Modernized Society: The Tragedy Of The Collective

Aristotle, a Greek Philosopher once said, “What is common to many is taken least care of, for all men have greater regard for what is their own than for what they possess in common with others”. Quoted above is the exact ideal that is left of this ‘modernized society’.

Are we elevating Hypocrisy to a new level?

We are all familiar with the term hypocrisy. We all know it when we see it. Say one thing, do another and you’re there. ‘Hypocrisy’ means the practice of claiming to have higher standards or more noble beliefs. There have been times when we have all said something, then were exposed minutes later for not staying true to the same course. We are all hypocrites. (There, I have said it) We say something, do something and then hope for something completely different. Hypocrisy is nothing new to India. Rather, I would say that it is deeply ingrained in our society and also in our individual psyches that it is perceived as a way of life. So, the question is, how did we manage to get here? Many people attribute this to the colonial hangover, a parting off gift by the Britishers, who were unable to apprehend the multi-dimensional Indian way of life. Or maybe, it is all because of our obsession to be politically correct. Another reason for our hypocrisy is that in a quest to catch up with the fast-paced world, we are losing our very own traditions and inclining towards this façade.

There are numerous instances, where our hypocrisy is not only proven but can be seen as something that makes us feel sickened and appalled. “Feminism”, is in today’s scenario, the biggest victim of hypocrisy. Remember when Anushka Sharma became a victim of numerous trolls and memes by the very urban junta on social networking sites and was being impugned when Virat Kohli didn’t perform well? She was mocked for a very long period of time, for something she had absolutely nothing to do with. These very feminazis who stand up for women’s rights, voice opinions about how women should be empowered, didn’t say a word, I suppose.

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To validate my point further, many-a-times, women who on one hand, don’t miss an opportunity to ridicule men for being women oppressors, feel very comfortable in asking men to give up their seats in metros and buses. We can claim to be rooting for equality, but God forbid if we let go of the privileges which come with being a woman. When staunch meat eaters, turn vegetarians on select days of the week, when we create outcries over kissing scenes, and then cheer our children as they imitate the pelvic thrusts that pass for Bollywood dance moves, when we are asked to stay away from strangers but are then married off to one, when we insist on loyalty and then proceed to befriend those in ‘useful’ positions while dumping those who are not or when we claim to be secular and cosmopolitan, then look for matrimonial alliances within our own caste, aren’t we being hypocrites?

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Moving on, talking about the recent ISIS bombings in Brussels and Paris which were heinous and condemned worldwide. Precious innocent lives were lost. The world was stunned at such an atrocity. Profile pictures were changed, messages were circulated. But many Middle Eastern countries which are Muslim dominated have been facing the brutality and callousness of terrorism since a long time. But not much concern is shown towards them. The attack on Gaza, or the war between Palestine and Israel, or the attack on Lahore, just after the Brussels violence, was not much talked about. And still, the nonchalance of the educated continues. In our own country, we differentiate between North Indians and South Indians, and then label the foreigners as being racists. We boast of varied cultures and ethnicity but refer to people as Chinkis (although offensive) or Madrasis.  Affairs of Northeastern part of our country, fail to find a slot for themselves in the news. When Anna Hazare stood against corruption, the whole nation supported his cause. But when caught breaking a traffic law, the very population resorts towards instigating bribery to avoid the long procedure to pay the challans.

We, Indians claim to be broad-minded, modern and extremely convivial, maybe it’s time that we begin to live up to our assertions. We need to modify our thinking without compromising on our culture. In a way, we are just pseudo-westerners. We have to find an identity to which we can associate ourselves without delving into false pretense and dual-facedness. It’s a great country, guys; we just need to open our minds to embark on a journey of development in its truest sense.



Written by Chhavi Minhas
“A free spirit, dreamer and admirer of this puzzle called life”

Why we are the Biggest Hypocrites out there?

There is a difference in theoretically being a person with modern outlook and actually practicing it. Claiming that you aren’t a racist and frowning upon people who have darker skin doesn’t make you a non-racist, it makes you a hypocrite.

Here are some of the biggest hypocrisies happening in our society:

We are ‘feminists’ but won’t let go of the privileges we get. We won’t let go of privileges like sitting on the ladies only seats in buses even if there’s an old man standing beside you. If someone else is sitting on the beloved chairs, we will make them stand up bus no matter how heavy the bags in their hands are.

We hate when foreigners are racist against us but do the same. Remember when your relative gave birth and her child was dark? Remember the face you pulled off when realized he/she wasn’t white like they showed in movies and posters? We hate it when people are racist against us but we won’t think twice before discriminating against a north Indian and a south Indian.

We talk about how we should promote equality of sexes but laugh at an abused or raped man. Apparently, a man who faces the same psychological/emotional/physical trauma as an abused woman is laughed at and asked to ‘man up’ because this shouldn’t happen to a man. Yeah, right. That’s some hypocrisy right there. Condemning a crime biased by the gender of the victim.

Most of the youths claim to not be homophobic but will still use the word ‘gay’ or ‘transgender’ as an insult. Yeah, because supporting the LGBTQ+ simply means liking the Facebook pages supporting them and sharing posts so that you get to be ‘cool’. We roll our eyes and run away from the transgender community because even their touch is disgusting. Laughing at an effeminate man and calling him ‘gay’ as an insult is like laughing at your ‘macho behaviour’ and calling you ‘straight’; it just doesn’t make sense.

We claim to be very proud of our culture but censor it as soon as it is portrayed boldly. Our culture promotes love and equality but we start protesting as soon as Article- 377 comes up, or even the Valentine’s Day as a matter of fact.

We encourage and praise only those who take science, but we refuse to answer the children about stereotypes. Talking about sex is a taboo in a country with the second largest population in the world. We curse the government for not doing anything for us, but don’t actually follow what rules they pass. Almost everyone stood in support of Anna Hazare when he talked against corruption in our country, but I’m pretty sure half of them initiated the corruption when they wanted to get out of a speeding ticket.

A nine-day festival, Navratri is celebrated in the honour of Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi, three Indian FEMALE goddesses but don’t allow menstruating women to enter the temples.

Most of the girls my age want to educate themselves and get amazing degrees and that is a good thing until they say, “Yeah, but I only want a rich partner.” Daughters are taught how to wear appropriate clothes and not go out past 9pm in order to not get raped, but sons aren’t taught to do the same. 

Worst of all, we talk about changing the world and making it a better place but not do anything about it.


Written by Durva Bhatt
A bibliophile who is fuelled entirely by caffeine, sarcasm, fandoms and random thoughts.