WHEN WILL I DO A MATT AND TUSHAR?!!

To walk the talk is no easy task especially when it comes to social commitment than trivial day to day matters. I think and dream a lot on what all ways I can be of some use to the society rather than just eat, drink and die off. But except for some occasional spurts of community work till date Iam unable to produce anything worthwhile. And there comes the eminent sunday columnist of The Hindu, Harsh Mander, among the myriad heart wrenching tales he narrates fortnightly, with the eye popping acts of Matt and Tushar.

Ah, Matt and Tushar are two young swashbucklers who dared to live on Rs. 26 a day, the income of the officially poor in rural India as fixed by the Planning Commission of India for ex-urban areas. They restricted their diet to parboiled rice, a tuber, banana and black tea, finding it almost impossible to have a balanced or decent diet a day within this amount, leave aside other necessities of daily life.  They resorted to walking, saved money on soap and avoided all means of communication, mobile and internet. They struggled to keep themselves healthy as falling ill will leave them with no choice at all. They found that it’s the ordeal of feeding oneself the biggest hurdle and no other ethereal thought will occupy our minds unless this is met. 

They got the valuable insight that starvation is the biggest foe and hunger can make you angry not allowing you to be human enough. For a man to have ulterior thoughts and deeds the basic food rights should be met first. Only then the next levels of individual development can be mooted and planned. In a country where thousands go hungry the focus should be first on feeding them before implementing anything further-on. A hungry man will hear the echo of his empty stomach only and no logic or ethic is going to work there. We need rigorous policies keeping this in mind as nothing else is going to work ignoring the basic tenet of food.

Another paradoxical finding (already known but now reinforced) is that the marginalised lot harbour lot more love and generosity than the ones with the wherewithal in spite of their indigence. A spark of consideration can go miles sometimes changing the life of an unfortunate for the better forever. A momentary act of spite is enough to make an outlaw out of an ordinary.

Matt and Tushar turn me green with envy with this act of bravado. They chucked their elite corporate jobs in MNCs abroad to fulfil this make me go black. Even without any experimentation the Indian truth is evident to all. Still we are reluctant to leave the coziness of our couch to take that plunge. Iam still waiting for that invisible hand to push me in to the deep as I truly believe in their dictum that empathy is the essence of democracy as endearingly showed by these lovely boys! 

WHITE COAT MANIA

Right from the times the modern white coat was introduced by Dr. George Armstrong in the early 20^th C it has been the insignia of the status conscious clinician. Wikipedia claims that the white coat emphasized the transition to the more scientific approach to modern medicine contrasting the quack and the mystic from the scientific physicians. The influence of the coat and its impact on our social stature goads thousands to land in their ‘dream profession’ of medicine and allied subjects at any cost. The euphoria of elitism coupled with the conceit of superiority has made this protective barrier a ‘dress for all seasons’ that can be flaunted in civilian domains without any forethought. The lady doctors have literally made this their ‘third skin’ claiming protection from prospective voyeurs.

 The primary and sole purpose of this noble wear (or apron as it’s fondly called in the Indian context) is to function as a shield against contagion, clearly indicating its wear only in a clinical room and not anywhere else (other than a laboratory to save from spills and other contaminants). The proponents also claim that the white coat can effectively differentiate a medic from a civilian in a hospital setting thus aiding the uninitiated to approach one. But this is no justification for the ubiquitous presence of the apron- clad lot milling around in public spaces including cafes, malls (!) and cinemas (!). The glamour associated with it is short changed for the umpteen types of microbes dissipated in these public places putting many people at stake and even favouring the outbreak of an epidemic in dire circumstances! 

It’s routine for authorities of medical academic institutions to decree constant wear of apron even in theory classes and the like which is sometimes supported by the faculty too. This springs from a psyche that still cling-on to the ‘pride and prejudice’ that phantom the profession. The white coat is mandatory in an active clinical and laboratory setting but it should be kept completely out of all non-clinical domains as there are better ways now to contrast the quack from the scientific.    

Rote has not yet rot!!!

A recent WIPRO-EI study had some shock waves in store for the initiated and the scholastic. The shot in the arm was the finding that even the so called elite schools opt for rote learning. If this is the status of the high brow schools then the image is sure going to be bleak for the lesser schools where our country’s majority study.

The study also highlighted that some children showed a disturbing insensitivity to social issues such as gender equality and religious/cultural diversity. This clearly shows that the hedonistic youth of today alone cannot be blamed for their stoicism towards social and environmental causes. The cradle of their development, the school, has totally failed to seed the much needed social sensitivity and responsibility in to the child’s psyche.  Who should be blamed for this decadence in quality education? Are the present day parents able to fill the gap? The insouciance seen all around gives a nay.

Some of the other findings of the ‘Quality educational study’ by Wipro and Educational Initiatives (EI) point towards the lack of critical thinking, creativity and application in such a system. This can have a toll on their rational thinking and discrimination capacity to differentiate between good or bad in social and ecological issues. Signs of bias were also noticed among the students that may grow over time into dangerous prejudices.

In a county where hierarchy rules and youth and women are subdued entrenchment of social sensitivity can lead to fatalities. If the child is denied of a source from where he/she can tap social consciousness the future of such a state is in quagmire. It’s high time we root the rote out of our school/college curriculum.