In the shadow of the mahatma

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