The Belief In Egalitarianism

Truth to be told, to talk of egalitarianism would seem like too far fetched and costly an affair when the entire world has been turned topsy turvy. Yet, the time is now, and the issue needs to be addressed now more than ever. On a personal front, this belief has been ingrained ever since the sense organs gained familiarity with the chapters of Political Science that talked about the Constitution of India, whereby the founding fathers had left no stone unturned to filter out the best from other constitutions, and implement it accordingly. 

And, to talk of the most primary chapter there was the chapter on Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties, and it was specifically emphasised that the Constitution of India guarantees its citizens equal rights, without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, race, colour or gender. 

Yet, the paradox and hypocrisy reaches its brim when till date, unfortunately, the world holds very little value on egalitarianism. Growing up in an Indian society, cliches like “Men will be men”, “Pink is a symbolism of womanhood”, have been dime a dozen, what strikes more is all those that had a slightly dusky complexion were given innumerable beauty hacks from all and sundry, and free wisdom on skin lightening was readily available…

Same with gender biases. Till date, it really pains to come across such positions on the web, that openly and freely advertise “Hiring only women '', or something as vague as “Prefer male candidates' '. The vivid question here is does the possession of skills vary from gender to gender? If not, then why such self created shackles? Where is the liberation? The liberation to act and think freely? If one delves deeper, it would be seen and possibly deciphered that these barriers exist only in the minds, and if these come to fruition, then it would be holding little or no value, either to the self or the society on a large scale, in fact as a whole. This is specifically due to the fact that a society is where people are promised better lives and are being shown a better way of living. 

Swami Vivekananda had once said in Volume 1 of ‘The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda’ that fanaticism, and bigotry had possesses this beautiful earth long ago, and that we as individuals must try every possible means to sever our ties from these and preach for happiness, equality and fraternity among oneself and the others. Although, while listening to news or just scrolling down, the heart gets saddened with those pieces that mention the various atrocities on women or the people of the lower castes. Then there is this ever increasing hate on social media platforms that vehemently attacks races and genders. More than getting agitated, the emotions of feeling sorry churns out more Disappointment soon follows suit. And, questions also sometimes. Questions like “Do these people even understand the concept of individuality?” “Where is everything so very generalised?” 

Yet, the heart still clings onto hope. Hope that was ignited by Swami Vivekananda. This has possibly transcended into a firm conviction. A belief. The Belief in Egalitarianism.