Random Thoughts: Our Society and Culture

 • Not all people are not intrinsically corrupt; circumstances can be responsible too;

As I was waiting for a bureaucrat friend of mine, the auto wallah that drove me to my friend’s office said,’ Sir, most of the people visiting the office would be “transfer wallahs”. “I wish I had some “approach”; I’d charge for the transfer and make money”. Realizing he had stated something unethical, he added, “Sir, I have three children, an ailing wife and I am unwell too”. I can’t make ends meet”. And there is injustice in the world: what have I done to earn my station in life and what have others those who are well off done, mused philosophically”. The religious sensibility kicked in soon after he made these utterances. “There is a higher design to everything. Who knows what God knows”.  The remarks of the autowallah(let me call him Jan Mohammad) were insightful and laced with poignancy. Capital scarcity plus a humble background made him think of doing something unethical; he also questioned the social and economic order of our society and rued his station in the schemata of society but then attributed it to God –resigning himself to fatalism. Indeed, the condition of the autowallah merits empathy and sympathy and there are innumerable people like him. However, the lesson that we can draw from his condition is that very people are corrupt and unethical by choice; most are compelled to take the corruption and unethical route. The question is: how can corrupt behaviour be thwarted? Whilst there are no easy answers to this but one solution that stares us in the face is crating conditions that lead to equality of opportunity. This can be done through education and a meritocratic culture wherein the playing field is levelled. A vigorous opportunity structure must be a necessary complement to this. While indeed there are things that are beyond us and accrue from God’s Will and His design but there’s some things that are amenable to remedy. God helps those who help themselves. We need not resign ourselves to total fatalism. To repeat, there are certain things wherein human agency can help.

 Commitment problem in Kashmir: “Peitt Manut” or lack of self belief?

“People in Kashmir promise the moon and deliver zilch (zero),” said a Western friend to me. There is merit to what he said. I can say with certainty that almost all of us have faced a situation where someone promises a lot but in terms of delivery disappoints us. Consider the mason, or the carpenter or the sales person who says his service is the best in the world but when it comes to delivery and provisioning, both are subpar. What explains our tendency to exaggerate? Its either supreme or over confidence in ourselves that is at odds with reality or in Kashmiri terms, we are victims of “peitt manut”. Or at the other end of the spectrum it is a poor sense of self that makes us want to prove to others our capability and capacity.  Either way, it is not a portrait of salubriousness. We must all inculcate a sense of proportion in ourselves and state clearly and honestly what we can do and deliver. Or, as is the wont in societies defined by equipoise and equilibrium, under promise and over deliver.

• It is not only the producer that is blame for the state of our handicrafts but also  

I waded into a Kashmiri handicrafts store on the Boulevard. The store owner is a friend. As is the norm in Kashmir, my friend offered me tea and kulchas and we stuck up a conversation. Noticing a beautiful, embroidered shawl, I asked him the price. “1400 to 1500            Rupees, said my friend”. “ Is that all, “ I responded with disbelief. My friend said, ‘ yeah , its not pashmina or raffal; its count and the embroidery is done by machine”. What my friend said next was perhaps most insightful. “ You see, it’s a use and throw world. People just want cheap stuff; they don’t care for quality and originality anymore. There’s a few , select group of consumers who are discerning but they hardly visit Kashmir anymore. So we give people what they want”. This assertion made me think. Our handicrafts sector which is plagued by shoddy and fake goods also suffers from the nature of the customer consumer. It is not only the supply and value chains that need to be redefined and rejigged; neither is it only the middlemen but the problem also lies with the consumer. Can this be remedied? Probably. One approach would be market segmentation and vigorous marketing of Kashmiri products which emphasizes on the quality and originality of tour products. The marketing should be so compelling that people pay the price that original and quality goods/products warrant.

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