Over 40% of married women in India experience physical abuse by their husbands - so informs us a recent newspaper article publishing the result of National Family Health Survey III. It goes on to say that 'shockingly', 54% of women and 51% of men think wife beating is OK.
I beg to differ. There is nothing shocking about this whatsoever. Well, shocking in the sense of terrible, yes, but not if what is meant is 'sudden and violent disturbance of feelings or the nervous system'. Dr. Sulabha Parasuraman, who spearheaded the survey says "....this social attitude has to change immediately". Words well meant ....but naive.
Social attitudes are formed over long periods of time and it takes a lot of time and perseverance to change them too. There is no such thing as immediate change in society. In the context of abuse, it is believed that a change can be brought about by greater education of women. This can only be partially true. Education leading to financial empowerment of women will definitely play a role - but more at the second step - by offering her the choice to stand up to abuse. But what about prevention of abuse? That can only come about by enlightenment of the mind - male and female!
We are an ill educated nation - and I'm referring to the 'educated' lot of us here. The great, big Indian dream a couple of decades ago was to acquire an engineering or medical degree; the current fad, of course, is the ubiquitous MBA. Got an MBA - you've 'made it'! The idea here is not to pick on the poor MBA (it must have it's usefulness, I'm sure) - it's the mindset that I find bothersome.
Right from kindergarten, 'education' has little to do with learning and growth. We are not encouraged to question - in fact, quite the contrary. The objective is not to expand the mind - but just to get that all important 'Degree'!
The alphabet is drilled into us, but who teaches us not to throw garbage on the street? We painstakingly have to learn our algebra, but do we have to know anything about social responsibility? Sure we're taught to dissect a cockroach, but are we educated to be tolerant towards another point of view? What about multi-faceted learning, one that goes beyond v=u+at? Remember ever having had an art appreciation class at school? Was the meaning of human dignity ever up for discussion?
We are, in 21st Century India, a barbaric society, and what is worse, hypocrisy is our middle name. It perhaps explains our 'shock' at all that is patently commonplace - we are not blind, but choose to be blindfolded. To evolve, our education needs to be holistic, encompassing the intellectual - scientific, creative and philosophical, physical, emotional and spiritual spectra. One cannot change a social mindset without an education that is socially relevant - we need to be taught to be civilized, learn to be humane. But, who's interested? For society to change, individual thought needs to change first. How many are prepared to bite the bullet?
3 comments:
Good thought. Looking back, I realise that the most important subjects were given the least importance in school. Moral sciences, social sciences, environmental science, History. All that mattered was how much marks you got in Science and Maths. The other day I was trying to write copy for a poster meant for internal communication of an IT company. I wanted it to read a bit like the Indian Preamble. To my shock, I couldn't remember the Preamble more than a few words. Had to go to the internet to check it out. As I was reading it, I realised that so much thought had gone into writing those few words that the Preamble could have been a subject of study for an entire year in school. And if 13 yr olds truly understood what the Preamble meant and stood for, our country would be rid of a lot of the social issues plaguing us today. Do we understand what 'equality of status and opportunity' really means? Were we encouraged to internalise the concept of "assuring the dignity of the individual"? All I remember is that we had to learn the Preamble by rote and replicate it on our answer sheets to get full marks.
The other thing to accept is that we can not blame schools for the lack of education in the country. Education happens at home. And if the child sees his father spitting on the road, he will do the same no matter what he is taught in school. As Mark Twain said, "I never let schooling interfere with my education". May be we need a generation of people who did the same.
Bystander
About the stats mentioned, I am not sure if it's accurate. I always take reported stats with a fistful of salt. We don't know the methodology used, sample selection etc. Most importantly, what was the motive behind the study or the results. "Lies, damned lies, and statistics..." The stats mentioned may be true for certain sections of the society, but surely can not be generalised for the country as a whole. At the same time I agree that domestic violence is a problem, not just in India but everywhere.
Bystander
Hi Neha-Meandered into your blog via Sunil's. Nice blog and nice post.
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