Indians are universally known to be argumentative. Amartya Sen the Noble Prize winner has written a book called The Argumentative Indian.Since Independence we seem to have gone through a evolutionary process through which we have physically developed a thick skin where all criticism, insults , ridicule just bounce off . As a result , it would perhaps be appropriate to classify such Indians as the Armadillo Indian.
Leading the pack are the politicians. Over the last five years, almost every week, the print media and the twenty four television new channels have been full of the scandal of the week. They are about politicians caught womanising ( a mid- eighties figure with three women in bed),politicians caught on tape having sexual relations, politicians and bureaucrats flashed across screens accepting money or inciting riots. Yet when confronted, they blandly deny that it was them, that the tapes have been doctored or they have been mis-quoted. The media plays it up for a few days and then drops it . The politicians continue as if nothing has happened.
Unfortunately it is not just limited to the politicians. Of late sport administrators ( who probably have never played any sport in their lives ,but now control all sporting associations ) in addition to politicians ,including former bureaucrats, influential business men, all seem to have developed a armadillo type leathery armor shell. The Commonwealth Games threw up its fair share of administrators ,who in spite of intense coverage and actually spending time in jail, refused to resign .
The latest is the head of the cricket administration for India , which has a strong influence on cricket world wide, now refusing to resign. This in spite of the intense coverage in print and television and people from all walks of life asking him to go. The executive committee members which include prominent politicians who do not hesitate to cast personal insults and demand the resignation of the Prime Minister, kept quiet. They then say that the best solution was to gently nudge the individual concerned to temporarily step aside for a short period. The interim administrator who has been brought back in to manage the shop was apparently previously expelled from the cricket board for embezzlement.
This reminds me of a scandal from the sixties in the United Kingdom. The then British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo was named in a sex scandal.. While he initially tried to brazen it out, he ultimately resigned. According to Wikipedia , he then spent the next few decades cleaning toilets at Tonybee Hall , a charity in East End of London He was ultimately rehabilitated and recognized.
I wonder how many of our politicians, bureaucrats, business men would voluntarily suffer such a penance ?
Probably none,because their armadillo shell ensures that all criticism just bounces off and nothing affects them.
Leading the pack are the politicians. Over the last five years, almost every week, the print media and the twenty four television new channels have been full of the scandal of the week. They are about politicians caught womanising ( a mid- eighties figure with three women in bed),politicians caught on tape having sexual relations, politicians and bureaucrats flashed across screens accepting money or inciting riots. Yet when confronted, they blandly deny that it was them, that the tapes have been doctored or they have been mis-quoted. The media plays it up for a few days and then drops it . The politicians continue as if nothing has happened.
Unfortunately it is not just limited to the politicians. Of late sport administrators ( who probably have never played any sport in their lives ,but now control all sporting associations ) in addition to politicians ,including former bureaucrats, influential business men, all seem to have developed a armadillo type leathery armor shell. The Commonwealth Games threw up its fair share of administrators ,who in spite of intense coverage and actually spending time in jail, refused to resign .
The latest is the head of the cricket administration for India , which has a strong influence on cricket world wide, now refusing to resign. This in spite of the intense coverage in print and television and people from all walks of life asking him to go. The executive committee members which include prominent politicians who do not hesitate to cast personal insults and demand the resignation of the Prime Minister, kept quiet. They then say that the best solution was to gently nudge the individual concerned to temporarily step aside for a short period. The interim administrator who has been brought back in to manage the shop was apparently previously expelled from the cricket board for embezzlement.
This reminds me of a scandal from the sixties in the United Kingdom. The then British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo was named in a sex scandal.. While he initially tried to brazen it out, he ultimately resigned. According to Wikipedia , he then spent the next few decades cleaning toilets at Tonybee Hall , a charity in East End of London He was ultimately rehabilitated and recognized.
I wonder how many of our politicians, bureaucrats, business men would voluntarily suffer such a penance ?
Probably none,because their armadillo shell ensures that all criticism just bounces off and nothing affects them.
