"Consequences are unpitying."
—George
Eliot (British, 1819-1880)
Word
for the day
Sonorous (adj)
Loud, deep, or resonant, as a sound.
Malice
towards none
While pursuing expansion in
North East, BJP might have lost sight of troubles brewing in its backyard.
First random thought this morning
Three years back, I complained that the authorities are in a habit
of not learning from their mistakes.; and that despite our government
proclaiming the “License Raj” dead two decades ago, in mindset of our
politicians and bureaucracy it still endures. (See
here)
Well RBI seems to have ceded some ground. Let's hope the other
organs of the state also inculcate habit of learning from their mistakes.
For a few medals more - 2
In my view, various societies in the world could be divided into
two broad categories - (a) Ladder societies; and (b) Cliff societies.
The ladder societies are usually upwardly mobile societies. In
these societies all get support and an equal chance to move up step by step.
The place at the top is strongly believed to be infinite; therefore, the
competition in these societies is mostly internal - people compete with their
frailty, depravity, fear, and vices like lust, anger, greed, haughtiness, and
infatuation.
Peace, asceticism, abstinence, benevolence, goodwill, spiritual
evolution are some of the key words in these societies.
Cliff societies, on the other hand are usually static societies.
The core belief of these societies is that the place at the top is limited. The
competition in these societies is therefore mostly external and fierce. To stay
at the top, one must (i) stop others from climbing higher; (ii) be vigilant
about those who have already reached the top, as they may try to push you down;
and (iii) be consistently at fight with the peers and try to throw them off the
cliff to secure your space at the top. Considering the intensity of the
external conflict, the internal malice in these societies could remain
unattended for unusually long periods of time.
Animal spirit, killing instinct, survival of fittest, relative
competitiveness, material comfort, economic evolution, are a few of the key
words in these societies.
All modern global sporting events, like global industry &
commerce, have evolved in the cliff societies. These promotes relative
competitiveness as key sporting objective. The necessity to win medals incites
the "animal spirit" and "killing instincts" in the
participants. Unfortunately, this animal spirit and killing instincts do not
die at the podium. These stay with the participants for long and impact their
personal, social and economic life.
Moreover, this concept of "relative competitiveness"
(also known as first past the post) is a major impediment to the quality in
life, as the focus remains on doing better than the competitors rather than
doing best for the society.
Traditionally, India had been a ladder society. The concept of Ram
Rajya is used to outline the tenets which promote absolute quality, equality
and harmony in the society, permitting each individual to pursue his/her own
chosen path with passion and dignity.
Winning Olympic medals does not fit into traditional Indian ethos,
but excellence in sports does. Similarly, traditional Indian businesses were
based on individual/social excellence (arts and crafts). The entire R&D
effort remained focused on upliftment of entire society rather than
profiteering.
But as the episode involving wrestler Narsingh Yadav shows, our
transformation into a cliff society might be complete. Now, expect to see this
killing instinct in businesses more prominently. Expect many more large
businesses like RIL. Expect many more causalities like Orkay Silk Mills. Expect
much more good times for investors. Expect many more cases of divorce, domestic
violence, corporate espionage, abrupt bankruptcies and hostile takeovers. And
of course expect many more Olympic Medals.
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