The gravity of the situation notwithstanding, the complacency brought about by a feeling of triviality is what the ‘chalta hai’ attitude is all about
We Indians are famous for our ‘chalta hai’ attitude where accepting any and everything without any complaint has necessarily given us the tag of perennial sufferers. From a habit where complaining came to us so naturally, it is now a meek acceptance of situations that defines our persona.
It’s as if we have realized the hopelessness of cribbing about the existing state of affairs which we think are way beyond our control and find no better way than reconciling ourselves to the situation.
Maintaining an unconcerned stance, we go about living our lives as if we are blind to everything else around us.
Such a mentality is commonly heard of in the shanties and chawls of Mumbai which have been regularly spawning legions of underworld dons who along with their cronies go on to intimidate the metropolis from the safe confines of their dens, unmindful of the public outrage that their impudent acts invite.
But the unspoken dictum in the city of dreams strictly followed by every resident about presenting a deaf, dumb and blind demeanour to the unlawful happenings around them if they are to have an untroubled existence has become a unique trait of every Indian today.
Even otherwise, our compromising nature hardly leaves any room for resistance. Our shows of defiance against anything unpopular are only limited to drawing room ‘arguments’ between friends without even a whimper being heard outside. Escalations in fuel and cooking gas, for instance!
If the government apathy towards even matters that relate to pension and retirement benefits do not invite the sort of anger one would expect from the superannuated, deprived of their only source of income, need anything more be said!
However, it is the indifference shown by many to approach the concerned authorities to get their problem redressed which, as a peculiarity, has been disgusting, to say the least. After putting in a lifetime of service, when the pensioner considers it an awful and overwhelming task to make a mention of discrepancies and delay in settling his dues to the officers and staff in the concerned department, one realizes that this apathy is just not skin-deep.
Why are the pensioners not forthright with their complaints and are apparently reluctant to approach the higher-ups to ensure a speedy settlement of their matters, I wonder!
Probably the very fact that there have been cases where similar treatment has been met out to claimants earlier by the department makes this ‘hesitancy’ on the part of the pensioner a bit more justifiable.
I dare comment on this ‘practice’ with a fair amount of conviction considering that I have had a couple of friends facing the same dilemma in the past and for whom I had to knock on the doors of the higher-ups in the hierarchy. Unenthusiastic attempts at convincing any authority on the validity of one’s claim will never attract favourable results.
“Speech is silver, silence is golden” is a proverb extolling the value of silence over speech. But one can well discover to one’s surprise that at times the proverb with its order reversed holds more relevance. But having said that, is the lethargy shown by us Indians on matters that require our immediate attention a contagious one?
The malaise called the ‘chalta hai attitude’ has apparently been debated and discussed a million times over, but as yet failed to arrive at a concrete conclusion as to whether it does really have a debilitating effect on the populace.
Undoubtedly however, this particular attitude is ingrained into the great Indian psyche to an extent where the absence of such an approach will tend to question our ancestry. As a Hindi phrase which means ‘taken for granted’ or blasé attitude, ‘chalta hai’ literally means ‘no one really cares about what is happening’.
Let us for instance take the very scary proposition where a small spark could bring about a calamitous situation in the New Municipal Market in Margao. Despite reports about the Disaster management Authority ordering power audit and fire safety checks for the city’s municipal markets after the major fire incident in Margao New Market last year, the follow-up six months down the line has presumably garnered that ‘typical’ attitude where the implementation of the suggestions to avert such mishaps in future just fails to take off.
Credit this to the ‘chalta hai’ attitude which desists the authorities from committing themselves to any such grandiose plan which could diffuse similar situations later on considering that instances of fire breaking out in the municipal market are routine and quite often fade away from public memory in equally fast time.
In short, nothing will come of these deliberations! Meanwhile, the new market in Margao is sitting atop a volcano. The insensitiveness of the masses to leaking pipelines and streetlights illuminating the areas even after sunrise aptly exemplify the ‘chalta hai’ attitude of people. These however were in the context of ‘public’ matters.
But how sincere have we been in taking care of our own health? Even here, it has been the ‘chalta hai’ attitude that has described all concerns for our well-being.
How is it that we never ascribe any importance to warning-signs that portend the possible onset of a life-threatening disease! No, these cautionary indications are never taken seriously. A feeling that such ailments could strike everyone but me is that presumed consolation that deters one from taking precautionary measures against critical diseases.
A doctor friend of mine rued the lack -- or should I call it a feigned ignorance -- of a general awareness among us Indians about preventive healthcare due to which many of us have been falling preys to the “108 culture”. We wait for emergencies to strike!
In every sphere of life, there are umpteen such instances that ‘glorify’ our ‘chalta hai’ attitude.
The gravity of the situation notwithstanding, the complacency brought about by a feeling of triviality is what the ‘chalta hai’ attitude is all about.
