Too Blind To Face Reality

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle March 2004)

“You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality.” Replace “patriotism” with any word in this sentence of Malcolm X and it still holds good. We get biased by our own creations, our own ideas, our own notions. We refuse to accept anything that goes contrary to these. In other words, there is a narrowing down of truth.

This is especially true of beginners in any field. A fledgling writer gets carried away with his use of language. It would not be unusual to hear him rubbish what a Naipaul writes. What he forgets is that language is only a vehicle to carry your ideas. At no cost can Air Force One be allowed to outdo the US President in prominence. First-timers, in their hurry, lose sense of an organic whole.

Though more characteristic of neophytes, the phenomenon can’t be said to be restricted to them only. Such mistakes can be made even by senior people. Take M Rama Jois, for example. In his Republic Day speech, the Bihar Governor pointed to the lawlessness prevailing in the state. There is no doubt about the truth in the statement. But when the head of a state admits to such a pathetic situation, and that too on an august occasion, what does it imply? Either that the post of the head, namely governor, is worthless. Or that the head is a helpless spectator. In either case, the message being sent to the people is starkly negative.

Another example is that of the BJP secretary Pramod Mahajan, who wears patriotism on his sleeve. When he asserts that the post of prime minister should be open only to people of Indian parentage, he underestimates the power of the Indian voter. It is for the voter to decide whether Sonia Gandhi is Indian enough to be allowed to sit at the helm. Any preaching on Mahajan’s part is an insult to the discriminative faculty of the Indian voter.

Or, take the case of reform ideologues. Liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation are wonderful concepts. But they forget that so was communism. All theories are sound. The problem lies with those who execute these theories. In their zeal for the implementation of the theory, they forget what it leads to. GDP growth is important. But, like money, it should not be the be-all and end-all.

As Nobel laureate Amartya Sen reminds us, it is important to ensure that reform advances the cause of life and freedom. Which is not something that has been witnessed in China’s case. Since reforms began in China in 1979, there has been a plateauing off of life expectancy and infant mortality—two very important indicators of development.

At the micro level, something similar can be seen in business houses. In their hurry to rapidly multiply their bottomlines and market capitalisation, they ignore ethics. But you can’t ignore things endlessly. Soon the inflated balloon goes bust. And darlings like Enron and Xerox turn into villains.

India too is not an exception. The “feel-good factor” has blinded us so much that there is little concern for the unemployed. The 8.4 per cent growth, 6000-plus Sensex and $100-billion-plus forex reserves are as immaterial to them as Sachin’s centuries. In fact, even demoralising. For, the unemployed see the country’s scorecard go up and contrast it with their own abysmal failure.

What happens at the Indo-Pak talks? Our neighbour gets so blinded with the K-word that it forgets the more important issue of trade. If both the sides did not allow themselves to be blinded with politics and focussed on the reality of economy instead, things would only look up. As has started in the latest bid for amity.

Success and happiness in any sphere require that you shed your biases, clean your glasses, and face reality.