In This Difficult World, We are Fashionably More Indifferent than Before.

(This is a tribute to an inter-school debate that we attended today in the idyllic campus of Sarala Birla Gyaan Jyoti. I'd like to dedicate this to Manosha and Bhargabi for giving such wonderful inputs that helped me write these debates, as well as doing such a great job of delivering them!)

FOR:

             

              At the outset, the first thing we need to ask- WHAT IS FASHIONABLY INDIFFERENT? Let me elaborate on the motion for the benefit of the house. What is fashion? The Oxford Dictionary defines fashion as a prevailing custom or style, set by and in conformation with society. Indifference is a state of not being concerned about any matter. So, the house today debates over whether, in the present era, being disinterested has become a greater trend than earlier.

            Today’s world is one of extreme communal tension, of caste based conflicts, gender bias, fundamentalism, and the list goes on and on. Everyday, the morning dailies flaunt headlines of honour killings, murders in the name of God, etc. It is a world of marked contrasts – on one hand, we have an elitist section that lives in the lap of luxury, on the other we have a staggering 1.4 billion people around the world who are unable to even meet the basic necessities of life. The Martian would wonder, how could anyone be indifferent in such circumstances?

             But, the fact of the matter is – we have become so used to hearing about rape, loot, murder, massacre, communal rioting, hunger, that we have become, in a way, desensitized to these issues. To be sure, we discuss the issues within the safety of our drawing rooms, we rue the state of the system, we loudly proclaim the need for change. Deep down inside, however, we have become fundamentally indifferent.

               So, in that context, I agree with the topic. Yes, we are fashionably indifferent. By and large, the trend is to treat matters of importance with distance; as long as it does not concern or affect us blatantly, we refuse to even acknowledge the presence of problems. At most, an issue invades our minds till there is media hype surrounding it; once that is gone, the issue lies forgotten. Meaning what? Meaning that within us, it was never of any value. For instance, three years ago, in our own city of Guwahati, there was an infamous case where a young tribal lady agitating on behalf of the All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam, was publicly stripped. Sadly, she remained in that condition for quite some time before one – yes, just one – person had the humanity to lend her his shirt. What was everybody doing while she was being molested? How could this even be permitted in a civilized society? And finally, does bringing this incident to media attention mean that public indifference will decrease? I beg to differ. We remain FASHIONABLY indifferent.

                Kashmir, flamboyantly described as heaven on earth, has, ever since independence, been in a state of constant turmoil. Yet, globally, and even the territory of India, it is ignored. Apart from the usual worn out media reports every once in a while, there is no action taken to resolve conflict. Even the players in the matter themselves are becoming indifferent to the plight of the people. Meanwhile, Kashmir continues to burn.

                 Let us not confine ourselves to political issues. Let us examine the raging matter of the hour – the environment and global warming. We all know the ins and outs of the problem. We know that our resources are getting depleted, that pollution is reaching an all time high, that 30,000 species are going extinct every year. BUT. Does mere  awareness translate into action? Again, we remain FASHIONABLY indifferent.

                 Speaker sir, when we look back down the years, it is hard to identify exactly when this trend of indifference seeped in. We belong to the nation of Bhagat Singh and Kanaklata, of Swami Vivekananda and the greatest name of all – Gandhi. This was a time when even the general public, elite AND grassroot – was concerned about society and humanity. Even globally, people would always speak up for what they believed; hence the French, Bolshevik and American Revolutions. But today? The average individual has become dispassionate.

                   However, being fashionably indifferent does not always have to have negative connotations. As I perceive it, being indifferent could also mean being impartial, being free from prejudice, being free from bias. Indifference is silence, and silence, in the words of Lao Tzu, can be  a source of great strength. Often, Problems emerge in the world not because of indifference, but because of excessive commitment to unworthy cause.

                    As per the definition of fashion, it is set by society, meaning US. So, it is we who have the power to decide what we should be indifferent towards. Coming back to the argument, my point is that we definitely SHOULD be indifferent towards all those elements that are seeping through society and tainting it, that are hindering progress, that are, in short, making the world a difficult place to be in. For instance, had the existence of religion been ignored in the realm of politics right from the outset, we would perhaps have never faced epic catastrophes like Godhra, the Kandhamal massacre, the Babri masjid demolition and the riots that followed, and maybe even Partition. Yes, we ARE fashionably indifferent, but it is up to us to change the nature of this indifference, so that it can be used as a positive force to make the world a better place to be in.

AGAINST:

 September 11, 2001: Two twin towers standing proud against the New York skyline came crashing down before the horrified eyes of the entire world. After this incident, people could no longer ignore the nexus of terrorism spreading its tentacles across the globe. If anything, people are now even more concerned with terrorism than before.

February 21, 2006: Manu Sharma, the main accused in the murder of Jessica Lall, was acquitted. In the following months, thousands raised an uproar over the blatant miscarriage of justice, forcing an appeal and finally leading to his conviction.

12 January 2010: An earthquake with a catastrophic magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale rocked the Caribbean country of Haiti. Even as images of death and destruction filtered out, governments, organisations and people from all over the world, came forward to extend a helping hand.

Speaker sir. These are not instances from some long forgotten era. These are very recent situations where people and governments alike responded actively to issues that affected them. So, keeping in mind such cases, I stand firmly against the motion before the house.

The motion states that, in this difficult world, we are fashionably more indifferent than before. The key word here is ‘before’. I believe that as compared to the past, we have become far more sensitised to the world around us at present. Fashionable indifference – the very term indicates a general trend of indifference setting in. BUT, in today’s era , the buzzword is to care. It is an age of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, of Child Rights and You and Equality. It is an age where the media instantly takes up an issue and exposes it before the eyes of the world - as the recent COMMONWEALTH GAMES debacle has so aptly proven. Now, I believe that we have become far more alert and aware than in the past.Case in point. Until very recently, the so-called upper castes of Indian society did not even consider the lower classes human. This was a classic example of ‘fashionable’ indifference. But with the advent of Gandhi, Ambedkar and minority rights, there is no question of indifference at all. From then to now, we have come a long way.

In today’s age of globalisation, Every aspect of life is now so interconnected that it is no longer possible to remain indifferent – fashionably or otherwise. Like say for instance, the war in far-off Iraq led to a hike in oil prices globally. So, indirectly or directly, we could not remain indifferent to the matter.

Let us now talk about the Right to Information Act, 2005, a potent public weapon, which has successfully exposed corruption scams, led to self empowerment and justice. Not just India, over 60 more countries have similar laws which are for the most part, effectively used. The very existence, and subsequent success, of such acts is a testimony to the fact that we are NOT indifferent.

Typifying the entire society all over the world into the category of ‘fashionably’ indifferent is a sweeping generalisation. The average citizen today is far more alert and responsive than his counterpart in the past.  “If moderation is a fault then indifference is a crime”, said Jack Kerouac, and I trust that by this definition, we are not a society of criminals just yet.

(This got us into the finals of this prestigious debate...and it was one of the best debates, with one of the best teams that I have ever given. Please comment left, right and centre!)