THE AGE OF COMPARISON: THE BEST AS AN ILLUSION & A ‘VERBAL MUJRA’ by Dr. Jernail S. Anand

“The idea of the ‘best’ is not only an illusion, but a scam.” – Dr. Anand

We use three degrees of adjective. The superlative degree shows something which is the best in a particular aspect. For example, the let us look at the words ‘best’, ‘highest’, ‘greatest’, ‘sweetest’ etc. The superlative degree appears to be an inhuman state because while men are after the idea of perfection, the perfect being is only He. Neither anything is the best, nor the highest, nor the greatest. Still, we live on with these illusions, which keep us tempted and glued to its pursuit.

These are actually ideal states of possibility, to which men must aspire, and working for them, lends grandeur to our life. A man in the pursuit of excellence is a far better specimen than a person who has no such passion. The most human form of the adjective is the positive degree. Good, happy, great – appear to be states of human mind in their primitive mode when life was slow, and people were happy. But the comparative degree defines the age of competition.  As human beings, we are given to comparisons. At the basest level, just think how we look at our neighbour. Are we not comparing ourselves with him all the time? This travel agency is better than that. And we go for the better. We are good, but it is a personal affair. We are happy. Again it is a personal affair. He is tall. Personal. He is sad. Personal. How this personal comes into contact with the impersonal? It is the comparative degree which provides an extension to our personal properties. It is a bridge which connects us with the outside world. This is how a ‘man’ becomes a ‘human being’ and acquires greater intensity as well as authenticity.

This distance that we travel from the personal to the impersonal is fraught with dangers. It would have been far better [comparison again, that is the way we are] had we limited ourselves to the personal. From the personal to the personal. Man and his God. It would have been a far better arrangement. But perhaps, man’s passions forced him to leave the personal behind. He even tried to make his personal relationship with God public. Should I say how dangerous it has proved to be? My God is better than your God. Here, we can see all the fighting, bloody battles, and the entire history stands justified, because man had pressed the ‘expansion’ button.

From an Illusion to a Scam

I discount the third degree because when messed up with the comparative, it gives us earthquakes. The idea of the ‘best’, though highly misplaced, gives, not teeth, but claws to our pursuit for excellence. If you don’t believe, look at the final score for exams like NEET. When fifty people score the same marks, whom will you call ‘best’. Can we disregard the ‘struggle’ that went into this plural-best situation?*The idea of the ‘best’ is not only an illusion, but a scam. For becoming best in a particular aspect, we have to remain just ‘good’ in so many others and sometimes even fall below.

‘Verbal Mujra’

The invaders  slaughtered the local population, forced them into conversions, and established their suzerainty for hundreds of years. I cannot find any good in it, nor anything better, and best is entirely an illusion. The idea of the Hindu Rashtra, though it seems highly elevated, has generated nothing but bad blood. All political leaders call themselves ‘best’ and their opponents, nee adversaries and enemies, ‘worst’. Don’t you see how truth is molested in their worthless speeches? They are telling the electorate to vote for them because they are the best. It has to be noted here, if words are not translated in actions, all the tall talk of good is ‘verbal mujra’ aimed at pleasing the eager ears of the populace, who can clap and shout when a leader sings ‘Kikali’* type of tantrums. Mahatama Gandhi, who was by far the best phenomenon that happened to modern India, has been reduced to an ‘illusion’ by the ‘wiser’ stuff of politicians.

Civil Services

The best services in our country are the civil services which only the best minds join. The English created these services because they wanted people who could run their administration. A civil servant is best known for his commitment to rules and regulations and his allegiance to his political bosses. I wish to point out that Neta Ji Subash Chandra Bose had cleared ICS but he did not join it. Reason? When you join as a civil servant, you promise to remain civil, even if the commands of your duty are ‘uncivil’ and can force you into revolt.  It is an iron trap, not for your body, but your mind. The price for all the power and pelf you get as a civil servant is cutting short of your mind, your thinking, your creativity and your spontaneity. You cannot romanticise. You cannot dabble into any sort of imagination. You cannot create anything. You lose originality and become a stamp. You have to do the bidding of someone sitting far above. And this is too heavy a price for the wealth and power that they get. Yet, ask any young graduate who is at the top in the class, he will say: I want to join civil services. Reason: serving the people. Now, do the civil servants really serve the masses? Or their political bosses? Since they are the elite, the best portion of the society, they need not create any bridges with the general public.. They are already the illusionary best.

The elite services were created to wean the best brains away from original thinking, creativity, and imagination. Their wings were clipped, and their minds imprisoned, so that they think only of their power and their own wealth. In this way, thousands of people who could have followed Neta Ji Subhash Chandra Bose, were reduced to dignified clerks in service of power. It was a conspiracy. Best minds are not available to the popular sovereign. They are mortgaged with the Powerful.

[*google NEET exam.& political kikali]

Author:

Dr Jernail Singh Anand, President of the International Academy of Ethics, is author of 161 books in English poetry, fiction, non-fiction, philosophy and spirituality. He was awarded Charter of Morava, the great Award by Serbian Writers Association, Belgrade and his name was engraved on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. The Academy of Arts and philosophical Sciences of Bari  [Italy] honoured him with the award of an Honourable Academic.  Recently, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy [Honoris Causa] by the University of Engg and Management, Jaipur. Recently, he organized an International Conference on Contemporary Ethics at Chandigarh. His most phenomenal book is Lustus:The Prince of Darkness [first epic of the Mahkaal Trilogy]. [Email: anandjs55@yahoo.com Mobile: 919876652401[Whatsapp] [ethicsacademy.co.in]

Link Bibliography:

https://atunispoetry.com/2023/12/08/indian-author-dr-jernail-s-anand-honoured-at-the-60th-belgrade-international-meeting-of-writers/