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| Sunday, 25 July 2004 |
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Small is strong by Kavery Nambisan The strength of numbers dictates the law; the fate of the weak depends on the humane and democratic values of the powerful. 'Minority' implies a group that is victimised. But this need not be so. The shifting dynamics of place, time and context affords each of us the possibility of being among the few. A dynamic minority has the potential to influence events. "The way in which a man of genius rules," wrote the jurist and legal historian James Fitzjames Stephen in an essay that was strangely, against democracy, "is by persuading an efficient minority to coerce an indifferent and self-indulgent majority." The actions of that minority must be founded on just principles or else we end up with a polity like Nazi Germany's or the contemporary United States. For every Hitler, Bush or bin Laden there has been a Socrates, a Chomsky or an Anna Hazare. The true hero ensures that even the adversary is not harmed. He or she would have reflected deeply before making a choice. The first enemy to defeat is one's own doubts; after that is accomplished, she becomes a majority of one. In a crisis if the majority has been knocked unconscious and inert the individual or a small group often comes up with an innovative answer. This could be truly original, like Satyagraha or the Chipko Movement. Such action requires a certain courage, a readiness to face ridicule and danger. In the mid-19th Century when all of the U.S. was cheering the frenzied pace of industrialisation, Henry David Thoreau chose to defy the system. For two years he lived in a one-room cabin he built in the woods. He was disregarded as an eccentric. Fifty years later, Gandhi read the works of Thoreau and was deeply inspired. My Experiments with Truth resembles Walden in its clarity and in the reasoning that human goodness and the pursuit of a simple life are the answers to much that is wrong with the world. In a majority, it is comfortable to let one's opinion fall softly and be buried in the cushion of numbers: as has long been the practice of thousands of young men in India who partake guiltlessly in the dowry system, ignoring the fact that they are being sold to the highest bidder. When the film "Water" was damned by Hindu militants in Varanasi, a friend of mine supported them with this logic: "Will Muslims or Christians allow a film to be made criticising their holy men? What happened to Rushdie?" There you are. The ban is justified because other religions would have done no less. She did not question the fact that the film was intended to portray a truth about sanctimonious priests posing as the saviours of a religious heritage. Her argument was, why show the truth if others don't show it? Let us all belong to one equal level of untruth. Let us be brothers and sisters in hypocrisy. To be in the minority does not always translate into being victims. Doctors, engineers, journalists and Test cricketers belong to small, privileged groups. Professionals who excel in their field but become edentulous when they come up against a social evil. As a doctor I have often thought about my advantages. The degree comes with perks: No doctor can deny the delights of sporting the Red Cross symbol on her vehicle, or flashing an identity card to get ahead in a queue. Doctors, like teachers and lawyers, sometimes go on strike for more pay. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but have we ever banded together in a cause other than our own? The dazzle of technology benefits doctors more than it does patients. As for working cohesively, we have that questionable body called the Indian Medical Association with branches all over the country. Doctors meet every month and, over drinks and dinner, make pretentious speeches about a brotherhood that does not exist. Half a million of us and unable to root out tuberculosis and the other communicable diseases which kill millions every year. Proud of our refined techniques in heart, kidney and brain surgery but uninterested in the hazards of unclean water or malnutrition. Celebrities are high on the list of privileged minorities. Advertising agencies buy their names to sell products. Our heroes hail biscuits, soft drinks, beauty soaps and motorcycles as invaluable adjuncts to the Good Life. Do the stars who wave these coloured poisons really believe they're harmless? These stars actively strive to avoid doing good. If, during the early days of the riots in Gujarat, someone like Sachin Tendulkar or Amitabh Bachchan had made a public appeal, a tragedy could have been averted. But all of them, and most of our politicians, and even our then Prime Minister, kept silent. In the loudness of their silence, the brutality went on and on. A stagnant society disregards minorities and trivialises the self. In their midst, the underprivileged are denied a decent livelihood and denied the chance to change it. Only small, committed groups and individuals with courage will bring about change. "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions," wrote playwright Lillian Hellman to the U.S. Congress during the infamous witch-hunt of the McCarthy era. The U.S. is urgently in need of more Lillian Hellmans as we are in need of Teesta Setalvads. - Courtesy The Hindu, The writer is a surgeon. You can E-mail her at [email protected] |
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