Day Off

Graptolite's Sailing Log
Martyn Pickup & Heike Richter
Sat 17 Dec 2016 22:10

Kolkata, West Bengal 17th December 2016

 

I just hung around the hotel today reasonably convinced that I didn’t need the hassle from the touts outside the hotel’s big, guarded, gates.

 

I did ponder for a while though on the subject of why this country is like it is. India is dotted with some fantastical jewels of architectural splendour and natural beauty but for the most part they are set in a sea of grubbiness and economic mess.

 

My theory, for what it’s worth, is that all this is caused by the collective psyche of the nation being too heavily influenced by the belief in an eternal cycle of birth, life and death.

 

With this belief, social status is predetermined by what earlier incarnations did or did not do and it’s pointless doing anything about it because it can’t be changed. This lack of social mobility does nothing for the economic health of the country. Neither do touts. Future incarnations can have improved status by doing rituals and pilgrimages. This gets many temples built but also does nothing else for the economy.

 

Lower social status groups are there to deal with the mess because their earlier incarnations screwed up. The lowest social levels have nobody to pass the buck to but don’t have the energy or inclination to sweep or make bathrooms sparkly.

 

Voila! Poverty and squalor.