Pseudo Civilization

We often believe that we live in a modern society, with all the gym memberships, mall and multiplex culture and SUV’s making a strong foray into the urban lifestyle; until one gets out of their air conditioned Gold class seats and witnesses an incident which renders all those beliefs hollow.

I often (read 5 times/day) lay a guilt trip on litterers all over the city and have met with a myriad of reactions from them. They range from resistant to argumentative, rarely apologetic and often yielding. Not too long ago, I met with an unprecedented reaction from an uncouth and barbaric pot bellied, self righteous man at food stall. He decided it was somehow appropriate to lay out death threats on the table after inquiring about my male companion standing alongside me. However, the pleading eyes of his burkha clad wife reached out to me in apology. My horror regarding the situation instantly melted away and was replaced with one for this innocent, Bambi eyed woman. How must this Neanderthal have treated her over the years? The torment she must’ve gone through just attempting to keep alive herself and her young children, at the mercy of this beast.

The bubble then bursts and you just know that the 4 progressive beings you know among a million don’t constitute the world. There’s a whole other million minus 4 out there who treat women like dirt. You wonder whether people have really evolved, socially. It’s as if you’ve gone back to the medieval era where the “Little Woman” was meant to be within the confines of her home, just as the Late General Gaddafi believed. But hey! We’ll rejoice, coz there’s one less evil Arab dictator in the world now!

Without digressing! The truth is that what you see in big cities doesn’t come close to representing the country. The beliefs, the practices, the lifestyles even are poles apart.

Civilization may have come ahead but our people are far behind. So don’t be surprised like I was, coz there’s a lot more of these Neanderthals out there!