Civic Society
How do you define a civic society? If what happened in the train couple of days back is civic, I really don't know if I want to identify with this kind of civil behaviour.
We were two stations away from home. It was one of those last trains on Friday night. I heard someone fall in a distance. I thought someone fainted because of congestion. I wasn't feeling too well myself. So I tried to see what it was and it looked like someone had really lost balance. Then one tall guy in a business suit took a couple of quick steps towards the fallen guy and before I could realise what's happening, punched him once, twice, thrice till this fellow fell to the ground. And then I saw him kick this guy not once, twice, thrice but many times over. He was saying something in Japanese I didn't understand. Through small gaps I tried to figure out what was happening, and all I could see was a pool of blood on the floor. It was quite sick really. From what I understood - the guy who was beaten up tried to make a pass at the tall guys girlfriend. So the tall guy beat him up.
What shocked me was, all this happened in a packed train. All the impeccably dressed men and women in formal suits where this was happening didn't seem to react. Let alone try to stop it. When the kicking became severe, they looked a little uncomfortable standing there. The train stopped at the next station. Somebody had pressed the emergency button. A few people got off quickly. The tall guy and his girlfriend and the guy who was beaten up also got off. A couple of women seemed a little upset. There was some commotion at the station. Some two or three station officers came running in. The train was stopped for about a minute more than usual. An announcement apologised for the inconvenience caused by the delay to all passengers. The train moved on.
The Japanese are known to be courteous and kind, unobtrusive and non interfering, but to such a degree that they let one man beat another man to pulp in a train in front of their eyes, and still be so polite as to not react or interfere? If this is how civic advanced societies are - is advancement such a nice thing after all?
We were two stations away from home. It was one of those last trains on Friday night. I heard someone fall in a distance. I thought someone fainted because of congestion. I wasn't feeling too well myself. So I tried to see what it was and it looked like someone had really lost balance. Then one tall guy in a business suit took a couple of quick steps towards the fallen guy and before I could realise what's happening, punched him once, twice, thrice till this fellow fell to the ground. And then I saw him kick this guy not once, twice, thrice but many times over. He was saying something in Japanese I didn't understand. Through small gaps I tried to figure out what was happening, and all I could see was a pool of blood on the floor. It was quite sick really. From what I understood - the guy who was beaten up tried to make a pass at the tall guys girlfriend. So the tall guy beat him up.
What shocked me was, all this happened in a packed train. All the impeccably dressed men and women in formal suits where this was happening didn't seem to react. Let alone try to stop it. When the kicking became severe, they looked a little uncomfortable standing there. The train stopped at the next station. Somebody had pressed the emergency button. A few people got off quickly. The tall guy and his girlfriend and the guy who was beaten up also got off. A couple of women seemed a little upset. There was some commotion at the station. Some two or three station officers came running in. The train was stopped for about a minute more than usual. An announcement apologised for the inconvenience caused by the delay to all passengers. The train moved on.
The Japanese are known to be courteous and kind, unobtrusive and non interfering, but to such a degree that they let one man beat another man to pulp in a train in front of their eyes, and still be so polite as to not react or interfere? If this is how civic advanced societies are - is advancement such a nice thing after all?
posted by Pallavi at 12:11 PM
1 Comments:
OK I may be going out on a limb out here by saying this ... but here goes.
I'm never able to see the Japanese as gentle and polite people - perhaps its my skewed knowledge of history - but they are probably the most violent of all races - they even overshadow the huns and the moguls with all their offensives in Asia (and everywhere else for that matter). And I also think that they are the only people more racist than Indians!but I digress from your point ...
I can see the same scene in New York, London or even Bombay (thats very hard for me to say) - "Civilized" people don't want to be associated with fist-fights and scuffles - they don't have the time and the inclination! They would rather spend their time making more money in their suits - nevermind that the corporate often exploits the underprivileged ...
and I think I should stop. I wish I could be like Calvin - reject civilization and walk with Hobbes into the woods!
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