The Mother & Sri Aurobindo are against empty tentativeness

[Congress: The firm and the party
ET 21 May 2009, 0039 hrs IST, Shiv Vishwanathan
The Congress had four things to “sell”. The first was diversity. The Congress was oddly plural despite itself. Secondly, it realised it needed a word, a vehicle that went beyond justice or sheer crass mobility. It tried aam aadmi but that was too naive. One needed a word that made sense in any language and ‘youth’ was a perfect message. It represents mobility, opportunity, a chance for the new against the old. It is non-ethnic. It has no trace of caste or religion. It is secular and secularly empty. What it projected was a revolution of age sets. There is a magic of associations to youth such as innovation, energy, vitality and potency. 12Next >]

“Youth…is non-ethnic. It has no trace of caste or religion. It is secular and secularly empty,” says Shiv Vishwanathan. The Mother & Sri Aurobindo are against this empty tentativeness. Governance or development can’t be the be all and end all of a national existence. An ethos, an identity must permeate its vitality and drive its people to adventure, innovation, and celebration. In a milieu where technology, consumption, and competition impel all aspirations, nobler inspirations should imbue them for inculcating a sustainable and harmonious life on earth.

If youth is the word, then it becomes a national responsibility how to impart a desirable worldview onto them. Obviously, for a large and diverse nation like India a totalitarian method is not the answer. But, on the other hand, to leave the youngsters to the wolves of senseless multiculturalism is a colossal wastage too. Television, internet, and the mobile phone are exposing the impressionable minds with an overdose of trivialized infotainment. While their contribution in raising awareness level in children is laudable, the absence of a cogent value system to serve as an anchor robs much of the advantage that would have otherwise occurred.

Facing the danger of “dubious virtues” that propel the manifold operation of the modern secular world by mesmerizing the young is a great challenge. These traits of vital orientation must draw their sustenance from sublimer sources; otherwise they lose steam after a while or come to be harnessed by questionable motivations. We have seen this happening recently in the instance of Satyam swindle.

The Mother & Sri Aurobindo, thankfully, have left their guidance for how to meaningfully proceed through these entire complex situations. It would be an immensely beneficial exercise if our young are exposed to this intimation early on. [TNM]