A truly educated person

A husband to his wife, "You should be proud of me. I am an IITian plus IIMian. You should respect me and behave accordingly".

I can still remember a scene from a Bollywood movie Ramji London wale. The in-laws of Ramji's sister demand a car because he has to go to his office by scooter, getting wet along the way during monsoon rains ( he is a news reader in weather forecast show on a news channel. I wonder, can't he wear a raincoat in rainy days after predicting the same :P ).

Another instance : He is an IAS officer. He deserves at least 1 crore for the investment he has made (time and money).

Is education really a stacking of degrees and then bidding over them? In this article, I will ponder over the qualities of a supposedly educated person. How a educated person behave in different circumstances and how he ought to be?

Higher echelons' educated persons and their economic activities

Lets start from the ministers and bureaucrats. Despite holding so many degrees, clearing the most prestigious examination, they are the root cause of widespread administrative and political corruption as evident in 2G, coal scam, illegal mining, CWG scam etc. The highly educated businessmen are found indulged in crony capitalism having the sole motive of profit earning, sometimes even at the cost of nation's wealth (looting the nation's exchequer) and also degenerating humanity (e.g., seizing tribal lands). They are supposed to be the torch bearers of the nation, yet they set the wrong precedent undermining the whole value of education.

Participation in social evils

Social ills are equally widespread in educated as well as uneducated sections of the society, including dowry, female foeticide, involvement in social crimes like rape, murder, domestic violence. Even the people claiming to have and propagate value education, like, Rampal and Asaram, are involved in heinous crimes.

An educated person is supposed to get over the ills of society like

patriarchal mindset of feudal system, racism, communalism, child labor, discrimination. Yet they are found equally indulged as the uneducated persons are.

Consumerism of the so called educated people

Symbolism is a new phenomena associated with the current generation and the society is becoming increasingly consumerist. Pizza, burger has replaced the home cooked food. Engineering colleges are the common sites of students consuming drugs, liquor and cigarettes. These educated persons may save their time by relying on 2 minute cooked Maggie, not realizing its effect on health. Thanks to them, we are facing the problem of plenty, over nutrition is of equal concern as under nutrition. This malnutrition has become the root cause  for making India a non communicable disease capital.

Are educated people really civilized?

I have seen "educated people", flaunting their degrees, jobs, to be bipolar in different circumstances, littering and urinating on Indian streets, while praising the western system for being such a nice place to live in. A civilized person is assumed to follow the law of the land. But this characteristic is also missing from the so called educated persons. Despite having literacy rate of 74%, we have one of the minimum tax-GDP ratio. Why? Because these educated people are not interested in paying taxes considering it as an extra burden. Corporates are making use of tax concessions, yet indulging in tax evasion crimes. They try to escape even a marginal stamp duty on land purchases. I would even go for blatant statement-that they are underrepresented in our jails compared to their deeds. Obviously, they can afford to roam outside.

They are equally indulged in illegal encroachments, polluting cities by unrestricted use of private vehicles for the sake of showing off, littering roads assuming it to be public property not belonging to them (so far their houses are clean). Obviously, they don’t get affected by the mosquitos of polluted drains (they can afford so), but in the process, it affects the not so educated poor people.

Social reforms

Such are the educated persons driving the country that they have not been able to pass women reservation bill for decades. We have educated women in the parliament, doing little towards less educated section of women ( Hemamalini making comment on the Vrindavan widows)

Social contribution

Are these educated people contributing to our society and economy? I would say, yes they are contributing to our economy. Thanks to the IT junta of India, we have been able to preserve the tag of world class service sector. But socially, they are more motivated towards personal gains by going abroad. Let me explain it by another example- How many of these educated persons want to educate others, I mean, how many of them want to pursue a teaching profession? How many of them want to serve in villages by opening a clinic there after becoming a doctor?

Conclusion

I will try to conclude by giving certain qualities of a truly educated persons.

An educated person is one who has not just studied the concepts taught in  educational institutions, but has internalized them into his/her life. When one claims to study about polity, one should respect the constitution, fundamental duties and rich culture of the nation. More importantly such a person must have good values as a part of him/her; be reverent towards nature; do right towards other human beings; practice sustainable living (Gandhiji was a truly educated person); believe in high thinking and also be grounded in life. An educated citizen would always keep his personal interest secondary to the societal and national interest.

Going by the above definition, lets ask ourselves, Are we truly educated or just an educated illiterate. Education is a phenomena of purification of mind and soul, and needs to be practiced throughout the life rather than limiting it to gathering degrees and certificates.

Loneliness

I had the song-"Lonely, Im so lonely, Im Mr. lonely, I have nobody, to call my own" (by Akon) as ringtone for 3 years. At that time, I liked the way the child scream in this song. Few months back, realized the core feeling of loneliness, probably it was like-

Loneliness nibbles at night

The whole inside

Days too just pass by

Its hard to stay alright

Pain cannot be hide

Whom to care

Nobody to share

Remembering the past lies

With the tired eyes

Tears keep reeling

With an eternal feeling

I curse and curse and curse

Expecting much worse

To feel the same pain

Again and again

Sacrifices I made

Without being paid

Decisions were so wrong

Now regret is the only song

Emptiness prevails

And loneliness trails

And now it defines me

Crying over what I used to be

Smile has faded

With mind degraded

trusting nobody

Pushing me to be lonely

This path so empty

“Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine.” 

― Honoré de Balzac

The value of "Value"

Let me ask a very well known question. What is the reason behind predominance of any vice ranging from corruption, theft, war, violence, erosion of faith? A general discussion will lead us to the common root cause- "degradation of values". Let me dwell into the definition of value and its associated phenomena.

Theoretical aspect

[One may ignore this section, just given to provide insights into the differences between practical scenario and theory.]

Dictionary/Wikipedia  defines value as a broad preference concerning appropriate courses of action or outcomes which reflect a persons' sense of right and wrong or what "ought" to be. Values vary in contexts ranging from ethical, ideological, social and moral. In psychological context, it is the enduring belief about the way things should be done or about the ends we desire.  In ethical context, value denotes something's degree of importance, with the aim of determining what action of life is the best to do. Value may be absolute or relative, objective or subjective, personal or universal.

Practical aspect

Value can be defined as worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor; it is the utility or merit of something. Value of something varies from person to person, i.e., perception basis. For example, clay is of no use for a miner, and coal is of no use for a potter.

How do we associate value with a certain entity?

Utility is the most basic measurement unit. It varies with time and context, yet present and personal utility is preferred. Past symbolism(lal batti of an IAS officer), traditions . Instrument to live(money is its classic example)- a survival entity is preferred over personal moral values (e.g.,corruption for making livelihood). In the past, the measurement unit was the contribution, a person or an entity makes towards society,(i.e.,welfare approach),  e.g. a vaidya was respected for being a life savior. Yet the criteria are getting diluted over time, and materialistic factors are taking the place of contribution in other terms. Eg. Scavengers and Dalits got pushed to the city outskirts and faced discrimination just because, the "dirt" word was associated with them irrespective of their role(in cleaning the surroundings of all).

Power (physical, financial, social and political) has been associated with symbolism, and materialistic things have been sanctioned because of the value attributed to it.

The debate of “value this not that”

The differentiation of value attributed to different things is the reason behind almost every possible vice. Inequality, poverty, difference and gap between haves and have nots can be attributed to the value attached with money. Riots, wars, terrorism can be attributed to the value attached to one's own ideology, ethnicity, religion, caste etc. Internal conflicts in mind like jealousy, comparison, unprecedented competition, ill will towards others is the result of importance given to what others have and you don't. Differences are bound to happen among the entities as explained by the theory of identity, yet associating values with some of them causes imbalances, skewed priorities, leading to conflicts and race conditions.

Valuing a particular occupation (doctor, engineer, IAS officer) over others (arts, social sciences, police, army) results in the phenomenon of problem with plenty- dilemma of plenty in jobs yet deficiency in number of skilled workers (i.e., disguised unemployment).

Another example of skewed values is valuing economic benefits over ecological benefits. Indiscriminate exploitation of nature for keeping the economic engine running is causing long term unsustainability.

Skewed priorities are resulting in alienation within the family, nuclear families, mental problems- depressions, building up of suicidal tendencies, social evils like old age problems, gender discrimination, dowry violence etc.

Value of money over morals, ideals and principles is the most widely accepted and understood root of societal degradation making a blot on humanity.

Contemporary perspective- the plight of humanity

Today, respect and reverence is only for who possess wealth. Human values have become meaningless, for human beings have become the means for the rich to earn money. Dignity is attached to a post or a rank.

The rich, having purchased the human mind with their money, are busy playing a game of chess with the other members of the society. Those who are at the helm of society, constantly suspicious of others, forever count their losses and profits. To gratify themselves, they are ready to chew the human bone, and suck the human blood. The two sides of the social coin are visible in unfulfillment of basic needs (food, clothing, dwelling place) on one hand and justification to the luxurious needs on the other hand.  

These contrasts ridicule the present human society.

Associating value with materialistic entities over spiritual entities is the most acceptable norm. Howsoever, each type of philosophy tried to deny this fact, it has become the bitter reality of life.

“Degradation of values” or “degradation by values”

Sometimes, it seems that degradation of values is because of "the differentiation of value granted to an entity". One can argue, “Won't it be desirable to have an absolute equality of value?” and to associate value with the existence of the entity itself while not imposing one’s own perspective towards certain values on others. But won't that be a chaotic life as well, without any direction (for the sense that nothing has any value associated with it)? It would result in aimless and demotivated life with no desire to achieve any good (of higher value). It will contradict the most valuable entity as well,i.e., time, and will interrupt the process of nature as well. So, one thing is clear, differentiation of value in itself is not a vice. Then what is the problem?

True value and apparent value

What I have seen as problematic is the perception and imposition. First, perception, i.e., how we perceive an object? Let me explain this by a recent development of recycling of waste and litter. Till a few decades back, residual waste, litter etc. were never viewed as a resource and considered as useless, valueless things. But when human tried to change their perception by seeing it as a resource, they were able to find its value- W2E generation plants, biomass, recycling of plastics etc are few of such examples. Thus, one way to avoid associating falsified value with an object is to keep the perception flexible and liable to change by keeping the gates open for new knowledge. As the value of a diamond is nothing in a desert in comparison to a drop of water, one needs to accommodate the flexibility while imparting value to a substance.

Second is imposition, what we see in society today is imposing of one's view on others. If I consider it as valuable, then you should also see it as valuable (generally parent's view, society's view). If parents consider it important to get married at 25/29 (for girls and boys respectively), it is not necessarily the view of their children, same is the case with occupation, earning money, pursuing only what is popular or trendy. This is just an apparent value (to someone) and not the actual value. The definition of classy should be personal and sufficient space is needed for the same. Though, I am not against the value of money as "instrument of living", but I sincerely want something else to come along with it (personal preferences).

Thus, imparting value to objects in itself is not an vice, but imposing this value on others using power or influence is. Value of an object or an entity needs to be interpreted correctly (this correct interpretation is quite subjective, but it should not be biased with personal  prejudices).