Hi,
I am writing about an event which I saw happen right outside my house. The reaction to the event was immediate though it has taken me a lot of time to write about it. Initially, I wanted to write a song about it, but I just couldn't frame the subject matter in the manner I wanted to because some of it is not conducive to song material, but I haven't given up on the idea just yet. Maybe writing about this might clear up the roadblocks.
Ok, I stay in a relatively remote location on the outskirts of Jamshedpur, as a matter of fact, the flat we stay in is the last bit of heavy duty construction in the direction. After that, it's all thatched houses or one-off bungalows. Just out of the boundary walls of our housing complex are a couple of thatched roof houses and the families that stay there. They raise chickens and a couple of pigs apart from whatever it is they do for a living.
I was reading the newspaper one morning when I heard real loud shrieks from the pigs. I didn't want to pay attention at first, but a minute or so of continuous shrieking later, curiosity got the better of me and I went to my window to have a look. I saw that there were four men with ropes and sticks and were trying to subdue one of the pigs so as to tie it's legs together. The truck they came in was parked a few metres away. After another minute or so they had tied the limbs together and were ready to cart the pig away to the truck. All the time they were physically on top of the pig trying to subdue it, the screams were immense. The moment they let go of him, the pig stopped his screaming, which was funny to me because it's legs were tied together, was it only the physical threat that caused it's fear, was the much greater shackling not a factor here?
Nevertheless, as they slung the pig onto the pole and were carrying it to the truck, I started noticing a few other things, because my mind had already started running. The other pig, his brother, maintained a small amount of distance, but far more important, maintained his silence the entire time. That struck me as fairly odd. I noticed that the truck was full of pigs, similarly tied and on their way to inevitable doom, yet not a peep from any of them either. Is the threat only really serious when it is that close, if you can't see your immediate doom then you have no reason to be afraid?
Now that they had put the first pig in the back of the truck they came back for the second. This is when the second set of screams started. The men tried to get on top of the pig and subdue him, same routine as before. Just that, on the basis of incredible struggle and strength, the second pig wrenched free of their grip and raced away, only for me to see that they had managed to tie their rope around ont of his legs, so he wouldn't get far. The pig ran to a distance, and then was stopped, since his rope ran out, but he never started screaming.
Again, I found that very odd, does the pig not realize it's trapped? Is the threat only worthy of a notable response when it is immediate? Nevertheless, the men adapted a different approach to subduing this pig. No longe did they go directly after him, because they already had him on their rope. Now they would let the pig do their work for them. One of the men had a staff, with which he prodded the pig, who at the time was running back and forth along the arc that the rope was allowing him. After being prodded, the pig modified it's direction. This exercise continued till the pig was actually prodded right into the back of the truck and the pig itself jumped into the truck, all with minimum screaming and effort. All the other pigs maintained their silence throughout.
Now that's the story, and this was my reaction to it. This might reek of confirmation bias to some, so I'll get that out of the way first. The moment I saw this, I compared it to the life of the youth of our country. For years they are left to their devices, with no real training or information to deal with the real world, and then we are thrust out into the meat-grinder with no real alternatives, skills or choices. Once confronted with the real world, most of us immediately protest once the threat is upon us, but are not really sympathetic to anyone else's cause save ours. And once the threat has been made, the writing is on the wall, then the protest stops and this weird acceptance creeps into the system, one which is vastly more disheartening than the feeling of protest.
Now there are some who will submit directly to the system, their initial protest a feeble and short-lived burst of adrenaline. Some will fight and try to escape the system, never realizing that the system has a grasp on them and has had it for as long as the system has deemed it necessary. All their efforts, while pursuing liberation in their mind, are in fact making the job of the system easier in subduing them. The end result remains the same. The system wins. I realize that the time between seeing and writing this has adversely affected my enthusiasm for the event, and I've retold it to a few people with quite a bit more irony in my delivery. Hmmm, interesting. As someone who is often struggling to stay away from the system, I wonder if I am feeding it directly with my lifeforce, God I hope not.
I am writing about an event which I saw happen right outside my house. The reaction to the event was immediate though it has taken me a lot of time to write about it. Initially, I wanted to write a song about it, but I just couldn't frame the subject matter in the manner I wanted to because some of it is not conducive to song material, but I haven't given up on the idea just yet. Maybe writing about this might clear up the roadblocks.
Ok, I stay in a relatively remote location on the outskirts of Jamshedpur, as a matter of fact, the flat we stay in is the last bit of heavy duty construction in the direction. After that, it's all thatched houses or one-off bungalows. Just out of the boundary walls of our housing complex are a couple of thatched roof houses and the families that stay there. They raise chickens and a couple of pigs apart from whatever it is they do for a living.
I was reading the newspaper one morning when I heard real loud shrieks from the pigs. I didn't want to pay attention at first, but a minute or so of continuous shrieking later, curiosity got the better of me and I went to my window to have a look. I saw that there were four men with ropes and sticks and were trying to subdue one of the pigs so as to tie it's legs together. The truck they came in was parked a few metres away. After another minute or so they had tied the limbs together and were ready to cart the pig away to the truck. All the time they were physically on top of the pig trying to subdue it, the screams were immense. The moment they let go of him, the pig stopped his screaming, which was funny to me because it's legs were tied together, was it only the physical threat that caused it's fear, was the much greater shackling not a factor here?
Nevertheless, as they slung the pig onto the pole and were carrying it to the truck, I started noticing a few other things, because my mind had already started running. The other pig, his brother, maintained a small amount of distance, but far more important, maintained his silence the entire time. That struck me as fairly odd. I noticed that the truck was full of pigs, similarly tied and on their way to inevitable doom, yet not a peep from any of them either. Is the threat only really serious when it is that close, if you can't see your immediate doom then you have no reason to be afraid?
Now that they had put the first pig in the back of the truck they came back for the second. This is when the second set of screams started. The men tried to get on top of the pig and subdue him, same routine as before. Just that, on the basis of incredible struggle and strength, the second pig wrenched free of their grip and raced away, only for me to see that they had managed to tie their rope around ont of his legs, so he wouldn't get far. The pig ran to a distance, and then was stopped, since his rope ran out, but he never started screaming.
Again, I found that very odd, does the pig not realize it's trapped? Is the threat only worthy of a notable response when it is immediate? Nevertheless, the men adapted a different approach to subduing this pig. No longe did they go directly after him, because they already had him on their rope. Now they would let the pig do their work for them. One of the men had a staff, with which he prodded the pig, who at the time was running back and forth along the arc that the rope was allowing him. After being prodded, the pig modified it's direction. This exercise continued till the pig was actually prodded right into the back of the truck and the pig itself jumped into the truck, all with minimum screaming and effort. All the other pigs maintained their silence throughout.
Now that's the story, and this was my reaction to it. This might reek of confirmation bias to some, so I'll get that out of the way first. The moment I saw this, I compared it to the life of the youth of our country. For years they are left to their devices, with no real training or information to deal with the real world, and then we are thrust out into the meat-grinder with no real alternatives, skills or choices. Once confronted with the real world, most of us immediately protest once the threat is upon us, but are not really sympathetic to anyone else's cause save ours. And once the threat has been made, the writing is on the wall, then the protest stops and this weird acceptance creeps into the system, one which is vastly more disheartening than the feeling of protest.
Now there are some who will submit directly to the system, their initial protest a feeble and short-lived burst of adrenaline. Some will fight and try to escape the system, never realizing that the system has a grasp on them and has had it for as long as the system has deemed it necessary. All their efforts, while pursuing liberation in their mind, are in fact making the job of the system easier in subduing them. The end result remains the same. The system wins. I realize that the time between seeing and writing this has adversely affected my enthusiasm for the event, and I've retold it to a few people with quite a bit more irony in my delivery. Hmmm, interesting. As someone who is often struggling to stay away from the system, I wonder if I am feeding it directly with my lifeforce, God I hope not.
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