Aug

17

India’s moral compass

August 17, 2009 posted by indiatime |

Epidemics, communal discontent, dirty politics, reality television, bollywood and cricket. That would have been my stock answer to anyone asking me about the current state of the Indian union. But a state of the nation poll by CNN-Hindustan Times, has results that may surprise many. India’s moral compass, the survey concludes, is somewhere in between taboo and modernity, and that there are a lot of ifs and buts in the Indian concept of freedom and personal liberty.

The following results pertain to those who were surveyed, but do show a slice and sample of Indian minds without any supposed survey bias.

1. 73% Indians feel homosexuality should be considered illegal

2. 79% Indians feel that rape and sexual harassment are linked to the way women dress

3. 41% Indians feel there should be a dress code in public

4. 59% Indians believe people should be free to wear what they want

5. 56% Indians believe it is untrue that women cannot undertake tough tasks

6. 67% Indians think women make better bosses at the workplace

7. 60% Indians regard homosexuality as a disease

8. 63% Indian men believe bride’s virginity is not an issue for them

9. 69% Indians support schools banning students from wearing Western clothes

10. 69% Indian men would feel uncomfortable if their wife or sister works till late in office.

The specter of modernity vs morality was best represented by a dramatic exchange between Sambhavana Seth, one of Bollywood’s many vamps and Baba Ramdev, Indian TV’s yoga guru and herbal doctor-general to the nation. Here’s the interesting exchange:

Sambhavna Seth: I don’t find anything wrong with gays. My friend is gay. I will send him to your ashram. It remains to be seen if you can cure him. Let’s hope you don’t become one.

Baba Ramdev: Gays are mentally sick and I do not support them. I can never change. And I have cured all major illnesses, including cancer.

Sambhavna Seth: Why are you always talking about sex and sambhog? Where did you learn all this?

Baba Ramdev: (Stays mum)

Sambhavna Seth: Is your beard and hair natural? Do you colour them?

Baba Ramdev: They are absolutely natural.

Sambhavna Seth: I have immense respect for you but I don’t agree with everything that you say.

Baba Ramdev: Thank you.

Actually, I am not a fan of either of these two. I am not much for Sambhavan’s gyroscope and I don’t believe Baba is the only one who knows where India’s north star is. But I think these two magnetic personalities perfectly embody the two extremes of India’s moral compass. As much as it may appear to be all skewed and screwed, to those on this side of the planet, the current moral state of the union seems to be a topic that is desirably more chewable than manikchand jarda. Cheers to all the corrupt bastards and happy immoralizing until the next moral survey.


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12 Comments so far

  1. Vinoy on August 17, 2009 6:35 am

    I wouldn’t give much importance to the poll conducted by the the CNN-IBN.Their results do not represent the views of the real India(which lives in the villages).Their results are based on the poll conducted in a few towns &cities and it should be seen as such.
    As for the Sabhavnas,they represent the real degradation of human values.They may be mental wrecks as well.
    So far as Ramdev is concerned, at least this man is absolutely clear in his views and has quit rational views on social, political and moral aspects of our life which distinguishes him from the other Babas most of whom are intellectual dwarfs and thugs and rascals.

  2. seema on August 17, 2009 4:43 pm

    That may all be true Vinay. But it is a fact that many working women in india nowadays identify themselves with people like sambhavana seth. They hold modernist views that are sometimes more liberal than average western/american woman.

  3. Baba ki jai on August 17, 2009 5:20 pm

    Baba Ramdev is a patriot. He is freely distributing his knowledge to india. He has knowledge of medicines that can stop swine flu in its track, but indian government still want to import tamiflu. Baba Ramdev yoga is the only TV programme I watch.

  4. Vinoy on August 17, 2009 6:07 pm

    I beg to differ,Seema.Sambhavnas do not represent the working women of India.Being a working women is one thing but being moral leper is quite another.I wouldn’t call her views ‘modern’.That is sheer perversion.These women can boast of ‘modernity’ only as so long they are young and and they are in demand in the market.Once they grow old they are bound to die bitch’s death!

  5. Light on August 17, 2009 9:43 pm

    What would we call a man who has a habbit to keep his zip open and showing his inner parts, a sick person or normal? Can we digest it as fashion?
    I have never seen homosexuality among animals on Discovery. Does’t that mean we became so low mentaly than animals.

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  7. Ramesh on August 22, 2009 3:33 pm

    If I were to chose someone to lead India into the 21st Century, I’d choose him over our incompetent and rotten politicians. He is a modern, frank, trusted and practical guru who deviates from the ritual-based Sanatanist form of Hinduism.

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