Our way or the mob way

Are people different from one another?

I would say no. We are all just like animals; we are all the same except for very few differences. It is quite similar to the way in which humans look at animals and birds.

This can be explained by the use of mob mentality. It could be the reason why it is also called “Herd Behavior”. People define herd behavior as a pejorative behavior of an individual when in a group. According to studies, people in a group tend to follow what the group does. That is true. Every individual has the property of syncing with what is going on around him. Try revolving your right hand clockwise and your left hand anti-clockwise simultaneously. It will just take two revolutions for it to sync with each other. If this is the case when there are only two, imagine what would happen when there are a whole lot.

Mob mentality gained more popularity with mob violence in political rallies, football matches etc. It would be one person who started it, and another 100 would have joined in. But it should be noted that say of a 1000 when the 100 were rioting the other 900 were running away from the scene. If mob mentality can explain the behavior of the 100 fighting why not explain that of the other 900 running in all directions. The running could also be attributed to a group behavior. These are the only 2 scenarios that can take place in that situation. The mentality of rioting comes up with those who are violent inside, and those that are scared will definitely run away and won’t take the risk standing for their fight.

Why do they do that in a group and when not alone? This is the next question that may rise. An individual likes to be be praised and will do things to stand out from a crowd, but when doing a crime he has to do it in such a way that people don’t know it is him. So my conclusion is that even in mob mentality it is only the internal characteristics of the individual that comes out seeing others, and cannot be attributed to the person doing the things just following others.

By this I would conclude all people think alike and are alike. It is the society, culture, traditions, laws etc that is holding us back.

Another attribution is that of drunken violence. It is a normal assumption that alcohol makes you violent, and that’s the reason for all the violence caused by a man intoxicated. But I would deny that. It may have been the alcohol that may have caused it, but there is another reason that underlies beneath this. The violence is only caused if the man is violent himself. He is not in a position to express him in the normal part of the day. The alcohol helps him forget where he is and brings the real him out. Alcohol does not only bring out the violence. I had a friend who would become philanthropic when he is drunk. That is the best time to wait on him. All the waiters earn almost their 1 week salary in a night from his tips. The next day it would be us who will be scolded for letting him so philanthropic. I told him it is what he wants to do and we let him do it. It was nothing harmful. But he could not do this in his normal self when he is reminded of all his constraints. Thus drunken people behave the way they actually want to under the influence of alcohol.

Alter Ego

Every human body has two people inside it. One is the person you see living. Underneath him is another person who lives within the life of the former. He may come out often or rarely, but is never known to us. It is known only by the former person. The person portrays a character and behavior that it feels is ok to be expressed in this world. The outer self tries to do everything the way others like to see it. By doing this the person is denying the true self the pleasure it really requires. He only desires to satisfy the pleasure of others by disguising himself. This way the inner self is denied all that it needs.
Every promotion, advertisement, marketing is aimed at the outer self. Nobody cares for the real self. They all want to be allowed into a circle that they deem fit for themselves. Everybody is the same in the way looking for a group to mix with. If everybody stopped trying acting the way they are and starting living the real way, a group will definitely form along with them. No one dares to start this movement and create a group that matches the real self.
Everybody wants to live a life they dream of and not the real life. A person in level 1 wants a life of a person in level 2, and a person in level 2 wants a life of a person in level 3 and so on. No one actually wants to live in his own level. When he starts doing it, he will be satisfying his own desires and living a real life and not a life that he pretends to live. Was this the reason why Shakespeare said, “All the world's a stage: And all the men and women merely players” in his play “As you like it.”
There are only a very few who live the actual life. They do it for their personal satisfaction and we call them jokers, fools, morons etc. But by living the real life they are not fooling anyone. It is we who are fooling ourselves, others and everyone we know and come across in our day to day activities.
What is the real harm in living the way we actually want to.
What harm does it do to anyone?
Why are we fooling ourselves with a fake life?
These questions need to be answered sometime. When we realize it, it might be more than late.

Auto Ride

This conversation happened during one of my trips from Connaught place to my room at Gautam Nagar.

 After we bargained for 50 Rs and the auto started...

 Driver: So what r u guys doing?

Me: We are MBA students doing training here in Delhi

Driver: MBA is what people do after getting nothing after their graduation

Me and Murali in discussion: This guy won’t understand the value of our education. No use explaining about IIMs to him.

Murali: We were good jobs for 3 years before we took up MBA.

Driver: It is just a way of wasting time.

Driver: Y did u have to quit your jobs.

Murali: We are studying in one of the best colleges in the country

Driver: Is it IIM

Murali: Oh! So u know about IIMs.

Driver: Yes. They are the best in the country like IITs.

Me and Murali in discussion: So he knows it. So won’t bother us anymore.

Driver: Ur life is settled. U will earn at least 80L after u finish

Me: WHAT? We might get 10-12L that’s all

Driver: U r joking.

Me and Murali together: we are not. If we get 15L that would be the best

Driver: I can recruit 2-3 people from IIM and give u an auto. U can earn 10L with it

Me and Murali in discussion: Is he telling the truth. This seems to be a good option for us. Is the cost of living so high in India that auto walas make as much as we do after 20 years of education?

Driver: I have 2 sons who r doing engineering in DU

Me: Ok

Driver: I take IIT-JEE tuitions in the evening. I take Maths and my sons take Physics and Chemistry. We have 30 students of which 10 usually make it.

 Murali to me: No one knows whether he is telling the truth. Leave it. Let him say what he wants. I am tired. Ask him to stop talking.

We reach our room and get down and walk towards our room laughing in our minds.

 Its recession and we have one more option. Let’s see what happens.

Rafting on the Ganges

We arrived at the camp on the banks of Ganges at around 8 AM. The first sight of the place captivated us and cast a spell on all of us. It was a boat ride across the river to the camp. This ride by itself was scary and we were already frightened about the white water rafting. The water was chilly and nerve gripping. After all the camp was a mere few kilometers away from the glaciers and the icy regions of the Himalayas. 

 

After a light breakfast we were all ready for a game of volleyball with the captain of the IIMK team among us. It was fun winning against his team. After doing enough insult to the game we ran towards the water. A touch of the water sent a chill down our spines, and a few seconds in the water and we couldn’t feel our legs. Remembering the movie Titanic, I thought to myself how cold it would have been in the Atlantic. Then I came upon that a quick jump into the water is not that bad i.e. when your complete body is in the water the same time. It is chilly only when a part of your body is wet.

 

After enjoying the Ganges we were back on the shore for more volley ball and some lunch.

 

After some tiresome games we were on the bed for some rest and woke up in the evening for more games, volley ball and foot ball.

 

A camp fire was waiting for us in the evening with some hot kebabs and pakodas. After some hot discussions in the pleasant evening we were in bed after dinner.

 

The next day morning was what we were all waiting for. After a light breakfast, all of got ready in our life jackets and our oars for the rafting. Our guide gave us some basic instructions which would save our lives if anything happened.

 

We went through Black Money, Three Blind Mice, Cash flow, Golf Course, Roller Coaster, Club House (Names of rapids in the Ganges.)

 

The rafting was amazing and every one of us was enjoying ourselves. It was a 3 hour/26 km rafting trip down the Ganges and once it was done we still wanted more and really did not know how the time flew away.