In The Shadow of the Mahatma
Should a Psychiatrist keep to his clinical work of curing ailments of Individual mind or be aware of larger socio politics around him? .
Even if one chooses to be aloof the macro cosmos is represented in the client’s world . The sorrows, the ambitions, the conflicts , the dynamic resolutions and reactions of the generalized are presented in the individual within the consulting chamber. The solutions interface with the larger system, and the good doctor at least in the intentions is embroiled with what he is avoiding.
It was never so true as in the present times hence a psychological analysis beyond the clinic becomes a compulsion.
As ‘India rises against corruption’ taking the lead from Anna Hazare it is time to revisit the man whose picture looms in the background …Mohandas Gandhi.
Especially when likes of Baba Ramdev talk of Satyagraha . Those who own millions suddenly have became the moral guardians of millions. The fear of an arrest makes them run and hide . One can wonder whether he knows about the tenets of Satyagraha.
Carl Jung called democracy as “ a chronic state of mitigated war”. It serves our instincts to war, outwardly peaceful but the fight goes on within the constitutional framework. The external peace leaves them free to quarrel within.
This is war ‘introverted’ at a societal national level. But the real war is within each individual, the eternal conflict between baser and higher instinct. Facing the devil inside and unable to rein it , the evil is projected to an external object eliminating it from the individual consciousness. The external shadow becomes the focus of antipathy but the real monster lurks in dark corners of mind.
The worst adversary remains in the heart smiling away as we point fingers.
We the people excel in this ,consciously or unconsciously. From the corner chai shop to academic discussions, corruption is an act which the ‘other’ is doing .As the blame rests on someone else we are temporarily able to pass off the guilt . it was natural to our temperament to pop up as a whole on the idea of campaign triggered by Anna Hazare and his group. What was a focused idea to ensure a certain law became a generalized slogan against corruption.
The pop revolution pulled the NGOs, the well fed , and the vast crowds searching for meaning in life. In the euphoria, JanLokpal bill appears as a panacea of all that is wrong in India.
Nevertheless the risk remains both psychologically and socially. The enthusiasm to rein in politicians and corrupt officials takes away our responsibility to be corruption free in personal life.
Gandhiji is on the picture but what he meant is forgotten. He defined in 1909 Swaraj as “rule over the self”. A disciplined rule from within.
He kept insisting that when things go wrong we should look inward, each one of us, as we determine our surroundings by our inner self. The crusade should be against one’s own shortcomings. Whether these crusaders realize this is the question.
On a litmus test very few of these campaigners will pass. One cannot protest against corruption unless his own mind and life is free from it. No one stops to think this because the singular meaning implied in this is corruption of money.
Financial corruption has been isolated for the attack and all the other faces ignored. It raises a sinister question .Whether all those who are on roads protesting are honest or it is the lack of opportunity which is making them angry.
The ugly face of corruption raises its head in all spheres of Indian life and the responsibility of all cannot be relegated to politicians.
Exploitation, disobeying rules , lack of commitment to one’s duties , and general apathy and insensitivity can be cleverly linked to money but in the heart we know that it is more of a personal issue than economic.
But these do not concern us. While we press the Government for the bill and indulge in the shadow game as per Jung , ignoring the Mahatma , loot can continue in our lives.
Not undermining the efforts of Anna Hazare and all those who toil in heat and dust , we should pause for a moment and at least realize that the toughest battle is still on within us.
The real revolution is still in waiting .It will only come from the below when the Government doctor will be found in his Primary health clinics, the teacher in his school , or at least drive on the left.
The insecurity haunting the Indian mind is pushing them to rush forward blindly at the cost of all that is human. And it is not a good omen for the mental health of nation.
A nation which shuns it's individual responsibility often finds alibi in sickness.
India needs another Mahatma . Till he comes we can at least listen to our inner selves or to Mahatma Gandhi.
---- Dr Alok Bajpai
Psychiatrist
---- Dr Alok Bajpai
गुरुवार, 4 अगस्त 2011
बुधवार, 1 जून 2011
educated or examined
EDUCATED OR EXAMINED?
One of the genuinely profound contemporary mystery and myth of our beloved India is our education system. As the claims of India becoming more educated, reflected for enthusiasts in higher literacy rates deserve a cheer , a brief halt to review and differentiate between literacy and education is worth the effort.
While assessing any system for its efficacy two essential elements have to be studied . Firstly the process and then the outcome. The former is an internal analysis but the latter is the interface with the world.
And this baffles even the most liberal of critique . The outcome of any education system are it pupils when they function in society. The achievements of Indian scientists , doctors , Entrepreneurs ,Engineers and wealth generating Businesswomen (and men) globally is an accolade to our higher education and to few world rated institutions . Their creativity and leadership in their fields is exemplary for the Western educated peers too.
They are certainly the golden cupola on the top of the pyramid , but a descent towards the base shocks. The pyramid has its walls but the solid structure supporting it is patchy and the base appears to be almost fluid and non existent , in our case the secondary and primary education structures respectively.
This raises the ever perplexing question- how does a country whose preparatory education is disparate and skewed , both qualitatively and quantitatively produce innovators and geniuses.?
Even if we ignore the negligence of Government in upgrading the primary (a whole lot is still under the tree often without a blackboard and teacher!) the gaps are glaring even at secondary.
The other end is public schools which are pampering the kids from the richer India not only in extra curricular but in survival comforts too. Air conditioned class rooms , smart boards ,foreign spots for ‘school excursions’ a new world of rich brats is being created. The new upper middle class is has it eyes on foreign universities for them where money more than merit matters.
Contrast it with Government schools with barely any facilities , surviving on minimal fee and a disinterested environment. The only way bright ones have is the open entrance examination systems to be reckoned in the race.
The two divergent streams meet at the University. It would be a interesting research to look into the educational background of the students in quality Institutions.
But both public and Government schools at least agree on one part of the process…….ROTE.
A few rebel experimental schools do make an effort to minimize the information based teaching system but most across the country have no place for enhancing or instructing in ‘thinking ability’ .
This job is left for post graduate education. After 12-15 years in a system without evolving ‘critical thinking abilities’ one is suddenly thrown into a mode of thinking , which has a jarring effect and can be disorienting. This phenomenon is almost universal and often people confess that the knowledge imparted to them till Undergraduate usually goes waste. Re training and re studying remains the only way to bounce back.
The larger lot proves the point but the jewels must be different as individuals or be fortunate enough in their personal environment.
Schools are overloaded with overburdened teachers , hard pressed to complete the syllabus with no time or inclination to involve in hairsplitting queries. Even the expression of creative teaching is rare so the best escape route devised by the faulty system is examination.
From the good old trimester examination system , a whole range of daily to weekly tests have emerged.
Asking questions is always better than answering them. As parents and children move in a maze of grades ,the report card becomes the only reality and focus shifts from passing the examination rather than learning the process of learning . Very few escape this tussle between teachers and parents to preserve their mind and instincts to exhibit originality later. Majority suffers both intellectual as well as emotional trauma with the whole range of psychological sequel.
Burn out is more real than perceived , any adolescent clinic can hold testimony to it. If schools are guilty of excess the parents have turned the child’s success to trophy. The grades and certificates are an essential part of social status paraphernalia which inflates the vanity.
The tired minds are reflecting in the standards of Universities and professional colleges. Remove the handful of them , the atmosphere is hardly academically challenging , where inspiration is an illusion. The hoards of student need a degree ,least bothered about the knowledge ,the fixation of marks and grades is deep rooted.
Whatever is left of the fire is extinguished by the Typical University faculty . The GURU who chiseled a diamond out of stone is in relics. The routine stereotyped lessons across all disciplines is the common scene in classrooms creating not only an aversion but a feeling of insufficiency in the pupil. Proliferating coaching institutes are proof enough of this fallacy.
It cannot be debated that in a country like India where education is linked to earning the insecurity is justified but the psychological cost is tremendous. The despair which people carry in their minds is like a yoke. Not very many can claim that they are living the life they wanted. Even rare are those who have self actualized in their chosen field of work.
Vocation based training and skill based education though accessible is still a far dream.
Being skilled to earn, being educated to be wise perhaps may work well for this vast country.
It seems difficult especially with economic prosperity because we lack what Gandhi learnt from Ruskin – dignity of Labour.
Being wise and knowledgeable is no one’s prerogative and that has to be independent of his or her job. The lesson is simple enough.
Those who are fortunate to get into the premiere Institutes get a chance to live a creative life rest slog.
A positive golden mean exists though. Learning the process of learning should be the focus and not information loading. If schools can attempt to ignite the fire of inquisitiveness and keep it alive , accepting the individual differences the young minds will naturally activate themselves when they discover the inner calling. They should be allowed to dream and discover. Give them the tools of mind but allow them to experiment. Only when boundaries are broken innovations happen. And that day the classroom will not be so aversive.
We cannot always cheer up for Indians who win Nobel prize sitting in America
We as a nation have to find that mean somewhere between Tagore’s romanticism and Gandhi’s karma yoga.
One of the genuinely profound contemporary mystery and myth of our beloved India is our education system. As the claims of India becoming more educated, reflected for enthusiasts in higher literacy rates deserve a cheer , a brief halt to review and differentiate between literacy and education is worth the effort.
While assessing any system for its efficacy two essential elements have to be studied . Firstly the process and then the outcome. The former is an internal analysis but the latter is the interface with the world.
And this baffles even the most liberal of critique . The outcome of any education system are it pupils when they function in society. The achievements of Indian scientists , doctors , Entrepreneurs ,Engineers and wealth generating Businesswomen (and men) globally is an accolade to our higher education and to few world rated institutions . Their creativity and leadership in their fields is exemplary for the Western educated peers too.
They are certainly the golden cupola on the top of the pyramid , but a descent towards the base shocks. The pyramid has its walls but the solid structure supporting it is patchy and the base appears to be almost fluid and non existent , in our case the secondary and primary education structures respectively.
This raises the ever perplexing question- how does a country whose preparatory education is disparate and skewed , both qualitatively and quantitatively produce innovators and geniuses.?
Even if we ignore the negligence of Government in upgrading the primary (a whole lot is still under the tree often without a blackboard and teacher!) the gaps are glaring even at secondary.
The other end is public schools which are pampering the kids from the richer India not only in extra curricular but in survival comforts too. Air conditioned class rooms , smart boards ,foreign spots for ‘school excursions’ a new world of rich brats is being created. The new upper middle class is has it eyes on foreign universities for them where money more than merit matters.
Contrast it with Government schools with barely any facilities , surviving on minimal fee and a disinterested environment. The only way bright ones have is the open entrance examination systems to be reckoned in the race.
The two divergent streams meet at the University. It would be a interesting research to look into the educational background of the students in quality Institutions.
But both public and Government schools at least agree on one part of the process…….ROTE.
A few rebel experimental schools do make an effort to minimize the information based teaching system but most across the country have no place for enhancing or instructing in ‘thinking ability’ .
This job is left for post graduate education. After 12-15 years in a system without evolving ‘critical thinking abilities’ one is suddenly thrown into a mode of thinking , which has a jarring effect and can be disorienting. This phenomenon is almost universal and often people confess that the knowledge imparted to them till Undergraduate usually goes waste. Re training and re studying remains the only way to bounce back.
The larger lot proves the point but the jewels must be different as individuals or be fortunate enough in their personal environment.
Schools are overloaded with overburdened teachers , hard pressed to complete the syllabus with no time or inclination to involve in hairsplitting queries. Even the expression of creative teaching is rare so the best escape route devised by the faulty system is examination.
From the good old trimester examination system , a whole range of daily to weekly tests have emerged.
Asking questions is always better than answering them. As parents and children move in a maze of grades ,the report card becomes the only reality and focus shifts from passing the examination rather than learning the process of learning . Very few escape this tussle between teachers and parents to preserve their mind and instincts to exhibit originality later. Majority suffers both intellectual as well as emotional trauma with the whole range of psychological sequel.
Burn out is more real than perceived , any adolescent clinic can hold testimony to it. If schools are guilty of excess the parents have turned the child’s success to trophy. The grades and certificates are an essential part of social status paraphernalia which inflates the vanity.
The tired minds are reflecting in the standards of Universities and professional colleges. Remove the handful of them , the atmosphere is hardly academically challenging , where inspiration is an illusion. The hoards of student need a degree ,least bothered about the knowledge ,the fixation of marks and grades is deep rooted.
Whatever is left of the fire is extinguished by the Typical University faculty . The GURU who chiseled a diamond out of stone is in relics. The routine stereotyped lessons across all disciplines is the common scene in classrooms creating not only an aversion but a feeling of insufficiency in the pupil. Proliferating coaching institutes are proof enough of this fallacy.
It cannot be debated that in a country like India where education is linked to earning the insecurity is justified but the psychological cost is tremendous. The despair which people carry in their minds is like a yoke. Not very many can claim that they are living the life they wanted. Even rare are those who have self actualized in their chosen field of work.
Vocation based training and skill based education though accessible is still a far dream.
Being skilled to earn, being educated to be wise perhaps may work well for this vast country.
It seems difficult especially with economic prosperity because we lack what Gandhi learnt from Ruskin – dignity of Labour.
Being wise and knowledgeable is no one’s prerogative and that has to be independent of his or her job. The lesson is simple enough.
Those who are fortunate to get into the premiere Institutes get a chance to live a creative life rest slog.
A positive golden mean exists though. Learning the process of learning should be the focus and not information loading. If schools can attempt to ignite the fire of inquisitiveness and keep it alive , accepting the individual differences the young minds will naturally activate themselves when they discover the inner calling. They should be allowed to dream and discover. Give them the tools of mind but allow them to experiment. Only when boundaries are broken innovations happen. And that day the classroom will not be so aversive.
We cannot always cheer up for Indians who win Nobel prize sitting in America
We as a nation have to find that mean somewhere between Tagore’s romanticism and Gandhi’s karma yoga.
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