Arshid Malik
Success is a monolithic word with a multitude of strings attached. What is success and who is successful is subject to a variety of interpolations and interpretations at a given point of time in a given set of circumstances and the success of one person can and should never be culturally and geographically imposing if it does not fit the generalized collective ideation of a people. Peculiarly, the ontology of success is severely circumspect to the generalized idea of “good” when we speak of the success of successfulness within pragmatic geographical domains. At the same time it is to be seen how a certain success or a breed of successes competes with other ideations and praxis of successes interlaced with the common fabric of humanity and ethical perspectives. One logical error that often creeps in whenever one deals with the essence and matter of success is that of mistaking the element of fame for success. Fame, generally, leads to a superlative degree of embellishment leading to a confusion of sorts where people are misled into taking it for success.
I would like to point out a recent event that made headlines in our local news media. One particular doctor from a far-flung area of Kashmir hit the top slot in Indian Administrative Services, and the event was generally understood as “breaking of the jinx of the supposed inability of Kashmiri youth to make it through the IAS”. Great praise was showered on this gentleman who now qualifies as almost the only “bright spark” from Kashmir. Obviously it is tough to get through any such All India Level examination but it is not impossible. The question is how many people, young people I should say, are interested in even applying for the IAS given the “reclusiveness”, “passivity” and “archaistic bent” of the civil services and how many eventually do? Furthermore the “point of fatal attraction” when it comes to the civil services and its takers among the youth has gone extremely down in the light of the fact that the core of the whole matter has changed from a state of altruism to a state of deceptiveness with increasing focus on materialistic individualism. Very few people, with archaic interests, would really care to have a go at the civil services now while most would rather prefer working their own way out of the quagmire of ideological and intellectual bankrupt bureaucracy towards a better, healthier and greener tomorrow. Another twist to the story comes in the shape of the track record of possible and probable nepotism that gnawed incessantly at the fabric of competitive civil services examinations vis-a-vis Kashmir and Kashmiris. Why would anyone want to waste the good part of their lives pursuing some shadowy dream? The fact that anyone still attaches preference to Indian civil services and has the “approved time” and “interdisciplinary skill” to beat the machinery of it and eventually makes it to the top finds little relevance in the current “thick” atmosphere of Kashmir. How far this “success story” runs in the interwoven and intermeshed story of success – in its essence – needs to be reanalysed in the current state of affairs and the collective spirit of being and growing up in Kashmir? Before egging ourselves and our people to submit to the ever-inflicting squadron of reticent emotionalism, which eventually always paints us into a corner we must learn to be more thorough than “mere affective commentators” and weigh the odds well, for our narrative has long ago interspersed with treason and superficiality of the dominion of democracy.
Attempting to understand how far this “success story” serves the common good of Kashmiri people and how specifically is it not entirely rooted in fame may help us reach the unbiased and unfettered idea of the monolithic word “success”.
Success is a monolithic word with a multitude of strings attached. What is success and who is successful is subject to a variety of interpolations and interpretations at a given point of time in a given set of circumstances and the success of one person can and should never be culturally and geographically imposing if it does not fit the generalized collective ideation of a people. Peculiarly, the ontology of success is severely circumspect to the generalized idea of “good” when we speak of the success of successfulness within pragmatic geographical domains. At the same time it is to be seen how a certain success or a breed of successes competes with other ideations and praxis of successes interlaced with the common fabric of humanity and ethical perspectives. One logical error that often creeps in whenever one deals with the essence and matter of success is that of mistaking the element of fame for success. Fame, generally, leads to a superlative degree of embellishment leading to a confusion of sorts where people are misled into taking it for success.
I would like to point out a recent event that made headlines in our local news media. One particular doctor from a far-flung area of Kashmir hit the top slot in Indian Administrative Services, and the event was generally understood as “breaking of the jinx of the supposed inability of Kashmiri youth to make it through the IAS”. Great praise was showered on this gentleman who now qualifies as almost the only “bright spark” from Kashmir. Obviously it is tough to get through any such All India Level examination but it is not impossible. The question is how many people, young people I should say, are interested in even applying for the IAS given the “reclusiveness”, “passivity” and “archaistic bent” of the civil services and how many eventually do? Furthermore the “point of fatal attraction” when it comes to the civil services and its takers among the youth has gone extremely down in the light of the fact that the core of the whole matter has changed from a state of altruism to a state of deceptiveness with increasing focus on materialistic individualism. Very few people, with archaic interests, would really care to have a go at the civil services now while most would rather prefer working their own way out of the quagmire of ideological and intellectual bankrupt bureaucracy towards a better, healthier and greener tomorrow. Another twist to the story comes in the shape of the track record of possible and probable nepotism that gnawed incessantly at the fabric of competitive civil services examinations vis-a-vis Kashmir and Kashmiris. Why would anyone want to waste the good part of their lives pursuing some shadowy dream? The fact that anyone still attaches preference to Indian civil services and has the “approved time” and “interdisciplinary skill” to beat the machinery of it and eventually makes it to the top finds little relevance in the current “thick” atmosphere of Kashmir. How far this “success story” runs in the interwoven and intermeshed story of success – in its essence – needs to be reanalysed in the current state of affairs and the collective spirit of being and growing up in Kashmir? Before egging ourselves and our people to submit to the ever-inflicting squadron of reticent emotionalism, which eventually always paints us into a corner we must learn to be more thorough than “mere affective commentators” and weigh the odds well, for our narrative has long ago interspersed with treason and superficiality of the dominion of democracy.
Attempting to understand how far this “success story” serves the common good of Kashmiri people and how specifically is it not entirely rooted in fame may help us reach the unbiased and unfettered idea of the monolithic word “success”.
