Counter-Cultures- Some Notes

 

The recent arrest of activists on grounds of anti-India activities does portend a disturbing signal. The signal is about the activists engaging in anti-India acts and perhaps treating them as anti-establishment or anti-government acts. There is a difference between anti-government and anti-country. Yet there is a very little distinction in the minds of these activists as they seek to move past that line however thick it might be into a realm of anti-national. In quite a number of cases, it is evident, there is a political thought that is behind the line of thinking. There are egged on political ideologies to combat the existing government and the establishment on a number of grounds and seek to foster disunity into the country. An instance of the same was the JNU protests and the chants of Tukde Tukde Bharat. This was overtly political and the activists knew of their intentions. But what is surprising in recent times, is activists from overtly non-political areas like environmentalism etc. are migrating into political anti-India platforms. It is well known that many environmental movements are essentially front organizations for some sinister groups. They are low hanging fruits to attract recruits who can then be moulded into anti-establishment groups. There is of course the dimension of counter-culture that becomes predominant in their line of thinking to go against the country. It seems fashionable and cool. The ingraining of hatred for self whether on grounds of religion, family history, caste legacy coupled with fashionable trend of woke manifestation through seemingly innocuous activities like environment protection etc. are breeding grounds for the next generation of what are termed as urban naxals.

 

The young across ages and societies have been attracted by counter-cultures. The counter-culture is something that is defined as going against the orthodox. It is about non-conformism. The young especially in the late teens and the early twenties are enthusiastic and bubbling with energy. They are discovering the world on their own terms. Yet they are not experienced enough to understand the intricacies of life. Neither would they be in a position wherein they would listen to others. They are at a stage of life wherein they feel they are the masters. They would be rebellious and hot-headed. Their impatience coupled with eagerness to change the world makes them fertile candidates for revolutions. They would more be inspired by the revolutions that would promise equality though in practical terms hardly any revolution would come even a mile of the same. Yet the youngsters at that age would be more attracted to voices of rebelliousness than voices of sanity, patience and moving forward with life. There are many who pass that age and with raising of family, job etc. would come back to conformism in many ways. Yet there would be few who would move in directions of politicking and anti-establishment. This is the critical time wherein these youngsters have to be moulded into cultures that would foster them towards innovation etc.

 

The young, rebellious, impatient, anti-establishment, finding fault with every other thing, an eagerness to demolish the existing system and rebuild on their own fashionable terms, eager to create an independent path for themselves, all point the young towards being fertile candidates for recruitment by woke, anti-establishment, intersectionist rebel movements. Once they get attracted to the movements, they find it difficult to shake the same off. The movements need not just be cultural but also economic, social, political etc. The rise of piracy for instance in the digital domain is linked to an economic rebellion against the denial of opportunity by the established industry. Environmental activists perhaps represent a counter-culture of intersection of social and economic wherein the social like might be disrupted through environmental change often negative but engaged in pursuit of economic goals.

 

The counter-culture movements given their very nature would be anti-establishment. Anything that serves conformism is something to be resisted with. There is eagerness to set up and create new order perhaps many a time to provoke the established into acting against them. The status of being a matyr would perhaps be appealing. In this context, given the historical trends, the left liberal circuit has had an advantage. There is a danger of the youth getting lost to this counter-cultural stream rooted perhaps in left ideology. Yet the counter-cultures need not be rooted to the Marxian ethos. There were cults that built up in the late 1960s or 1970s basically from the US and Western countries who travelled to India in quest for spirituality. There were many from hippie movement too who moved into Rishikesh etc. for search of peace or spiritual fulfilment. It was an anti-establishment to the US conformist ethos.

 

There is nothing that prevents today’s Indic thought streams of recreating Hindu spiritual ethos or even yoga or Ayurveda or Buddhism etc. as manifestations of counter-cultures. The environmental movement for instance is rooted in Indian spiritual and historical traditions. If Buddhism manifested as counter culture decades back, it can be reinvented and link to India’s soft power. If Yoga or Ayurveda could offer the alternative ethos of health and well-being, there could be expansion of Indian soft power. Soft power does not come merely with economic gains but through many other mechanisms and models. the repositioning of the soft power manifestations could be the key to harnessing the talent towards an Indic stream. The manifestation of counter-culture might lie in sartorial preferences, culinary habits, steps for health and wellbeing, interaction with people, work cultures, economic allocation of resources, nature worship, and religion, among many others.

 

A society would be responsible for the actions of the individuals which in turn would shape upmo the future trajectory. The current trend of youngsters finding certain activities cool is not disconcerting per se. what would be disconcerting is the fact, the activities while seeming innocuous and perhaps desirable are turning into bridges for a migration onto a platform that is seemingly anti-country. The youngsters perhaps drawn on to the thought stream of these activities are led to believe that further progress would be linked to the ability to change the establishment. If the establishment remains status-quoist at least in their frames of reference, they would not be able to achieve the goals they have set in their domain. Therefore, any movement that would unsettle the government would pave way for changes in establishment thus a new push for their endeavours in their chosen field. To the handlers, it is merely a mean to the end but youngsters more often than not end up being useful idiots. Thus all the more reason for counter-cultures emerging from the wombs of the traditional Indic thought processes.