Prose 2:The Great Indian Psychotherapy- Chetan Bhagat

Prose 2:The Great Indian Psychotherapy- Chetan Bhagat

 Introduction:  The Great Indian Psychotherapy by the popular author Chetan Bhagat deals with the problems in modern India and the author’s views on how to approach them. The author is also a columnist and motivational speaker.

 Change is Necessary: India has enormous potential to become a developed nation. Almost all of them accept that something is wrong in India. Many articles, books, theses, papers and research reports have tried to find the reason. Intellectuals give their valuable suggestions to improve the infrastructure and judicial system. Global experts are shocked that India has the largest percentage of poor people in the world. Despite taking every effort, no change occurs. The youth are confused and doubt whether changes will occur. They want to know who is responsible for the changes that don’t occur.

Unique Indian Psyche:  The author tries to answer the questions raised by the global experts and the youth of the country. He states that he will not blame inept politicians and offer policy solutions. Unskilled politicians are elected by the people of their choice. Policy solutions like building power plants, improving roads or opening up the economy is not blocking progress of the country. Intellectuals come up with good ideas for progress. The author states that the unique Indian psyche is responsible for blocking progress.  The three distinct traits of the Indian psyche responsible for blocking progress are Servility, Numbness to injustice and Divisiveness. These traits are instilled in the children in school, environment and home.

Servility:  Children learn servility at school. The education system kills the individual voice of the children. They are encouraged to be obedient like slaves and discouraged from questioning anything that is taught by the teacher. Creativity, imagination and innovation are not taught. For example, when teaching about the number of states in India, the basis for this division is not discussed. Hence, students fail to develop their ability to think and form opinions on their own.

Numbness to injustice: Numbness to injustice comes from the environment. Children are exposed to corruption right from childhood. When they are young, most of us have been asked to lie about our age to the train ticket checker to avail free rides. Incidents like this create a faulty value system in the children’s minds. They grow up with an idea that it is normal to lie and cheat. This results in them being numb to corruption and injustice in later life.

Divisiveness: Divisiveness is often learnt by the children at home through their family and relatives. The children are taught the differences among people. They learn the importance of their religion, culture and language. They respect and celebrate it. It is sad that they are not taught to fully appreciate those who are different from them. The children grow up with the idea that while they are good, people from other communities are bad. Each one has at least one person in the family, who despite being good has prejudice against people who are different from them. This divisiveness influences the voting patterns of individuals. Most people vote for politicians on the basis of caste. For example, Dalits vote for Dalits and Yadavs vote for Yadavs, etc. This practice of voting based on caste has to change. When we choose a mobile network, we choose the one based on the best service or value. We should apply the same principle to elect good politicians.

Mass Self-Psychotherapy: The author insists that Indians need mass self-psychotherapy to get rid of the three traits that are responsible for blocking progress. Psychotherapy also called ‘talk therapy’ is a process of talking about problems to cure mental or emotional illness. The author wants Indians to change their collective mindset. He also adds that it is not easy to bring about changes in society by simply talking about it.

Voting Based on Performance:  In 1980s, movies like ‘Gunda’and ‘Khoon Pi Jaaonga’ was released. But nowadays, movies have changed to keep up with the expectations of the audience. The filmmakers have

started showing better content. We cannot change a politician or build a road by talking among us. Instead, we have to focus on changing our minds. This single action can make the largest transformation in the country.

Action Needed:   When we change our mindset, we should unlearn everything that prevents us from progress. We should take great care to not pass on these traits to the next generation. We should encourage our children to think creatively, form opinions and speak up. They should be taught that there are only degrees of wrong. Whether it is small or big, a wrong is wrong. They should be taught to appreciate other people in spite of their differences. They should learn not to hate others based on their background. This can be instilled in the future generations only if we practice to change our minds. If we change our minds, our voting patterns will change and politicians can also be changed.

Conclusion:  The Great Indian Psychotherapy is that the author’s contribution to change the country towards progress. In politics, if we decide to vote based on performance, we can bring a worthy person to power. In this way, we can contribute to progress and have a better country in future.