Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy

Noun: Hypocrisy

1. An expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction

2. Insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have

We hate hypocrites. All of us do. The only problem with the statement is one of introspection and metaphysical cognition and other higher things we never understand. Ah.yeah. The problem is only with the understanding part. The problem can be very lucidly expressed. And something that can be expressed can be typed too. And so here goes...Hold your breath. This is the moment..The curtain is going up..The stage is going to be bared...aaaand..Voila!

We are hypocrites.

Ok. Sorry for the hype. Well, am sure you almost guessed what I was arriving at anyway.

(After all everything in this world survives at one point or another through the undeserved advantages bestowed upon it in the guise of distorted perception caused by the exaggeration of its actual nature and value. And I am a student of biotechnology. Ok. Sorry. I was a student of biotechnology: The perennially hyped up area. In fact I remember somebody saying ATGC should be replaced with HYPE. So I am at home with hype. No problems at all. (Well for the uninitiated, ATGC stands for Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine, the base pairs in a DNA strand. And because this anyway came up let me warn you. Never believe what a biotechnologist says. Because we are always optimistic and we think anything is possible. So if you can’t resist being naughty and end up having AIDS you are going to die even though biotechnology would “promise” a drug. But we will test on you anyway and if you get suspicious we will just say that you would be helping your children or grandchildren by helping us with the tests that entails subjecting yourselves to our whims that are justified only by our nonexistent knowledge. Ok. Fine. Enough of that. That was for fun. We biotechnologists are really nice and good people. Seriously good people. Though may be a little illuded.))

We have problems with understanding it because we have problems with understanding anything that juxtaposes us with other living-feeling-thinking-beings which have similar problems with understanding. Our antennas which always just work fine just go berserk when they sense a homo -sapien with a similar set of antennas in the proximity.

I am sure empathising and sympathising would always remain elusive skills. In this case practice would only help us to realise that it is so tough that it is almost impossible.

Consider the following.

Noun: Festival

1. A day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration

2. An organized series of acts and performances

What does the word “festival” brings to our mind?

Fun. Frolic. Celebrations. Holiday. Dresses. Sweets. Phone calls. SMSs. Post card greeting. Electronic greetings. Relatives. Friends. Family. Neighbours. Bonus. Crackers. Cakes. Heavy food. Religious rituals. Tours. Trips. Picnics. Malls. Movies. Restaurants. Gifts. Happiness.

Does the season of a festival bring joy to all, irrespective of the caste and creed and job designation?

May be.

May be not.

To put my question differently, does a festival bring only and only joy to all?

Consider the fact that among the things that I listed above most of them, a vast majority of them, entails the presupposition of the presence of both money and the means to spend. Definitely that is not true. At least it cannot be universalised. (According to Kant’s theory of ethics universalisability is one of the criteria something has to satisfy to be concluded ethical, the other being reversibility. Can you believe it? I learned that in an mba course.)

My apologies for what my point is going to be.

Let’s say it is diwali time and we are all busy getting excited. There are all sorts of offers that are getting advertised on every possible media. Marketers are so skilled that we all buy stuff that we don’t even remotely need. There are exchange melas and discounts and freebies and zero interest loans. In fact when we enter any big store during the festive season we find it filled to the brim with people (So crowded they are that sometimes we will get the delivery of whatever we are going to by only after some days.) The place is so crowded that the sales men and women are literally dishevelled. It’s these people that we bombard with our questions

But never does it strike to us that its festival season for those sales people too.

Electronic shops: What is the price of this? Of that? Of both together? What is selling most? What is the warranty period? When will we get the delivery? Can we test it?

Do those people buy new stuff because it is a festival season? Do they get to change the television because the one they have has become old? Do they get to buy their first colour television?

Apparel showrooms: Can we try the dress? How is the cloth material? Will it shrink? Will it fade? Will it last?

Do they get to try on new dresses they always wanted to wear? Do they get to buy their children the clothes which they find other parents buy for theirs?

Sweet shop: Which sweet is fresh? Do you take bulk orders? Can you pack the sweets separately in 5 boxes?

Do they get to buy gulab jamun? Do they get to give sweets to their family and friends?

Jewellery shop: Is that KDM jewellery? Do you discount wastage? Do you take old gold?

Do they get to buy ear rings for their loved ones? (Er..Pardon my emphasis on ear rings alone..In my opinion ear rings are the best of the varied accoutrements that the female species adorns itself with. And men wearing ear rings is extremely gross because nothing can be more genuinely and brilliantly feminine than an ear ring and men are just desecrating it by wearing it. It is also a desecration when it’s worn anywhere other than the ears. They ARE ear rings after all. Anyway if there is one piece of jewellery that holds its own it is an ear ring. Even without the associated ear an ear ring independently looks splendid. I have a whole lot of opinions about ear rings. I will not be able to do justice if I talk about it here J . If you don’t believe me well then sample this. In my opinion the best ear rings are those which hang. Not sure what they are called. Drops? Or droppings? hee hee Well. Not just anything that hangs. It should not be very big to seem gross but it should be big enough to slightly oscillate when the head turns. So there. I could go on and on. So you better believe me)

**That was to lighten up the conversation, in case you didn’t notice it.

We don’t think any of those (in italics) do we? Sure that doesn’t mean that we are hypocrites. And my point is not about the poverty or the differential spending potential of the population of the different economic strata. No. My point is this.

Festivals are one of the greatest hypocrisies because in the name of joy it sure must be causing discomfort to a lot of people.

Somewhere in the minds of people who cannot buy and spend the way others surrounding them are able to, there must be a little uneasiness and anger at the whole design. Sure that is applicable anytime. But festivals heighten and deepen the perception of the divide.

No. We are not guilty by intention of course. (Since I used “we” It becomes incumbent on me to define it. Well, lets say it includes us who have internet connection and the time to read blogs).

But I am sure this doesn’t pacify the guilt that we feel isn’t it? Very similar to the temporal pang of guilt that we get when a kid wipes and cleans our table in a restaurant. There is no logic to it. There is no spurt of action after it. There is no tangible means to atone for it. There is nothing that can be done. There is no reason.

We do just one thing. We forget it in a minute.

No. That doesn’t make us explicitly bad either. My point is however hard we try we cannot stop ourselves from hurting, from causing some sort of pain to somebody. It is so because we never know how and what and where. It is so because our antennas don’t work. It is so because we have to survive. It is so because the system is vast and complicated.

Most of us agree on right things. We passionately support equality. We claim to be very nice people. We claim to have never hurt anyone. We claim a whole lot of things. (Well for a start we should ask our friends and family about that). The most ironical thing is that even if we actually truthfully honestly wholeheartedly try those, there is no way that it is possible.

It is so because we cannot help but celebrate festivals.

It is so because most of us are innocent.

Sinfully innocent.