Man is a Social Animal

So said someone in Some Social studies classroom and I am sure the statement must include women too. In the olden days, "man" implied all human beings. Even in the word "man hole", I mean.

It must have been a lesson in Primary School, because after class seven we did not have Social Studies. I was studying only Science and Maths and two languages, aiming at being an engineer.

And anyway, I am too old to remember anything which was not learnt very early.

But the thing is, that this lesson, though it stays in my memory, confuses me. Rattles my head as it were.
Because I fight it.

In the growing individualistic materialist world, of which I am a willing part, this does not make sense. I did not want to be a social animal, and I enjoyed an extended anti society teenage - right on to my middle age.

And yet, I find myself getting active on facebook, blogs, discussion forums, school and college alumni groups. In fact I am spending my best time here.

I think it is just a complex issue.

Having been anti social, the internet is easy to get social on. The technology provides some control over social invasions. At least I can deal with people when I am prepared to do so, and no one is saddled with my thoughts unless he/she seeks to be so.

Also, it is much easier to eat crow in writing than in person. I don't need to do it in every conversation. I can just provide a link to this post, and say, okay, I WAS WRONG, to think I could manage on my own steam.

There IS no steam that I can call my own. The water is coming form some common source, which is being polluted by the sewage of the masses. And I am not so sure it is being recycled appropriately, because the process is electricity intensive. And most of the electricity is being used up for non essentials.

The issue of water and electricity is killing me. As no dealing with people and being social ever did and could.

The generator has been shifted, because the neighbour on one side of the generator made so much noise about it being criminal to run a noisy generator, and looked like he was feeling like a suicide bomber. The managing committee was concerned- not about the noise, but about what? The terrorist like approach? But the noise has just moved from one part of my home to another. It has not gone.

What I can see is that one can weep or frighten the others into action. Nothing else works.
But action precipitated in a crisis is not leading to real solutions any more.

We could all, individually afford to generate 750 watts that we get from the common generator. But what about the lifts? And the common water pump? Who will run them?

Some people have already purchased their own inverter sets- but then they don't live very high in the building. It is possible to use the staircase for two floors. But I have had to ask Papa to not visit us, till the generator problem is solved finally. He is a heart patient, and although he is able to climb more than the two floors to my flat, it makes me nervous, seeing him do that.

And finally the inverters will need to be recharged. So electricity will be needed at the community level.

Of course our cooperative society has some specific problems- the people here really fight more than any other I have known- but then they are the ones with more potential than ordinary people I think.

This is Patrakar Parisar. And these are the people who chose this profession because of some sense of social commitment. They have just turned out more successful than they expected. And I think they are also living under the illusion that they have done it on their own steam.

I can already see the division within the families, because of this problem. The women are getting impatient with the men.

It has been eight years, and they have seen three managing committees ostensibly "run" by men.

Not one has brought about any improvement in the situation.

The process is clearly a failure. A hierarchical model, with the common ordinary people paying tax and voting at election time is not enough. Men and women having limited well defined functions is not working either.

What would be good? No one knows, but I think if I could work on "being" a social animal, I stand a better chance than by doing things on my own steam.

Paani ki kami hai.
jaan se haath dhoiye?

Ya phir?