Confused thinking – Page 2 – Sanjeev Sabhlok's blog

15th February 2011

Some ‘educated’ Indians feel smart because they can see ‘grey’

I'm very simple minded and can't see grey. I see only black or white. Either something is true or it is false. It can't be BOTH true and false. Grey as a colour is fine, but being grey in terms of truth is NOT fine. Moral relativism, saying that our problems are of 'poor implementation' even as the fundamental policy issues stare in our face – is NOT fine.

Moral greyness and 'everything goes' ('chalta hai') encompasses most 'educated' Indians who think they are so smart because they can detect 'fine shades' of 'truth'. They are wrong. There is ONLY one truth, whether you like it or not.

Here's a typical conversation (this one from FB). Note how offended and antsy these 'educated' smart Indians get when you tell them that there is NO shade of grey in real life, that they better decide where they stand in relation to the reality.

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JA Great like ur attitude. Its all about freedom, but we all should know our boundaries. Those who do understand are treated as failures (Winners actually) and those who do not understand but pretend to understand are winners (loosers actually).

I am a very big fan of Narayan Murthy, Bill Gates, Towing Queen, Ratan Tata, Ambanis, Mittal, But only on the Positive side of all. The kind of responsibility they have taken for their country is not many can even think of doing. I would have love to see u in their seat and then would have ask you what you would have done. Easy to speak but its equally 100 times difficult to sit on that hot seat. Thats the Bitter Truth. Try One day of a CEO of any of the organisations, u will come to know the facts urself.

being revolutionary is not a crime, but what u write is for Mass and when u write u have no right to Question anybody, what has been said and done has eight meanings, unfortunately learned like u too moved from the path, what to speak of the others

Sanjeev Sabhlok Jeetendra, Bill Gates doesn't go about commenting on US politics and governance – he is focused on his business/ charity. Murthy KEEPS complaining about India's governance. He should focus only on his business if money is all that matters to him (or on charity if he has charitable intentions) but keep his mouth shut on politics if he doesn't intend to do anything about it. He should also stop taunting Indians that they do nothing but only talk. He is the classic example of ALL talk no action.

JA What are we then same as him we are also talking and doing nothing.Giving jobs to 20,000/- more employees, is it a small thing. multiply by 4 (assuming minimum 4 people in a family) = 80,000/- food shelter is this a small thing Is he sitting idle.???? different ways are there to be revolutionary some are direct and some are indirect. :):):)

Sanjeev Sabhlok I say only this, Jeetendra: either he should do something or stop taunting Indians for empty rhetoric. There are enough supporters of the corrupt system as it is. Why try to pretend he is not? Btw, "giving" jobs is fine. I have no problems with his own business and making money. That's what classical liberalism is all about. But is there anything called citizenship as well? A joint responsibility to the country? Where is that? 99.999% of our businessmen are slaves, not citizens. JRD was a citizen. That's what we need. Anyway, please join FTI if you are not a supporter of the existing situation.

JA i do not disagree to what u r saying but sometimes to say yes we have to say no and vice versa dont u do this at times

Sanjeev Sabhlok I am very simple minded. I don't understand such complexity. Either you are with the corrupt forces or you are against them. Anyway. I'm going to move on. No time to chit chat at all.

JA Alright So you believe in Black and white and no grey factor. All the best

11th February 2011

Such confusion won’t get us far

It is disappointing to hear the shallow and confused analysis of India’s problems from some highly educated and experienced Indians. It amazes me to hear that ideas are immaterial and everything is relative. Here’s an example of a recent email communication to illustrate this point. My forthrightness in this communication probably hasn't won me a friend, but I'm not seeking friends. I'm looking for LEADERS who can take India to freedom. India needs clear headed thinking, that drills down the root of problems and fixes these problems; not shallow 'analysis' that takes us round and round in circles.

Extract from an educated Indian’s comments (to me)

I am not very inclined to join any organization because I do not believe in adopting a particular ideological position. Different situations seem to warrant different responses and I feel India is too vast and complex to fit in the confines of any one set of policy options.

I also see the main problem as being one of implementation, not policy formulation – there is much that slips between the cup and the lip in India!!

Extracts from my response

The first, on which I was 100% clear fairly long ago but more so now after working for 5 years inside the Australian government in a position related to regulatory policy, is that India's problem is of bad policy. Bad policy can't be implemented. So when I hear that India's problem is of poor implementation not policy I feel the person doesn't understand the ABC of the problem. What you see in India is the result of socialist overlay on every possible policy, operating under a change to colonial governance arrangement. The result must necessarily be a total disaster.

Second, when I hear people say they don't have an ideology, they don't know themselves. They are actually accepting the default ideology of India which is socialism. So that line doesn't work well with me, either, as a worldview. We ALL have ideologies, worldviews. Just that some of us are clear about it, others are happy to muddle along.

CONCLUSION OF THIS CASE

As expected, this person (I'll name her now), instead of seeing this as an opportunity to check her beliefs and ask why I say what I say – such as read the book BFN and ask questions – wrote the following today (see email below)

Marie-Lou Fernandes is a former IPS officer and batchmate of Shatanu. I trust Marie Lou will realise the huge difference in her response and the response that Shantanu chose to make, based on a pretty much similar – harsh but truthful comment I had made to him some years ago. Shantanu took this on as a challenge and realised the validity of what I was saying. It is up to us to make India work – we can't keep blaming others.

Let me assert once again that I am NOT in the business of making friends. I am NOT beholden to anyone nor anyone to me. I am here because I believe I must, in this lifetime, speak the truth as I see it (whether others agree with it or not). And all I say is this: through our actions (or inactions) we are either supporting the socialist corruption of India or we are fighting it. We can't have it both ways (we can't pretend to fight by writing articles but then say that 'everything goes'; that there is no fundamental problem with what we are doing – as Marie-Lou has been trying to suggest).

Email to me dated 14 February 2011

Hello again Sanjeev,

Your last email made for some fascinating reading and was a wonderful example of how a polite response could be met with such rudeness. It is now apparent to me that you neither have much tolerance for opposing viewpoints nor the capacity to acknowledge them courteously. In such a scenario, I do not see the necessity of any further collaboration. Since you claim to possess all answers to India's multitudinous governance issues, I wish you good luck in addressing them conclusively and finding "leaders" of your ilk to carry your freedom movement forwards.

Please do not bother to respond to this email as all future correspondence from you will be marked and sent to my SPAM folder.

Best,

Marie-Lou Fernandes