01. Back to quality improvement

02. British Colonial experiences

03. Dealing with quality

04. What ‘Indian’ culture of tolerance really meant

05. A curious personal experience on Religious Tolerance

Back to quality improvement: Self centred versus social

Now coming back to what is quality improvement, there are various ways one can think about it. One is improvement in physical capacities, financial acumen, good job, good social connections, having modern gadgetry like expensive electronic gadgets and such things etc. However, all of these are connected more or less, to individual ambitions and could have an element of selfishness. All the quality evaluation in these cases is taken from the perspective of relative improvement. However, let me speak of another kind of quality improvement.

People speak English, read English classics, are dressed in garments that do not hold the codes of feudal hierarchies, socially there is a lot interaction made possible by English languages. Along with this these English speaking people do go for sports like football, swimming, jogging etc. One person working for another person does not have any link to an indicant word depreciation or personality despoiling.

One person’s wife working for another person does not have any link to indicant word devaluation for her husband. There is no stink attached to do doing a physical labour. People can work as domestic help and come out unscathed in terms of indicant word depreciation. People can go to the government office and sit and address the government official by his name with a Mr. or Mrs. prefixed. The official wouldn’t feel any creepy impudence in this. The person who did it wouldn’t feel that he or she has done anything extraordinary.

{Here I need to input this theme. When Indian people generally get a chance to address a senior government officer by his name with or without a Mr. prefixed, they would go out of their way to proclaim that deed and achievement to others. For, it is indeed an action that many others of their countrymen wouldn’t dare to do.

I remember my own brother, who was working as a Sub Editor (a desk job) in The Times of India going to the Calicut district Collector. The Collector was a native of Delhi. When he saw business card with a Times of India Delhi address, my brother was immediately summoned. It later transpired that the Collector thought that it was for an official talk with him. However, what my brother went to see him was for a private issue. He addressed the Collector by his name, with a Mr. prefixed. Later I did hear my mother going on repeating to so many local-village persons of his meeting the collector and addressing him with his name with a Mr. prefixed}.

Now continuing the topic of quality improvement: A person should be able go to the police station and sit in front of the officer concerned, and address him with a Mr. prefixed to his name and discuss his issues coherently. Currently the pose of going to an Indian police station by an Indian is of a terribly self-disgracing kind.

There is no position for the ordinary Indian citizen to go to an Indian police station with a pose of dignity. He would be simply hollered down by the constable or made to act out a pose of comic idiotism. The reason is that there is no hierarchical space for the constable to display a dignified and dignity-lending pose to the ordinary Indian. It is like me trying to give good food for the stray cat after washing a nice vessel and other things. It would look quite idiotic to the others in my household that I am treating a stray cat with such dignity. Treating an ordinary man with dignity on the part of the Indian police constable would look quite idiotic.

For a stray cat has to be driven out like a dog. If I am treating it with deference, there should be something wrong in me.

Even the police officer cannot sit with an ordinary Indian and discuss his problems with equanimity. His subordinates would feel that he is becoming too much of a sissy. Here again, it all moves to the basic training given to the ordinary Indian that he is just a lower indicant guy unless he gets a good government job or gathers a lot of financial acumen.

There is no point in blaming the police officials. The same rudeness is trained and encrypted into almost all financially weak Indians who have studied in government schools by rude and utter stupid teachers. They call them eda, edi and nee and refer to them as Avan, Aval, avattakal and such things. They glare at them. Make snide remarks, and also treat them as mere servant class children of the poorer sections of the Indian society. Even their parents have to bear the lower indicant words that these teachers use upon them.

In the local government aided school, I have heard them announce to the students that their parents are under compulsion to come to the school on such occasions. Otherwise they would not be allowed inside the class. Once the parents come, they naturally have to wait to be called in, whereby the school staff can extract a higher ‘respect’ from the parents. There is no assurance that the parents would be addressed with ‘respect’ and dignity.

Now if the police officer allows a bit of freedom and leeway to the ordinary man, then it is another issue. The ordinary man would immediately start becoming more assertive. This assertiveness if in an English system, would go unnoticed. However, in the Indian languages, it is an offensive assertiveness that can give a feel of ‘give an inch and he will take a mile’ issue.

In the third-rate training being extended to the Indian people by the low-class Indian leaders, everyone is uneasy. Both the sides. Both the police officer as well as the ordinary Indian. It is a useless situation, in which great infrastructures like the Indian Police built by the British officials more or less become redundant in terms of services that an ordinary Indian can demand from them as a matter of right.

I speak of the quality that the people of this place currently called India, would have gathered had the British rule maintained by the East India Company endured. All the cunning rajas, maharajas, ranis, maharanis, diwans all such diabolic entities would have vanished from this geographical area.

British Colonial experiences

However when speaking about the British rule in India, I need to be very clear about what I am speaking. The fact is, as I have mentioned earlier, there were two quite different and mutually opposite stages of British rule in ‘India’. The first was the rule by the commercial company named East India Company. The English persons who worked for this company had no intellectual limitations to understanding what they saw and about the ways and manners they took to correct the negativities of the place.

One of the very confusing scenes they saw was the rather utter callousness that the feudal landlord classes showed to their subordinate classes. They treated their lowest level servants and serfs as abominable animals. There was no specific understanding that these were human beings like themselves. The English individuals were quite amazed at the way the lower classes were simply made to face the brunt of the brutal seasons and the coldness of the nights.

[See the looks of the 'Indian' higher class man of the 1800s and the looks of the ordinary people of this geographical area: There is no contention that the zamindar was a bad man and the suppressed persons were better. In most probability, it might be the reverse also in terms of refinement. Yet, who was there to do the refinement training?]

{Actually if one were to live in a place like Delhi, one can actually see a huge mass of population living in hastily made shelters with no protection from the terrific coldness of the winter months. It is freezing cold. People can die. But no one really bothers about them. In the hot seasons, they literally boil. But who cares?

The political leaders and the officialdom are busy preparing a chart of atrocities they claim the British did on the native population here. They have no eyes for what is right there in front of them. They claim information about what happened some two to three hundred years back! Their actual preoccupation amidst this truculent endeavour is to get their children somehow into England, or any other English nation. The current Delhi CM admitted that in Delhi that a poor family of husband, wife and children can subsist for Rs. 600/- per month. I remember the ruckus that took place in Australia when in a TV talk show someone parodied on her name}.

What amazed the early English pioneers in India was the worshipful affection that the serfs returned to those who very clearly were brutalising them. In fact the more brutally they were treated, the more was the respect they showed to their tormenting social seniors.

The officials of the East India Company had least of ‘respect’ for the ‘Indian’ feudal lords, who were good only for maintaining a suppressed social environment. They were not capable of creating a good system of law and order or anything worthy of copying. However, there were people among them who did collaborate with the Indian feudal lords and rajas. Yet, as a general policy, it was the considered opinion of the senior officials of the East India Company that the ‘Indian’ feudal lords and rajas were good for nothing other than to use suppressive words and usages to their subordinate classes.

May be this was the reason that they as a policy slowly removed the Indian rajas one by one from power. These things are mentioned by modern Indian historians as examples of British imperial policy. However, these incidences had nothing to do with the British Crown. Moreover, if these actions were imperial actions, then what about the deeds of Nehru and his henchmen in Travancore, Kashmir and many other places, including the forcible occupation of tribal forest areas which really enjoyed their territorial rights till the Indian forest officials went inside and more or less laid hands on their women folk? Also on Goa and other places where only a minority of residents supported the joining with India, and liked to continue their French citizenship.

However whatever repulsion they felt for the ‘Indian’ upper classes, the English officials, and their family members couldn’t see these lower classes as their equals. For, there was no sense in proclaiming any level of equality with a section of people who were traditionally preoccupied with self-degradation. What these people wanted was a personality appreciation. However one should not forget the fact that the English individuals were not here for any social service but squarely to earn a living or a fortune. They came as employees of a trading firm. The only improvement that could come upon the suppressed people of this geographical area was from the egalitarian codes in English and necessarily through the expressed desires of the English persons to improve the lot of the natives here.

Apart from this there are various issues that come up for the first time in their lifetime. In England, speaking to a poor man or to rich man does not affect the words such as You, He, His, Him, She, Her, Hers, Them etc. However over here in ‘India’, each of these words can play havoc if one were to mingle without taking cognizance of what each of the indicant levels mean. A person who is placed on the lower levels by the local society being on ‘equal’ terms with an English native can only pull down the latter to a level beneath to that of the superiors in the society. These are things unknown and unheard of in England.

A pertinent point may be that of Saab and Memsaab. When the East India Company had its army, there was not much problems. For, it was a very considered opinion that the local language Hindi was of poor quality. Moreover, the army was basically running on English, even though the lower section, the ordinary native soldiers were at home in their native vernaculars. As the chance for a local man to rise up to the higher ranks, now comparable with the Commissioned ranks, was literally nil, there was not much possibility of a superior officer communicating with the lower soldier in any feudal vernacular.

However, when the Crown took over and allowed the recruitment of local natives as superior officers, there was actually a breach in the fortress. Among the superior officers came a group who could address the ordinary ‘Indian’ soldier with a despoiling lower indicant word. Now, this despoiled ‘Indian’ had to be kept in his place. As for the ‘Indian’ officer, he could mentally suppress the ordinary soldier by means of lower indicant words. Which would continuously inform him of his ‘stink’ level stature. However, the English officers were without an effective tool to deal with a soldier who was made a stinking-dirt by his own native-land officer.

They had to protect themselves from arriving at a level of equality with the ordinary soldier by some other means. This could be one of the reasons that they secured themselves also behind the screen of ‘Saabs’ and their ‘Memsaabs’. They couldn’t allow the ordinary soldier to use the same terms that the ordinary soldier in England could use to their officers. For, here communication codes were a mess with an array of indicant words that despoils the ordinary soldier, who in turn can plaster his own negativity on to the English officers and their family members if they do not keep a safe distance.

There was a person from my college who became a senior officer of the Indian army. Many years ago, when he was just a Second Lieutenant, he used to narrate how he used to terrorise the ordinary soldiers and even give them a physical whack if he felt that there was some level of inefficiency. Actually the impression that he gave was that he wanted to assure himself of his seniority above the soldiers who were much above him in age. He did mention that the officer class kept the ‘Johnnies’ at six feet distance from them. So as to emphasise the mental distaste they had for them.

Now, what was the improvement that the Englishmen could impart to the natives here, as they themselves were quite in an insecure mood with regard to the social negativity?

Dealing with quality

I need to go back to Varuna’s education in the village English medium school at age 9 in the fifth class. When she joined there, naturally there was a difference about her. Some of her classmates did see her as a freak and did try to disturb her as a means to bring her to their mental levels and social connections.

I had cautioned her from getting involved in any fracas or competitions with others who tried to spur up such things. It surely was not an effective stance. Here it may be mentioned that in India, the superior class (either financially or in refinement) do not try to go in for a direct physical fight with the lower classes. For, they have nothing to gain from a victory and much to lose from a defeat. However, the lower classes try to get the other side involved in a verbal or physical fight. For, they have the glory of having defeated a higher person and if they lose, it is only a loss to a higher man; nothing to bother about.

When Varuna was in the class, some of the students would nudge her. Most times, she would try to keep away or simply ignore the taunt. When sometimes the nudge becomes too distressing, she would react physically or verbally. In every way, she reacted it was a loss for her personality. Now, the thing is that, over time she became friendly with the girls and boys who did not bother her.

I do not think that she purposefully or consciously tried to improve them, their English, and many other intellectual aspects. However, being close to her did make a difference in them. Many years later, I was to see the huge difference it made on them. Those who were close to her improved their English and personality quite much. As to the others, many of them simply did not show the same level of improvement in either aspect.

I have to take this context to that of what the English person did in ‘India’. If the argument that they did consciously try to improve the lot of the lower sections in ‘India’ cannot be conceded, then the other part that by just being close to them did improve various aspects of their personality, social content and intellect can be accepted. However, like in the case of Varuna, it is a two-way affect. Varuna’s quality did go down. The Englishmen were also to imbibe so many un-English features in themselves that their presence back in England did create a lot of antipathy for them. There was an aura of a superior caste that they carried back to England after having been in ‘India’.

The irritated people of England did give them the nomenclature of ‘Babus’ and ‘Saabs’ to them and that of ‘Memsaabs’ to their females. It was done in derision. The mention of ‘India-returned’ was there in many English literatures of those times. There is this quote I have taken from Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham: I found her with Colonel MacAndrew and his wife. Mrs. Strickland’s sister was older than she, not unlike her, but more faded; and she had the efficient air, as though she carried the British Empire in her pocket, which the wives of senior officers acquire from the consciousness of belonging to a superior caste.

Look at this quote from Macaulay’s MINUTES on INDIAN EDUCATION

QUOTE: ............that it is impossible for us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population END OF QUOTE

MY COMMENT: It is seen that Macaulay was imagining that the ‘Indians’ who learned English and other knowledge of England would transfer this knowledge to other ‘Indians’. However, he seems not to have understood the real character of these ‘Indians’. It is generally seen that the modern educated class of Indians do not want the lower section to get either English or any other prospects for self improvement.

Actually there was great opposition in England also from some influential persons in giving English to the natives of ‘India’. However, the East India Company did not give much heed to that.

What ‘Indian’ culture of tolerance really meant

Now, there is this thing one has to understand about the feudal vernacular speaking ‘Indian’ society. If one wants to join it, there are basically two levels one can choose from. One is to join it in the interiors. In which case, one is subordinated in indicant word codes to so many others and one gets to dominate many others by indicant word codes. The other pose is to join it on the superior levels. In which case, one gets to dominate the vast majority of the population by means of inflicting the lower indicant word codes on them.

A dynamic level of equality is then achieved with the higher or superior class. If this level can be achieved, then one has a lot of liberty. One can profess any religion and any philosophy. One can even propagate these things which are not there in the social set up. All one has to see is that the essential feudal structure is not tampered with, and one should not strive to create a new system of hierarchy in which the positions of the layers are changed.

The fact is that many persons, philosophies and religious ideas have made use of this stratagem to establish itself inside this geographical area. However it is a stance that does not bring in any improvement to the suppressed classes as a whole, other than to change the persons. Some will go up and some will go down. The social structure remains the same.

Now, this historical phenomenon is generally mistaken as an ambience of toleration in this geographical area. Modern Indian historians try to connect this mistaken theme of toleration as a heritage of current-day India. It is actually an utter nonsensical idea. For, for one thing the modern nation of India is just a modern nation, and has no claims on the various historical incidences here than say the kingdom of Calicut or the Mogul kingdom can claim all these things as part of their heritage. It is true that people in far off Trivandrum do claim the antiquity of places just next to River Indus.

Such is the amount of foolish indoctrination that they have been given. Second thing is that actually as seen from the arguments above, the signs of so many religions and philosophies existing here is not sign of tolerance, but of a cunning use of the feudal language structure of the society.

A curious personal experience on Religious Tolerance

I had a very curious personal experience of spiritual communication. It was a man known locally as Brother Venu. He had been a Hindu. I am told that he took up praying to God, and to Jesus Christ. Later it was known that he could communicate to ‘God’ and give answer to various personal issues of persons who came to him. I myself had the very uncanny experience of him more or less hinting on my love for English propagation, my theories and my writings. Beyond that at times what he hinted came very close to my own writings in Codes of Reality. He was not an educated man, that is my impression of him from a temporal perspective. However his sermons which he gave during the pray time on Fridays were quite impressive in its wide profundity.

The experience that a person got from him was that he was closing his eyes when querying for an answer and would come out with an answer which purportedly came from God. In many ways, it was similar to the ways of Jesus and Prophet Muhammad. Yet, his ideas of faith were not totally Christian, for all other gods including that of Hindus were also present in his words and talk. In many ways, it was quite uncanny for the very precise manner in which he was extracting out intimate information. Like a software being used to probe inside the human mind and inside the very software of reality, and seek not only the present and the past, but also the future.

I met this person many years ago, when he was more or less in a very feeble habitation. However, over the years, he had built a prayer hall, with un-plastered walls. He also had a very formidable following. However, the local church authorities forbade their congregation members from going to his prayer meetings. For, it was quite obvious that he stood outside their command route. In that he was dealing directly with God.

Even though he admitted that there some persons of good social standing among his followers, it was clear that the vast majority were the poor. The poor are really the fodder that maintains much other social leadership. I was a bit apprehensive as to what would happen when so many poor people shifted to his side. Suddenly one day, his place was besieged by the local communist party members. They shooed off the worshippers. The local police came and the case came to the High Court of Kerala. It decreed that the local police should give adequate protection to the place of worship.

Now, a few days back, that is around four years after that incident, when I went to this place, it was again deserted. On enquiry, I was informed that this time a huge crowd of Hindu activists had converged on the place and created a bedlam. They accused him of indulging in religious conversion. The police personnel also seem to have been compromised for they ordered him to close down the place. His son was bullied from a nearby town where he had gone for his studies, which a few persons cornering him and nudging him under his chin.

Now, this is actually a sample of the religious tolerance that is actually there in the nation. One may wonder why such belligerent stances become part of spiritual dispositions. However, the fact is that these things do not have anything to do with spiritual themes, but are connected to the tension that rises when leadership which hold command over poor people feel that the people kept under their thumb are escaping from their clutches.

I understand that no news media was willing to report this incident.

Apart from the incidences mentioned above, there are these interesting items that I heard in some of his sermons. He mentioned once that a mother’s womb is controlled by a computer-like machine which has the capacity equivalent to 35000 (I don’t know if it was 3500) current-day computers. {This idea comes very much near to my contentions in my book Codes of reality! What is language?} Another time I heard him say that there are 35 planets in which human beings are currently living. He once mentioned that in the next 300 years, mankind would reach the capacity to move between stellar systems within seconds.