01. What needs to be created

02. Commercial township planning

03. Digressing to the issue of Hindi imposition

04. SEE THIS QUOTE FROM WIKIPEDIA

Here I need to touch upon two different issues. One is the things that can be done by a local self-government. The second is the question of what is essentially quality improvement of a people. I do not connect this to moral issues.

A local self-government in India can do a lot of things. The very basic thing that it requires is people of refinement, quality, and ideas to manage it. That itself means people who are native in English. The moment it is managed by people who are at home in Indian feudal tongues, the idea of bringing out an egalitarian social system in which everyone can improve their personality vanishes.

This local self-government should focus on bringing in good quality English education. However from a feudal language perspective, this would mean the giving-up of social leadership to rank outsiders. For, education in feudal languages translates into social leadership over their students, their parents, and over their extended families. This (good quality English education) the current-day Panchayati Raj leaders will not promote. However, the fact is that when English becomes the language of communication and thoughts, this containment of social leadership actually breaks down. However, how is one to explain this to the vernacular language speakers?

What needs to be created

The Panchayat would need to setup a series of public toilets on almost all major streets and roads in its area. This should include a good setup for bathing, adequate water and areas for dressing. There should be separate areas for males and females. Now, this wouldn’t be encouraged, for in feudal languages any association with toilet are meant for the lowest grade people. The lower indicant grade words are mentally assigned for them. Who can be handed the charge of managing toilets?

There was a separate group of people who were earlier called Sanitary Inspectors during the British rule time. However this was a government post. People donning government posts have to be given ‘respect’. Then how will they associate themselves with toilets? So, they changed their designation to that of another Inspector. Even though they are more or less low-informed persons, they are considered to be ‘officers’ by the public due to the weight given by the terms ‘Health’ and ‘Inspectors’. Now they do not care to take up the care of toilets, but busy themselves with the cleanliness of eateries. In this case also, the Panchayat cannot do anything to improve the public conveniences meant for the people.

There should be a number of playgrounds in the Panchayat areas where members of the public can do exercises, and otherwise improve their health. However, it would be a great surprise if any Panchayat in India has even contemplated on this issue. Actually in most Panchayats in India, there are such grounds available in many government institutions like schools, colleges, government offices etc. However, these places are monopolised by the government staff members, their friends and their family members.

Many Panchayats have riversides and lakesides. These areas are filled with rubbish and have an unkempt look. In many places, people living in nearby lodges use the area for toileting. These areas should be cleaned up and made into parks. There should be a jogging track in all areas of the Panchayat.

Here I need to digress again. It is about the question that naturally an English citizen might feel compelled to ask. Why doesn’t a person or a group of persons, simply go to the Panchayat and demand the setting up of a toilet, for the convenience of the public? Well, it is easier said than done. It is not possible for an ordinary person to go to an Indian government establishment and talk about this, let alone demand. The very grading in communication would close up his avenue for saying this. No persons can speak with a level of equal dignity to an Indian official. Without this basic platform of equal dignity, how can a person make demands? He and his demands would be treated as dirt. This phenomenon cannot be understood in English.

The issue is simply this: Who is He? He can be adheham, ayaal, or avan. Well, only an adheham can make demands. An ayaal can speak, but need not be affective. An avan, if he speaks without a pose of servitude can be treated as a buffoon. And literally driven out. Most people of this geographical area are generally driven out if they make demands. For, they are all Avans to the official class.

All lodges should be compelled to have their own toilets with complete water facilities. Now when touching upon this subject, the problem associated with this issue is that usually these toilets would soon start stinking with no one to take care of the toilets. It may be mentioned in passing that I have read about young British officers during the British rule time coming for periodic inspection of Indian staff quarters without any pre-information or pomp and paraphernalia. They would inspect the staff toilets also.

Now, if a current day Indian Police Service (IPS) officer were to do all this, he would lose his ‘respect’. Moreover, if he has to come to any such place, a contingent of police constables would need to be kept there, beforehand to salute him on his arrival and to give him a Red Carpet welcome. Otherwise, no one may mind him as a senior officer and he would lose his ‘respect’. Actually this ubiquitous issue of ‘respect’ and lack of ‘respect’ is a very efficiency-killing ingredient in Indian social and official matters.

Commercial township planning

The Panchayat should insist that all commercial buildings including small shops should not be on the road sides. A separate commercial layout should be planned and kept for setting up shops, malls, educational institutions and much more. Roadsides should not be clogged with commercial activities. This would lead to a freer road meant for traffic.

The Panchayat should arrange for free buses for all school-going children. This is not a major financial expenditure, when one sees that an astronomical amount of money is being given as pay, pension, commutation of pension, medical bill reimbursement, leave travel allowance, one month free pay per year etc. to the public servants (government officials). Just by deducting one of these items, the government can garner enough money for the children to go to school in a free and uncluttered bus. At present a majority of children go to school in crammed conditions in private buses, wherein verbal as well as physical fights between the students and the bus staff are common. The blame is usually placed on the thoroughly overwhelmed as well as low-paid private bus staff.

Now, can the current day Indian Panchayats do any of these things? It is doubtful. First of all the quality of the people who don the leadership in these areas are of the abysmal level. The vast majority do not know English. That itself makes them quite unfit. It is not that the persons who do not know English are idiots. The issue is that people who know only Indian languages are living in another world, in which human quality is not defined in terms of refinement as understood in English. In feudal languages, the aim of personal development is something that has to be achieved by means of degrading and discomforting others. Development for them is a relative thing. If others go down, then we are developed. That is the way the mind works.

Moreover a personality development in others means that they will not stoop to show ‘respect’. That also stands as a block to developing others. If they are deprived of facilities, comfort, decent place to stay, have to depend on others etc. they will steadily show ‘respect’. Now for leaders who have the sole focus on garnering ‘respect’ for themselves, the idea of improving others who are seen as subordinate to themselves would be an anathema. For it literally means, losing followers and disciples.

Let us see what the current-day Panchayat leaders are really involved in. When the first Panchayat was formed, my mother became the Panchayat President in the local panchayat. This really involved so many sly cunning actions. I needn’t go into that here. However, this close association with the working of the Panchayat gave me some insights into this also.

The concept of local self-government is a concept of festivity for the local leaders. Suddenly they are simply flooded with funds which they do not have the quality to utilise for any quality purpose.

Many developmental projects are envisaged. This naturally leads to the chance for every one of the members to take huge commission from the contractors. The contractors are basically helpless in this. For, if they act too selfish and declares that they wouldn’t part with any commission, they would have to go home and spend the rest of their days watching TV and playing kid games with their children.

The contractors would also have to pay a slab system of bribes to the officials of the Public Work Department, which is a state government department.

Very soon the members of the Panchayat start wallowing in riches. They build better houses, and many of them have partnerships in many local businesses.

They increase the taxes on the residences for meeting the various new expenses that arise for the expenditure of the various meeting and other entertainments done by the Panchayat. Also for paying salary to the various clerks and other officials sitting inside the panchayat. They spend a lot of money on printing various useless literatures connected to many self-aggrandising claims. Many Stones are laid just like the Magadha King Ashoka did during his rule (applauding himself). Many leaders thus get their names engraved on stones. However, when the new party gets power in the next Panchayat elections, they actively try to remove the stones bearing the names of the previous leaders.

If any question is asked as to what the Panchayat has achieved, usually the answer that they had built so many latrines for in so many houses, would come up. The question is whether so much money and expenditure have to be met to setup a Panchayat to build so many latrines in so many houses.

Well, if there were no local self-government in the ill-educated villages of India, wouldn’t there be more development? However, the word development cannot be mentioned here. For, it again might take the topic to the question of what is the development that is visualised by the Indian leaders.

It is like the slogan that Bajaj Scooters had. You just can’t beat a Bajaj! I loved the vehicle, and it was considered to be the number one two-wheeler company in India some two decades back. Suddenly one fine morning in some spirited mood of north-Indian parochialism, they changed their slogan to Hindi: Hamara Bajaj! Meaning: Our Bajaj. It displayed a logo of a north Indian feudal-language-class farmer featured riding a Bajaj Scooter. Now, the whole context changed. Now, their concept of development was at arriving at the looks of a feudal language speaking guy. The farmer in the logo was obviously either a worker or a farm owner. Either way the social context was quite repulsive. Not that farming was repulsive.

Here I must intercede to say that I have had quite a lot of experience with the business of agricultural products. What makes agriculture in India quite unattractive for persons of refinement to work in is the prominence of feudal language speaking bosses. Many of these bosses as well as their workers are from a crude feudal kind. Both the farming communities as well as the tradesmen who deal in their products are arranged in a very feudal structure. No person of higher intellect can function inside it, other than as a superior. For, the feudal hierarchy is positioned with the no-English crude feudal quality farm owners and vegetable businessmen on top. Quality functioning is not possible under them.

Coming back to the issue what is the development concept of the Indian leaders, I should say that if the British conceptualisation of Indian development could be equated to the earlier Bajaj Slogan (You just can’t beat a Bajaj!), then the Indian leaders’ conceptualisation can be equated to the latter one: Hamara Bajaj. *I am not able to find to that exact image first used in Hamara Bajaj advertisements from an online search. The newer version has absolutely shifted away from the parochial image.

Digressing to the issue of Hindi imposition

Here again there is this issue. Hamara is a Hindi word. It is proposed that Hindi is the national language of India. Under what logic was this made is a very powerful question. At the time of India’s formation, less than 18% of the Hindi speaking population were literates. This cannot compare comfortably with the literacy rates of such South Indian languages like Tamil and Malayalam, whose literacy rates were much higher. The imposition of Hindi is also a criminal act.

For after the formation of India, Gandhi’s language of political activity was forcefully being imposed on the rest of the nation. As I mentioned earlier, this broadened the ambit of Hindi-based political leaders all over the newly formed nation. Actually English was a more native language in many places of India, especially of the educated class. Hindi came only after the formation of India. This language is like other Indian vernaculars, quite degrading to the lower man. The imposition of a feudal language that discriminates goes against the very spirit of the Indian constitution.

When speaking about compulsory imposition of language, there are certain hidden things to be understood. Varuna and Ashwina did not know Malayalam which was the local vernacular. A lot of persons around the area were in a state of consternation. Why? A lot of leadership and domination that could have been their claim naturally couldn’t be enforced. Now, this is a point that native English speakers cannot understand. For, when one speaks in English, no such leadership or domination comes about.

So the whole theme is quite outside their domain of understanding. That is why the policymakers in England stupidly allow the growth of other languages inside England. Actually, in India, in any good quality English medium school, if anyone speaks any terribly feudal language like Malayalam inside their premises, a punishment is doled out. Even though it is mentioned that it is to encourage the speaking of English inside the school, the real reason is that when the students talk any feudal language, a strange and powerful dislocation of their focus of natural leadership and of admiration and aims happens. This is quite feel-able, even though no one has mentioned this in so many words.

In fact, in one Kerala English school, a boy living in the school boarding was made to shear his hair fully for speaking Malayalam inside the boarding, during a no-Malayalam-time. This became a huge issue and a police case was registered against the school principal. However no one was bothered that the parents are putting their children in this boarding to make them good in English. One single inmate can throw the spanner into the endeavour. He can open the door to feudal communication codes into the school boarding atmosphere.

Feudal language nations insist on the removal of English and the enforcing of their own feudal languages on their people. Feudal languages arrange people in a military-like social structure wherein a single instruction given from the top goes down like a military command. It is this that is being actively aimed to be created. This is good when the aim of the top level is people improvement. However, in feudal language systems, it is never the aim.

I remember the demand made by the TNK, the Russian oil company which was having a joint venture with British Petroleum that the senior most British executive in the company should know Russian language. Though this demand may actually seem a demand for more communication, actually the real reason is that the amount of control they can have on a Russian knowing officer would be manifold.

By simply changing the indicant words, and also by forcing the officer to concede words of self-degrading ‘respectful’ words to the Russian bosses, an unwritten kind of domination would come over the person as well as the company. Communication actually goes down, to a one-track command and obey route, and a feudal master and servant relationship.

The Chinese government is insistent on teaching Chinese to the people of China, who actually have a lot of mutually un-understandable dialects. However, once a single feudal language is enforced, the feudal codes in the language will naturally make the people feel the power and control of the government. These are things that an ordinary native-English speaker cannot understand. For, in English there are no such codes. To try to explain the concept might be like trying to explain 3-dimensional space to a 2-dimensional being. The way the feudal language spreads out people, institutions and events into a 3-dimentional virtual space cannot be understood in English.

In a way, the imposing of a low-quality feudal language on the people of the newly-formed India was an act of diabolic rascality. However, this gave a chance for the Bombay Film world to make a killing. Their films could make rapid inroads into the interiors of various other states in India. Hindi films which should have had a confined area for display became national films. This should actually be calculated as a swindle. In fact, due reimbursement has to be extracted from the swindlers concerned.

SEE THIS QUOTE FROM WIKIPEDIA

In the colonial era, the gurukul system began to decline as the system promoted by the British began to gradually take over. Between 1881-82 and 1946–47, the number of English primary schools grew from 82,916 to 134,866 and the number of students in English Schools grew from 2,061,541 to 10,525,943. Literacy rates in accordance to British in India rose from 3.2 per cent in 1881 to 7.2 per cent in 1931 and 12.2 per cent in 1947.

In 2000-01, there were 60,840 pre-primary and pre-basic schools, and 664,041 primary and junior basic schools. Total enrolment at the primary level has increased from 19,200,000 in 1950-51 to 109,800,000 in 2001-02. The number of high schools in 2000-01 was higher than the number of primary schools at the time of independence.

In 1944, the Government of British India presented a plan, called the Sergeant Scheme for the educational reconstruction of India, with a goal of producing 100% literacy in the country within 40 years, i.e. by 1984. Although the 40 year time-frame was derided at the time by leaders of the Indian independence movement as being too long a period to achieve universal literacy, India had only just crossed the 74% level by the 2011 census. END OF QUOTE {As per Indian government standards, a man is judged to be literate if he can write his name in any language. In fact, if a more stringent standard is imposed, Indian literacy rate is only 40%, now, so many years after the British has left}

MY COMMENT: The fact is that the afore-mentioned gurukula system of education was not so widespread so as to encompass a wide-spectrum of the populace. It would at best be a sort of private tuition for the higher sections of the society and mostly in quite insignificant numbers. Like 10 houses among a population of one million. To imagine that all the one million people sent their children to the houses of ‘gurus’ is being quite naive and silly. Even now, with the best of efforts using all modern propaganda techniques, it is reported that there are only 800 gurukuls imparting Vedic education all around the world.

Beyond that literacy in vernacular cannot be counted as literacy. For, I am literate in Malayalam as well as in English. Comparing the amount of information that has accrued into me through both the languages, I find that what I came to know through English and can think about in English is around a few thousand times more than what I came to know through Malayalam. Even the very using of the Malayalam software for thinking brings in a lot of inhibitions or arrogance in me.

In fact, I do know that even if I do not know a single thing through Malayalam, I would still be quite well-informed. In fact, Varuna and Ashwina who do not know any Indian vernacular including Malayalam do not in any sense exhibit any signs of lack of information or intellectual capacity. In fact, it is generally seen that their intellect is quite better in so many ways and means than people who are good in Malayalam or are bilingual in English and Malayalam. If they are accepted as trainer, the others improve. However, if the others are accepted as their trainers, Varuna and Ashwina lose their quality.

The English rulers allowed 134,866 English schools, which had 10,525,943 students in 1947. For what? Indian historian categorically inform us that this many students were taught English to enslave them, and to make them clerks. Should anyone be a fool enough to believe this rank nonsense? I do teach English to persons who come with the smallest of English knowledge. All I need is some 2 to 6 month of one hour daily class to teach them reasonably good English. If English rulers wanted English-knowing clerks, all they needed to do was to teach as many clerks English. There was no need to open up so many English schools, pay an immensity of teachers, and to admit so many students.

Somewhere on the Internet I saw a statement that says that Gandhi has declared that English education has enslaved the Indians. Well, Gandhi used feudal Hindi and pejorative words on the local Indians. He will say it. However, he used all the benefits of English and stayed in England to promote himself. If one were to examine his spoken words to his followers and others around him, it would be seen that it was he who was enslaving them with pejorative Hindi words. The others would have to consistently ‘respect’ him. Yet, he would call the Englishmen enslavers. Any sensible man would know how to evaluate this knave.

If India’s English literacy is computed, only 5% to 6% of Indians understand English. This is has to be understood as the real literacy of India. Vernacular literacy rate is only a means to fool the majority people here, that they are literate and have been educated. Actually, what should have been done is to allow people to learn their vernacular if they want, but also to inform them that they need to learn English also to come out of their social inhibitions. Instead, their complete education has been contained into their vernacular.

Now, even if they have been fooled, telling them this could be quite unacceptable to them. For, they would insist that they are quite well-educated, in spite of not knowing English. Their venomous words would be directed against those who tell them that they need to get English education, when actually they should be quite angry with those who had used rhetoric to fool them.

See an attempt to fool the people. This person clearly knows English. However, he does not want others to learn it.