I‘d been to my ancestral village a week
ago. A place still largely unpolluted, both
in its environment and in its people. To
me, a city dweller, this countryside was not just refreshing, but looked a
threshold to wisdom.
In the village, most were not literate, but knew
what is necessary. All in the village
knew the other. They could tell the time
from the shadows, make fire, knew when would the river swell, when to sow
and when to reap. But they didn’t know my
way of making money. Most were walking
and the affluent ones were riding bicycles.
I visited the village in my car.
If there comes a day when electricity won’t
work, they would survive, but I won’t.
If there comes a day when money won’t fetch food, they would survive,
but I won’t. They know what life is about,
but I know Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Accountancy, Taxation, Trade Finance and
what not. But in the world in which I
live, I am conditioned to believe that sophistication is a measure of success. As I think I am more savoir-faire, I think
myself as more accomplished.
In life so far, I have come across some from the
urban high societies and some from the countryside. I valued the urbanites more.
I have been on interview panels, from where I
have preferred candidates with a gift-of-the-gab to those with humility and
knowledge. Often I mistook those
speaking flowery English as knowledgeable.
I worked with employers who were raw and blunt,
but were caring and inexpressive. And with
those who were polite and euphemistic, but were extremely exploitative. I did enjoy working with the latter.
My mind looks for sophistication in
everything. To it, that which is
sophisticated is good and that which isn’t, isn’t.
The day I learn to break free from my urge
for sophistication, may be the day of my freedom. The
day I see things without the filter of sophistication, may be the day of my
enlightenment. For sophistication leads
to darkness of the mind, for with it I start seeing those without it in poor light. For it leads to a skewness in my perception
of society, for with it I think I am relatively superior or inferior.
I wonder if I am capable of freedom from this conditioning. For today sophistication is my sophisticated
master and I, its rustic slave.
