Editorial:
The chain letters that make it to the inbox can sometimes share interesting trivia. One such mail speaks of how a citizen of United Kingdom, as per a survey, asks an average, 300 questions everyday! This gets one thinking on why even grown-ups need to make so many questions a day. Think harder and it becomes apparent that it is this inquisitiveness that led humanity out of the cave and into the world of microchips; developed language from monosyllables to discourses and epics and communication from shouted greetings to mobile phones and now a whole sms language. It is curiosity that provides the spur for all inventors and ground-breakers. Among the lay people, an inquisitive mind strengthens democracy, reinforces accountability and substantiates public opinion. Stop being inquisitive, give up asking questions and we are back to the stone ages when everything happened because it was destined to and no one was wiser.
Let’s turn the mirror on Sikkim. Whys and wherefores do not infiltrate conversations here which are invariably just litanies of complaints which end with a throwing up of the hands in defeat and in pliant acceptance of status quo. And therein lies the root of most of Sikkim’s problems- from corruption to a poor human resource development record. The inquisitiveness is gone, replaced by defeatism, an acceptance of fate and absence of the energy to launch inquisitions. Examples proliferate all around – a school makes a new rule and no one asks why even as they complain, schools are suddenly posting exceptional pass percentages and even as the managements claim better delivery, no one wonders whether this is not just result of new policies at CBSE. Come on, a college in India put its cut-off for admissions at 100%, and this was surely not because the last batch of class XII students were exceptionally brilliant across the country. Colleges in Sikkim have straitjacketed students into uniforms and everyone accepts it as a move to end disparity! What about the possibility of commissions, and worse still, a move to keep the young regimented in the most exciting rebellious years of their lives? Of course, people nag, but no one challenges the supporting arguments.
There could be two reasons for this, one, that the people have given up hope of getting answers and the second, that the people believe they know the reasons. Both are dangerous signs. People cannot give up their inquisitiveness, not in a democracy and now with the Right to Information Act, it becomes their right to ask questions and demand explanations. As for the belief that they know the answers, that is even more dangerous because the belief is not an informed one, it is inferred and it is in situations like this that rumours and canards gain credence. To understand the virtues of inquisitiveness we have to learn from the babies. The relentless questioning of a toddler follows up each explanation from a grown-up with “Why?” “But why?” and “Yes, but why?”. They keep up the tempo and even as parents and elders get frustrated, what they don’t realize is that a human learns more in the first 3-4 years of life than he/ she does in a lifetime. This is perhaps because the elders keep falling back in exhaustion on “because it is so” or the most common - “Because I say so.” As the child grows, the inquisitiveness is suppressed - at home, at school, and now even in college- and by the time they grow up pliant acceptance sets in.
Going back to the UK survey, it also reveals that for the 300 questions each Briton asks on an average everyday, they receive only 54 answers in return. A very poor average one might say, but look at it this way, they learn 54 new things every day. There are no limits on inquisitiveness and people should start questioning everything, from the reports that are published in newspapers, to why landslides strike Sikkim so often, to why the weather surprises every season, to why they are reading this column… Not every query will fetch an answer, but with every reply, they will reinforce their right to know and build an opinion that is informed. That after all is what democracy is all about.
The chain letters that make it to the inbox can sometimes share interesting trivia. One such mail speaks of how a citizen of United Kingdom, as per a survey, asks an average, 300 questions everyday! This gets one thinking on why even grown-ups need to make so many questions a day. Think harder and it becomes apparent that it is this inquisitiveness that led humanity out of the cave and into the world of microchips; developed language from monosyllables to discourses and epics and communication from shouted greetings to mobile phones and now a whole sms language. It is curiosity that provides the spur for all inventors and ground-breakers. Among the lay people, an inquisitive mind strengthens democracy, reinforces accountability and substantiates public opinion. Stop being inquisitive, give up asking questions and we are back to the stone ages when everything happened because it was destined to and no one was wiser.
Let’s turn the mirror on Sikkim. Whys and wherefores do not infiltrate conversations here which are invariably just litanies of complaints which end with a throwing up of the hands in defeat and in pliant acceptance of status quo. And therein lies the root of most of Sikkim’s problems- from corruption to a poor human resource development record. The inquisitiveness is gone, replaced by defeatism, an acceptance of fate and absence of the energy to launch inquisitions. Examples proliferate all around – a school makes a new rule and no one asks why even as they complain, schools are suddenly posting exceptional pass percentages and even as the managements claim better delivery, no one wonders whether this is not just result of new policies at CBSE. Come on, a college in India put its cut-off for admissions at 100%, and this was surely not because the last batch of class XII students were exceptionally brilliant across the country. Colleges in Sikkim have straitjacketed students into uniforms and everyone accepts it as a move to end disparity! What about the possibility of commissions, and worse still, a move to keep the young regimented in the most exciting rebellious years of their lives? Of course, people nag, but no one challenges the supporting arguments.
There could be two reasons for this, one, that the people have given up hope of getting answers and the second, that the people believe they know the reasons. Both are dangerous signs. People cannot give up their inquisitiveness, not in a democracy and now with the Right to Information Act, it becomes their right to ask questions and demand explanations. As for the belief that they know the answers, that is even more dangerous because the belief is not an informed one, it is inferred and it is in situations like this that rumours and canards gain credence. To understand the virtues of inquisitiveness we have to learn from the babies. The relentless questioning of a toddler follows up each explanation from a grown-up with “Why?” “But why?” and “Yes, but why?”. They keep up the tempo and even as parents and elders get frustrated, what they don’t realize is that a human learns more in the first 3-4 years of life than he/ she does in a lifetime. This is perhaps because the elders keep falling back in exhaustion on “because it is so” or the most common - “Because I say so.” As the child grows, the inquisitiveness is suppressed - at home, at school, and now even in college- and by the time they grow up pliant acceptance sets in.
Going back to the UK survey, it also reveals that for the 300 questions each Briton asks on an average everyday, they receive only 54 answers in return. A very poor average one might say, but look at it this way, they learn 54 new things every day. There are no limits on inquisitiveness and people should start questioning everything, from the reports that are published in newspapers, to why landslides strike Sikkim so often, to why the weather surprises every season, to why they are reading this column… Not every query will fetch an answer, but with every reply, they will reinforce their right to know and build an opinion that is informed. That after all is what democracy is all about.
An insightful editorial, indeed!! but what's the reality really in Sikkim.....does a lay Sikkimese ask any questions!! am seeing this trend only on Face book.....that it i see it getting shot down and rubbished by the bureaucrats who are memmbers of the various groups!! The Sikkimese must learn to ask questions and this should begin at the School level itself!! all of us take what the teacher says as the word of god and don't question .....
ReplyDeleteWhy blame the bureaucrats all the time??? Why are the bureaucrats always at the receiving end of this ceaseless tirade against corruption and lack of development in the state? Yes, the malaise exists. But the blame should be shared by all.
ReplyDeleteThis singling out of the bureaucrats is symptomatic of people who are unwilling to accept their own share of responsibilities and role in the affairs of their state. Don't you all vote these corrupt MLAs and Ministers to power knowing fully well that the only reason why they enter politics is to make quick money? Are you not, then, complicit, however tenuously, in the prevailing corruption in the state?
Regarding the asking of “questions”, I would like to ask the Editor of Sikkim Now, how many “questions” does he ask through his esteemed newspaper? How many investigative articles does his paper publish every week? If the print media, which already has a set platform, cannot ask questions, how can lay people with no platform, whatsoever, be expected to accomplish that?
Hey JD, don't take it personally....but visit Fb and the various groups there and see the various posts and the replies n reactions.....then u shall be enlightened as to why the bureaucrat is being blamed in this instance.....
ReplyDelete