" Aside from Tennyson's intellectual and analytical curiosity to grasp the "why and wherefore" of life, what is of interest for us here is: a beautiful flower can radiate its beauty only so long as its petals are intact in their natural form emitting fragrance. But once disarranged—its petals gone and its scent lost—however beautiful the flower might have been, it loses its identity, its very essence. And, so is the case with the society: If its members fall apart into different groups—say on the lines of caste, creed, religion, etc.—the society loses its very identity, for when a society disintegrates into different groups, its binding glue, samata (equity) and mamata (warmth), evaporates. This ultimately leads to anarchy in the society—disturbing and dislocating normal life and its very rhythm.
That's what indeed we saw happening two years back when the government announced 27% reservations for OBCs in central educational institutions. It drew the students out from the classrooms into streets, disturbing normal life. It even generated acrimony between different sections of the society. It took quite sometime for the administration to put the lid on these skirmishes. It is only when the conflict was referred to the Supreme Court that life could return to normalcy. |
