Monday, April 13, 2009

Psychophants Unlimited

I think that flattery is so strongly ingrained in our DNA that it refuses to go away. The "mai baap" mentality from which most of us suffer is so blatantly obvious that people accept and applaud it. A few events that have led me to this hypothesis

1. Impact probe from Chandrayaan hitting the moon surface on 14th November

2. Indian media obsession with the question "When will Rahul Gandhi become the prime minister?"

3. The way ppl fawn at Priyanka Gandhi and make every two bit she utters into a breaking news. In another nation I bet she would have had a hard time getting on a news channel unless she was caught shop lifting or driving drunk. Times of India is running this story on its home page. ( Someone is describing Priyanka's 5 & 7 year olds as born charmers, well someone should tell this person every kid in that age is a charmer and the paper should note that these children are not "Gandhi's" they are "Vadera's", hardly the 5th Generation Gandhi's news paper report claims. The reporter I guess was too busy being charmed by the kids rather than paying attention to factual details)

4. Constituiencies voting MP's from same family in each election

5. Every third road in this country is named after a politician, most of them not worth the concrete on which their name is written today.

There are a host of other incidents where I have seen this phenomena unfold right in front of my eyes. Students sucking up to mediocre teachers, interview candidates flattering prospective employers, hell sometimes there is not even a positive outcome expected people just doing it so they don't lose the habit of flattering others.

Sometimes i am able to laugh it off, but most of the times incidents like these leave me bewildered, thinking if I should join the gang or watch them engage in this orgy.