These days everything has to follow a cookbook which has to be approved by Woke ecosystem of the world. This cookbook defines not only the ingredients of the dish but also the Tongs, Vessels, and Woks. Anything that doesn’t meet the specification is canceled. But as an ardent fan of author like P G Wodehouse, it’s not palatable to let nosey editors and ill-equipped wordsmiths edit the well-crafted books of Wodehouse.
Publishers have altered what it termed the “unacceptable prose” of author P.G. Wodehouse in new editions of his classic Jeeves and Wooster series. The publisher also warned readers of “outdated” terms in the revamped works. Publishers have recently been changing older classic works by such authors as Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming to reflect current sensibilities. The changes have been condemned by some as ruining the original vision of the authors. Fans felt that all that they needed to do was add an essay that describes the issue for the new prints. Challenge and contextualize what has been written and educate the users. But changing text is disturbing. It’s more disturbing than the prose they need to censor. In reality, no woke teenager is going to read Wodehouse or even comprehend his humor so why subvert the nature of art to appeal to people who will find offense in the mundane and use that offense to harm other people by suppressing their freedom to express themselves?
Mind it this is a similar ilk of woke liberals who were offended by a deletion in the textbook about some events in Indian History. The Ecosystem historians cried foul and accused the ruling dispensation of driving an agenda. It is well within the purview of the ministry to decide the curriculum. Anyone can publish tons of books to narrate the history of choice. Efforts to make history more diverse and inclusive beyond eras that remain still unknown have to be welcomed. A context has to be given to the history of occupation by Invaders and colonists to help new generations feel for the hardships in those eras not just the glorification of occupation through a debate. But then this is against the cookbook to use any other wok not recommended by woke liberalism.
Now get used to Jeeves giving the politically correct advice to Bertie Wooster. Imagine Bertie doing a 9-5 job just like his neighbor with Jeeves as his mental well-being coach and not a butler. And the politically correct humor that makes no one laugh.
The Woke ecosystem has found another cause pertaining to suicides in IITs to take on the management of these elite institutions. The alacrity to condemn the IIT Mumbai student suicide case as an instance of deep-rooted caste bias and stereotype was disturbing. At the end of the investigation, it was found that it was an interpersonal issue between two students. The entire management and student ecosystem was taken into a media trial. That does not mean that bias or opinions don’t exist or issues can be ignored. In fact, every incident provides an opportunity for corrective action to help us create a merit-based system and as well help those with disadvantaged backgrounds at the same time. If one studies the pattern of suicides in the institutes of higher education. It’s society mostly which creates pressure on individuals. Parental pressure, Peer pressure, and lack of opportunities add enormous pressure on students first to enter these institutes and later to secure hot job offers or International scholarships. This results in patterns like the rich-driven Kota Pattern. Institutes are expected to provide support infrastructure but due to the increase in the number of seats and scarce teaching/support resources Institutes have limitations. In this case, it’s only the self-support mechanism of friendships in the hostel and creative pursuits, etc can help students. They also need to use social media/web very judiciously as it adds to the pressure by means of envy/voyeurism/comparison. But that’s beyond the Woke ecosystem as it tries to just create a narrative without any solution. The same was observed in the litigation vs Cisco on caste discrimination case. Efforts are been made to establish a theory when issues were blown out of proportion as found in the court case.
Another disturbing trend is the de-facto enlisting of second-generation Non-resident Indian population in the ‘woke brigade’. The first generation is divided between liberals and conservatives. The liberals make no stone unturned to criticize what’s happening in New India while conservatives find no fault in New India. New India as agreed by experts is the only bright spot in the world economy while its efforts to eradicate poverty have been noted by everyone. When I say new India, I define post-liberalization and not post-2014 just to clarify as a non-political definition of it. But then one has to admit that post-2014 schemes like Digital India, Jan-Dhan, Ujjwala gas, Swaccha Bharat, Vaccination, and Ayush, have really made an impact. But this divide between liberals and conservatives is not as disturbing in the diaspora as the emergence of Woke culture in the next-gen of the diaspora. It’s fashionable for them to be confirming to this brigade. Those who do are not accepted in the fold, especially in colleges. Normally that’s fine as it’s up to an individual to decide what his or her opinion is on every issue. The only downside of this is the strong anti-India stand taken without any rational justification. Everything about India is portrayed in any possible window of negativity. That’s to do either with inherent superiority over resident masses or thanks to the media which has its funding compulsions that provide this negative twist.
Woke angle is a global phenomenon and being woke has its benefits. But as per conventional wisdom, suggestion for all ‘woke’ individuals is to be inclusive in their approach, acknowledge all angles to each issue they champion and most importantly find a solution to the issue rather than canceling. And please spare P G Wodehouse for the sake of his fans.
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