Social Transition

Today I had the opportunity to witness the birth-pains of a transition. A social transition. The first steps of a village man in the new city.
I had to take a friend's mobile phone to the service center to get it repaired. Apparently sony ericsson is not a good phone to buy, especially if it's the expensive kind. Their service centre is pretty busy, even at closing hours!
As I was standing in line, a young woman in her late teens came over to one of the service guys and started taking it out on him. Apparently, he had not been courteous enough to her or something, but she was really bringing the roof down. While she was doing so, the object of the ranting was grinning from ear to ear, infuriating the girl even more. The manager of the place tried to apologise for his junior, but the rascal simply couldn't resist grinning.
The girl (who seemed to know something about what she was talking about) shouted threats to close down the shop, and to go to consumer court, etc.,
Later on, after the storm settled and the girls disappeared from the area, the manager, who was a soft-spoken man himself told the rascal to get down.
Translated:
Manager: "Arrey yaar, what is it with you? Why can't you just say sorry? Even if it's not your fault, all you need to do is say sorry, and they leave peacefully."
Rascal: "What do you mean? First of all she's a girl and she shouldn't be talking like that. And It's as though it was my fault. Why should I say sorry?"
Random Customer: "Yeah... girls shouldn't be talking like this... What did he do wrong?"
Manager: (Obviously pissed a third person is messing up with his scolding) "We try to run a business here. A quick apology makes the problem go away, and we can get on with our work. Arguments just waste everyone's time"
Rascal: (trying to rally in the customer's sympathy) "She actually lives in a Juggi in Uttam Nagar, Why should I listen to her?"
Manager at this time gave up hope and decided to take a break.

Rascal seemed to be quite stubborn with his ideals. But, thankfully, his success in the industry he works in largely depends on his attitudes to his customers irrespective of their culture, background, etc. It won't be long before he understands that his livelihood depends on customers like the irate young girl, and that it would do him more good to actually treat the girl, in spite of her ignorance, with respect.
He will also realize that taking the support of busybody customers just to prove his point won't get him anywhere in life. And that the ways of the village and terms like 'izzat' and pride don't really make sense in the city. Thus he makes his first steps into a new culture where things are different. They are hard for poor rascal, but they're the values of the city, and they will keep him alive.
The sad thing about this however, is that Rascal will only embody these values to earn his daily bread, and that's about it. If only he is able to take it a step further and treat undeserving people with respect just because he has been treated with respect in spite of himself.

Philosophy of the Present, and it's uselessness

I was in the middle of reading Badiou's discourse in the Badiou-Zizek's Philsophy in the Present, an ebook I picked up on random after hearing of Zizek's interesting views on society from the angry ol' man. Badiou had just finished outlining his three rules of incommensurable entities; or something like that, when I heard shouting in the house nearby.
A typical fight between husband and wife, I thought. Something I've grown cold listening to every night. But tonight (may be it being a Saturday night?) the husband was home drunk. Soon the wife started shrieking, and seconds later, she burst into loud wailing. The banging of their front door reverbrated through the corridor we share, and angry footsteps walked past my door, leaving behind silence, interrupted by sobs.
The footsteps walked back to the door,and the shouting resumed. Longer, this time, with the woman shouting louder and angrier, but sadly from behind my closed door I could hear the brokenness and defeat in her voice.
A baby had also started crying in the background, and both parents began to take their frustration on the child. The argument stopped and someone turned up the TV volume. Laughter and joke cracking erupts around the corridor, and the baby's wails have turned into confused laughter and sobs at the same time.
Sitting on my bed, I fought with thoughts of going outside and glaring at the man. Another good friend had warned me that I was no wrestler, and the very thoughts of chivalry were dissolved in a good dose of fear. It was when Badiou suddenly lost all relevance in life.

(Non-pseudophilo geeks pl skip this)
Well I could bring out the incommensurable relationship of the continuity of a normal family life with the exception, namely today's fight, which breaks the rule of the general set-up. The incommensurable relationship where one makes a decision between two points of view (well, i can't assure you there were points of view; The wordless-yet-loud argument between husband and wife which does not get resolved. But what really is the relevance of this brilliant way of looking at things? Finding the characteristics of the universal doesn't make sense in a time like this!

Ok, I'm finished with the pseudophilo bs... I've had my fun :)

I couldn't understand what had happened but I don't think what happened there was right. But I cannot pin-point who's at fault. I cannot say what is to be done to make the situation okay. I cannot from my place even try to make this wrong situation right. Hence, I just witnessed something bad happen, and couldn't do anything about it.
The world in itself is full of 'bad' things happening on large and small scales. Most of the time, we can't get our head around it, let alone solve it. Why is it so hard? simply because we are a part of the problem we're trying to solve (making it a mystery, according to RZ) Don't you think the hope for us could only lie outside us?