The Death of the Individual

Just now I watched the video of the song "Bulla Ki Jana Main Koun". It means - "Bulla, I know not who I am", where "Bulla" is probably a proper noun - possibly the name of a person. Its a very good song, and got straight to my heart. The artist here is wondering who he is - he is not a Hindu, not a Muslim, not a believer, not a faithless, and so on.... he does not find himself fitting into any of the models. He wonders and asks, who he is.

The message coupled with the video, also made me remember "A Ray of Light" by Madonna.

And this song brought back to me something which I had somehow observed, or imagined, and which had disturbed me, time and again. It’s the loss of individuality of the person in today’s world. It’s the death of the free individual, his thoughts and all, and his existence becoming more and more a part of the larger social machinery, molded to its needs.

Today we find that individual freedom is endorsed and propagated as it never was before. But this is actually a compensation offered in the form of a pseudo-reality. On a more detailed observation we will see that in truth, individual freedom is becoming extinct with time. The modern day social scenario is actually devouring the individual. The freedom of thoughts and actions is being eaten away, and the individual in today’s society is left with very few real options to choose from, and he is forced to adapt for survival.

This should be all the more clear from the extent the ‘free individuality’ profile is becoming propagated everywhere – in the upcoming social profile, in advertisements, social issues, etc.. What we should see here is that these are just compensations provided to us in the form of petty things like out attire, our food, our behavior, and other such small choices. In exchange of taking away the real freedom from us, this is the balance we are provided with in the form of a pseudo-reality about personal freedom.

The society is growing larger, stronger, more stable day by day, and the individual is dying.

How many times in the past few decades, have we seen scientific inventions by individuals that takes the entire civilization steps ahead, like that happened in the 1800s and 1900s? None. Why? Are we are not producing humans intelligent enough? On the contrary. Upon analysis, we will see that the intelligence has risen, if anything. What has happened is that the freedom of action no longer exists now as it did in the past centuries. Scientists have to take a more surer path, a more stable one. This path guarantees a steady growth. But no scope of those radical out-of-the-world thinking, which in most cases are futile, but those which clicks, takes us ahead by leaps and bounds. Freedom has been compromised.

The only sector where we have witnessed such progress in the last decades is the IT sector. And this is because of reasons, which again point to loss of freedom in other areas. Firstly, this was an unorganised sector. Its still maturing - getting itself organized. So, this offered a degree of freedom no longer available in other areas. Also it had to it the advantage of very less equipment costs. In most cases, all you need is a computer and a few attached peripherals, to implement even the most sophisticated concepts. And you are on your own to create. How long shall this freedom exist? Hard to say, because the nature of this area is a bit different than the others.

Why has this unfortunate state come into being? Probably because due to the complex factors at play in the current society, one cant really afford taking risks. Everyone has to vouch for the most stable way. A tendency rendered very natural in the struggle to survive. So this process is surely to go on for now.

What has the future in store for us? I know not. But I’ll vouch for this – in the near future, the individual will be compromised more and more. The general tendency is preference for stability. And this is a kind of deadlock situation where people wont really be able to afford taking risks. They will have to compromise. They will be made to compromise. Knowingly and unknowingly.

But how shall we be living then? A fearful question. The substitutes will probably be adequate for the masses for quiet some times to come. But what will happen after that? Will the limit be reached? When? How long can the true individual be kept suppressed with pseudo-realities? Will there be the ‘others’, the misfits, who will question, create troubles? The lucky ones? I don’t know. But I do know this – whatever happens, this cant be lasting forever, because at any rate, humans will never be able to compromise the human spirit itself. Maybe there will be a revolution, maybe there will be a slow reverse change, maybe there will be a sudden upsurge. I know not. But it will be a long time before that happens. A real long time. Too long to witness in a lifetime.

But it will happen. And I wish I could witness this entire process.

P.S.: I STARTED WRITING THIS ARTICLE ON 31ST MARCH, BUT COMPLETED AND POSTED IT ON 1ST APRIL.