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Therapy for elite By Chandrabhan Prasad Should we abandon the Indian elite as an ill-fated sect or deploy some reliable social tools to help them out from their lack of history conditioned social circumstance? In a world where the speed of time has changed dramatically, the socially disjointed elite can only impede the wheel of modernity. After all, elite in all societies play a key role in clearing road blocks in the way of modernity. Unfortunately, the Indian elite has become a roadblock in the way of modernity. In this concluding series on the predicament of the Indian elite, we offer a proven treatment called the Dalit therapy in our resolve to treat the elite. To recognise the significance of the Dalit therapy as an unfailing social medicine, we can recall the experience of the UP elections. It is now widely acknowledged that a significant section of the countryside dwijas voted for BSP. In other words, BSP's dwija voters were educationally and economically marginalised. Here we are faced with an extraordinarily self-contradicting social situation. The Indian elite - a social sect hostile to anything Dalit, and the countryside dwijas - are the same social block in terms of origins. The dwijas in rural areas chose a Dalit as their ruler whereas the elite rejected Dalits as their potential colleagues. Why so? It is here that we can explore the miracles of the Dalit therapy. Consider the case of a 70-year-old Brahmin and his decision to campaign for the BSP. Or, a 17-year-old Brahmin hoisting the BSP flag after the elections in Uttar Pradesh. What would have been playing in their minds while aspiring to be ruled by Dalits? Sheer greed for power, one may say. Rank opportunism, probably. But, the same could have been true for the elite as they, too, are politically sidelined! And herein lies the secret of the Dalit therapy. The 70-year-old Brahmin may remember his youth where he had seen a Dalit family living in penury. He may remember the time when an elderly Dalit waited for hours at his door for a rupee so that he could feed his family. He may recall the days when Dalits worked in his fields while it rained, or harvested wheat under the scorching sun. He remember a Dalit face - despised and dependent. Things turned upside down in just half a century. Thanks to the State's affirmative action and policies, coupled with an intense social reform process within, a child of that Dalit family has since entered school and gone on to become an engineer. Employed in one of the public sector companies, the younger Dalit changed the profile of his house - a new house came into being, women stopped working on dwijas fields, and their attire changed too. The Dalit engineer bought a bike and visited his village twice a year. Almost two decade down the line, he is a proud owner of a car and drives 500 km to his village. The Brahmin family on the other hand, has witnessed a steady decline. Left with no reliable source of income, the 70-year-old Brahmin hung around the house of that Dalit family. Whenever the Dalit engineer made a trip home, the elderly Brahmin would want financial help, and the situation was now just the reverse. The Dalit became a giver and the Brahman a dependent. The village dwijas have witnessed that transformation and have reconciled to a new social situation. Not that every Dalit household has transformed but a significant section has made it good. This is the Dalit therapy which the dwija in the village has undergone. Not that the elite should undergo a similar process of fall. The elite should allow Dalits to become their colleagues where they can see how, given an opportunity, the Dalits can even outperform them. Sharing workplaces and dining with them will emancipate the elite from their present cultural ghettoism.
