced
life may lead us astray when confronted with such subtle issues as right and
wrong, good and evil and moral and immoral which involve not quantitative but
qualitative differences. In such baffling situations , one has to look for
illumination and guidance to some exemplary individuals and/or exalted souls or
better still, listen to one’s inner voice that speaks to us about such sublime
values of life as also its meaning and guide us along the right path.
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