The Dilemma of Justice

Before I begin this blog. A clarification about my previous post “An elegy for a dream”. I have been asked by many of you, whether it is relating to something personal that happened to me lately. Much that it would disappoint a select few, it is nothing to do with any personal event that happened to. This was an extract from a novella that I had attempted writing a few years back while I was in Pune. Never got around to finishing it, but there were bits of it that I thought were good. Anyways, I have removed it now but will possibly publish more extracts from it at some point.

Alright, to this post now.

I passed my driving test and now hold a British licence. For all you souls, who think this is a mean achievement, wake up and smell the coffee. Britain is no India where a good crisp 500 bucks note would have done the trick. My test involved driving safely following all instructions for 40 minutes. Not only that but a bonnet check, three manovoeres including reverse parking, three point turn and an emergency stop. This post if following something that hit me and hit me hard yesterday just after the test. The lady who was the examiner has the discretion to pass or fail me if I make a major mistake (hitting the kerb, driving without due care, etc.) or sixteen minor mistake (improper indication, Observation, etc). Now the examiner usually expects you to follow the directions given and drive in a set route, but the problem that I have with authority manifested itself when I started following my own route. She says left, I indicate right, and take a perfect right. Now the deal is she cant fail me for not following her directions, she can fail me for not driving properly. But she has a right to get irritated and fail me citing some other flimsy excuse. In the end irritated she was, angry she was, but all she said was ‘Mr. Narasimhan I cant fail you for not following my directions, but it would have made my job hell of a lot easier if you heard me speaking, anyways congratulations, you have passed’.

I was surprised, not because she passed me, not because I drove badly, I was surprised because being an Indian I have always met people in authority making decisions based on prejudices, personal feelings and emotions, positive or negative. To see someone being absolutely fair was a surprise. It surprised me that I was surprised by fairness. 21 years in India had done that to me. Isn’t India a democracy? The national emblem says, “Only Truth shall Prevail”, shouldn’t such a land be just? Isn’t every hero in every Indian epic, fair and just, whatever the other faults. Ravana doesn’t molest Sita even though he could have. He kidnaps her but asks her permission to wed her! The Kauravas use every hook and crook to get even with the Pandavas, but read the Mahabharata carefully, Duroyodhana was a just and a fair king, his only fault was jealousy. In contemporary India, Gandhi is an example; our country came into being cloaked in the shawl of honesty, justice and truth. Fifty years since, a young man in an alien land feels surprised on meeting a just person in authority!!!

Where did we go wrong??? Did we go wrong? We did somewhere for sure. The parasite has infected so deep that all of us are unfair when given even an iota of power. When I led various teams in India a lot of my decisions were based on my likes and dislikes. I didn’t think that was unfair. I do now. The Captain of the Indian National Cricket Team follows his heart and is a successful captain, he backs players he likes. The point is “he likes”. Shouldn’t it be the players he thinks are “best suited” to fulfil the team’s goals? The examples are countless.

The test is simple, Narasimhan’s driving test. Did any man in authority take a decision fairly in favour or against with no prejudice? How many times would the answer to this question be yes in India? How bad is it that it won’t be the case too often??? When does this change to yes? I don’t have the answers, but atleast I am wise enough to ask the question. I am now prepared to find the answers.

P.S Apologies if the post is abrupt, incoherent and rough. I am stunned from yesterdays incident and have let my emotion rule again. Will give a fair account soon:)