The Indian…”makes a shot at the right thing and he hits or misses by chances so that no one thing is quite right.”
“No Masonry is square, no railings are straight, no roads are level.…A strange and curious imperfection and falling short attends everything.”
Lockwood Kipling (Rudyard Kipling’s father) writing in 1871.

What is it about us Indians? Why do we tolerate the mediocre? If you were anywhere near Delhi this past month then you would know how consumed we are with all that makes us a mediocre, second rate nation. Things do not seem to have changed very much since Kipling’s father wrote these words as he took charge of the Architectural Sculpture Department at the JJ School of Art in Bombay over 140 years ago. Granted, he was Englishman with a predisposition for looking down at us Indians but the truth is that today we still live with an attitude of “that’ll do-ishness.” We tolerate everything mediocre. Corrupt officials, bad roads, crumbling leaky stadiums, polluted rivers, a collapsing environment, oil spills, derailed trains, destroyed towns, bronze medals, almost winning.

You could argue it is to do with our belief in Karma. I mean what’s the use of progress and making this world a beautiful place when everything is in the hands of the Gods and man can only try so hard to overcome his inevitable destiny.

Perhaps it is a post-imperial hangover of a people that were ruled by doers and builders for over 600 years. After all the Mughals and the British really knew how to build, so we just carry on as if we are waiting for the next ruler to guide us to beauty and order.

Or perhaps it is a despondency and detachment of a people obsessed with being perceived as intelligent, beautiful or right while in reality we do nothing to make ourselves really progress in a truly adventurous way.

In a world where radical solutions are needed to solve our global economic, environmental, religious and ethnic problems, we Indians are happy to just sit back and plan lavish weddings and watch Rahul beat up his new wife and gloat about how clever we were in avoiding the global recession.

We have a system that has inculcated mediocrity for over 200 years – almost as an act of civil disobedience. Why should we fix anything when no one in power is really bothering to either. The American empire was founded on a can-do attitude built upon a puritanical work ethic and a belief in the world being theirs to harvest and exploit. The Chinese have leapt ahead with an understanding of how to harness a billion people into a labour force for the world and an agnostic attitude that works with luck and morality over faith and tradition. The Europeans maintain a high ground through a well-nurtured superiority complex, reason and faith in their institutions.

So how can we Indians overcome our seemingly genetic tendency towards mediocrity?

The answer lies in being led from above and below. From above we need to see our leadership embrace the higher ground, support progressive ideas, enforce laws, punish corruption, ensure infrastructure, collect taxes, finance education and the arts and lift all Indians out of poverty within the next 20 years. From below we each need to take responsibility for our selves, our homes, our streets, our neighborhoods, our towns, our cities and then our country. We should not tolerate corruption, exploitation and mediocrity in any form anywhere. We need to build an India that rests upon the laurels of its magnificent history and traditions and once again takes ownership of the higher ground around the World today. We can teach the world about our philosophies like Yoga, Ayurveda, Dharma, Ahimsa, Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti (the truth is one, the wise call it by many names), Vasudha eva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) and so much more. We can also learn to lead in the world by encouraging our entrepreneurs, scientists, thinkers, mathematicians, sports persons and artists to unleash their potentials by thinking out of the box and to raise India to greatness once again. We need to lead from above and below.

But none of this is possible until we learn to detest mediocrity and eradicate it wherever we detect its ugly face.

©2010 Raja Choudhury, New Delhi, raja@c3cube.com