Was reading 'Games Indians Play' the other day and was quite taken up by it. V. Raghunathan talks about game theory and Indians, and how even the most instinctive actions displayed by us translate to our need to be a step ahead of everyone we know. How we are privately smart and publicly dumb. He talks about the classic prisoner's dilemma and how we have a constant need to break traffic rules, jump the queue, or litter public places, because in the end..how does 'my effort' in abiding rules, maintaining decorum, cleaning up etc. make a difference to a country teeming with millions? And how does it guarantee that I will not be left out cold - that if I abide, maintain and clean, some other guy won't come along exploiting my genuineness? The base assumption is that everyone will cheat, so I must take care of myself by being smarter lest someone takes advantage of me. Tit for Tat Strategy – always rewarding the defector who is smart enough to start cheating first!
Is VR wrong to paint us all with the same brushstroke? Stereotyping and prejudices are not just the forte of old aunties sitting in a kitty party. It persists in society so we can quickly scan the unknown, form opinions where detailed analysis is either herculean or unpragmatic. So I don’t blame old man VR for saying the things he does, because he is right about the majority of us. We have this innate pressure of one-upmanship within us. I tend to link it to the warring nature of our ancestors and the struggle to survival that our peninsula has seen over the years. Add in an accelerated population growth and a hot climate, lo and behold, we have people jutting out legs to fell the ‘over’smart ones trying to overtake!
The country’s public goods are often the severest casualty. Classic case of the free rider problem. Auntyji will make sure her house is spic and span, but where should she dump the ‘kachra’? Aha, maybe the playground next to her when the municipal garbage dumpster is just a few blocks away? It’s not her job to take care of the ground, she says. Well, I don’t intend to list out the other vices we are prone to. Read VR for that. And take your pick..blame the Indianness in us and move on...or maybe try to do something small from your end, thinking it might make a difference?
