CHARACTER BUILDING: “The eminent panel members at my book launch at Chennai, on 17 November 2017, unequivocally agreed that India urgently needs a national character (re)building exercise – at all levels and in all communities. The question is how to do it, considering India is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-faith country. Religion, caste and ethnicity play a major part in people’s general outlook and behaviour. The rest of the world sees the people living in India, and those coming out of the country, as ‘Indians’, but the people living in India don’t see themselves first as Indians; they see themselves first as Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs … or Bengali, Bihari, Punjabi … or SC /ST, and even along the regional divide – north or south Indians. The essential sense of belonging is seen to be missing in most people living in the country. Therefore, how and from where to start the seemingly uphill, rather impossible, task of national ‘character building’? The million dollar question is if this task is worth doing at all? Don’t the wise and the intelligent in India keep low, and go about their daily lives without causing any fuss or attracting attention to themselves? Are they not waiting for the chaos to sort itself out naturally? Waiting game … ah!
Will writing books on the subject really help, considering most people are happy messaging on the social media and watching those television debates with interest? Books are not generally considered attractive or important, which also reflects a character of its own kind! How ironical is that some communities, who claim to be literary and intelligent, don’t generally buy and read books; they keep busy messaging on the social media and show a clear preference for dining out at expensive eating places, showing off their expensive clothing and jewellery, and hosting / attending lavish social and wedding parties. Literary, really! How to build a national character? Another task for God … eh? Can we ever do anything ourselves?” … Bill K Koul