I've been a firm believer in staying close to office, and to a large extent I've successfully been able to stay away from the crazy Bangalore traffic for the last 10 years. The last 5 years have been really good, with me having to travel only 3kms, and the roads I take en-route to office are seldom blocked. Over the last 6 months, I'm having to face a different kind of traffic on the road, and its not from vehicles, its the traffic of cows.
The road close to my office entry gate happens to be the "sorting station" of Bengaluru waste collectors. More than half of the road is dumped with house-hold waste, and cows feed on them, about 10-15 of them. Holy Cow! On one hand we consider cows sacred, and on the other hand we allow such "inhuman" activities on cows. How irresponsible can "we" be? Yes, its the same educated "we", its the same "well cultured" "we", its the same religious "we" who are responsible for this. I wondered what might be prompting us to do this, and there's got to be some benefit that the human being sees in doing things the way he does. Every action by any living being seems to have an impact in this world, and there's lot of economic sense in being irresponsible, and "we" Indians have unknowingly mastered it?
Experience 1: The curious case of the crying child
I was in a super-market, and noticed a child crying relentlessly for a toy. To avoid onlookers staring at him, the father graciously adds it to the cart. A while later, the same kid starts crying for a chocolate bar, and the same thing repeats. After a while, the kid wants juice, and the parent obliges again. In the end, he ends up buying many things that he didn't originally plan for.
Children are quick to learn the buttons that need to be pressed, in order to get their parents give them what they want. But its up to the parents to ensure that we educate our kids. In the end, I feel its the irresponsible behaviour of parents, in buying all things that the kids ask for, that drives the market. Companies are adept at cashing-in on this psychological factor, and why would they want us to become more responsible by denying stuff to our kids? The more we buy/ spend, the better for the country/ economy? And such parents wrap it up with a justification that its out of love for their kids. Meanwhile, the parents who deny unwanted stuff to their kids become objects of their kids' hatred.
Experience 2: Freedom to dump waste anywhere
I was returning home on my scooter, and noticed a couple going in a car, ahead of me, enjoying an ice cream on the go. Very soon, I saw the wrappers being thrown out of the window. Again, irresponsible behaviour, I thought! Just a very minor incident when compared to the waste problems that Bengaluru is facing. In the end, its the same callous and irresponsible behaviour that's causing the problem, but that seems to be very good for the economy. We've given jobs to lots of "paura karmikas", we've given jobs to many truck drivers, we've given jobs to recyclers, we've ensured that cows eat our wet waste, we've ensured that BBMP contractors are making good money by transporting waste, we've ensured that villagers around Bengaluru have health issues, indirectly helping the healthcare industry and the pharma companies...and we've ensured that money flows through various pockets. Why the hell should I segregate and be a responsible citizen?
I can even think of many instances at the workplace where higher management seems to be content by having an irresponsible manager, that seems to make more economic sense to them than having a top-quality professional! Likewise, there are many other instances around us that make you feel its not worth spending the extra time trying to be a responsible citizen.
Our systems don't seem to be happy with responsible behaviour at all, and so the odd men always have a tough time in coping with the environment around them!
The road close to my office entry gate happens to be the "sorting station" of Bengaluru waste collectors. More than half of the road is dumped with house-hold waste, and cows feed on them, about 10-15 of them. Holy Cow! On one hand we consider cows sacred, and on the other hand we allow such "inhuman" activities on cows. How irresponsible can "we" be? Yes, its the same educated "we", its the same "well cultured" "we", its the same religious "we" who are responsible for this. I wondered what might be prompting us to do this, and there's got to be some benefit that the human being sees in doing things the way he does. Every action by any living being seems to have an impact in this world, and there's lot of economic sense in being irresponsible, and "we" Indians have unknowingly mastered it?
Experience 1: The curious case of the crying child
I was in a super-market, and noticed a child crying relentlessly for a toy. To avoid onlookers staring at him, the father graciously adds it to the cart. A while later, the same kid starts crying for a chocolate bar, and the same thing repeats. After a while, the kid wants juice, and the parent obliges again. In the end, he ends up buying many things that he didn't originally plan for.
Children are quick to learn the buttons that need to be pressed, in order to get their parents give them what they want. But its up to the parents to ensure that we educate our kids. In the end, I feel its the irresponsible behaviour of parents, in buying all things that the kids ask for, that drives the market. Companies are adept at cashing-in on this psychological factor, and why would they want us to become more responsible by denying stuff to our kids? The more we buy/ spend, the better for the country/ economy? And such parents wrap it up with a justification that its out of love for their kids. Meanwhile, the parents who deny unwanted stuff to their kids become objects of their kids' hatred.
Experience 2: Freedom to dump waste anywhere
I was returning home on my scooter, and noticed a couple going in a car, ahead of me, enjoying an ice cream on the go. Very soon, I saw the wrappers being thrown out of the window. Again, irresponsible behaviour, I thought! Just a very minor incident when compared to the waste problems that Bengaluru is facing. In the end, its the same callous and irresponsible behaviour that's causing the problem, but that seems to be very good for the economy. We've given jobs to lots of "paura karmikas", we've given jobs to many truck drivers, we've given jobs to recyclers, we've ensured that cows eat our wet waste, we've ensured that BBMP contractors are making good money by transporting waste, we've ensured that villagers around Bengaluru have health issues, indirectly helping the healthcare industry and the pharma companies...and we've ensured that money flows through various pockets. Why the hell should I segregate and be a responsible citizen?
I can even think of many instances at the workplace where higher management seems to be content by having an irresponsible manager, that seems to make more economic sense to them than having a top-quality professional! Likewise, there are many other instances around us that make you feel its not worth spending the extra time trying to be a responsible citizen.
Our systems don't seem to be happy with responsible behaviour at all, and so the odd men always have a tough time in coping with the environment around them!
