“The aim of life is no more to control the mind, but to develop it harmoniously; not to achieve salvation here after, but to make the best use of it here below; and not to realize truth, beauty and good only in contemplation, but also, in the actual experience of daily life; social progress depends not upon the ennoblement of the few but on the enrichment of democracy; universal brotherhood can be achieved only when there is an equality of opportunity – of opportunity in the social, political and individual life” – from Bhagat Singh’s prison diary.

We all understand and subscribe to demands for such ‘Equality for All’ as this is in the domain of Human/ Governmental relationships and is thus enforceable. However, we should also, recognize that all humans cannot fairly be recognized as deserving equal consideration even before Law. Age (minor or major), Mensrea or no, mental fitness or retarded, crime of passion or premeditated, conscious versus unconscious, physical disability versus fit etc., are all reasons to view equality of consideration with necessary flexibility and understanding.

Child care / Creche, early Schooling, Aptitude Testing and reasonable opportunity to appropriately develop any discerned and desirable abilities / traits are all that each of us can and should ask for. A Government which refuses to face the need for providing such Equality of Consideration and Opportunity at the best time for the person (as the child grows) and tries to cover up such short coming at a later stage (once the child has grown), by calls for Reservations in Higher Education and Jobs is only exhibiting its own failure.

True affirmative action starts from childhood and is the responsibility of the Government to ensure. Since such action takes time to be implemented and the effects can only be seen once the child has grown out of school, the Framers of our Constitution, in their wisdom had called for Reservation only for a period of a 10 years.

Unfortunately, the Governments since have abdicated their responsibility to build up an environment of ‘Equality of Consideration and Opportunity’ at the best time for the person, from childhood and have always sought the easier and more emotive alternative of extending the period and even the range of ‘Reservations’, as such action is more easily translatable into immediate votes. (Children do not have a vote while 18-year-olds do, and politicians have vision only upto the next election). They then try to cover-up the short-comings (once the child has grown), by offers for Reservations in higher education and jobs, thereby only exhibiting its own failure It is therefore the responsibility of all of us as parents and responsible citizens to demand such consideration and opportunity and of Society to act on such demands and pressure the politicians for appropriate action.

It is true, as Nicholas N Taleb writes, that in today’s world of winner take all, rapid concentration of benefits of all sorts in the hands of a few people or organizations is a given. An initial advantage boosts one into persistent cumulative advantage throughout their life. It is easier for the rich to get richer, for the famous to become more famous etc. Failure is also, cumulative. The big get bigger and the small stay small, or grow slower to remain relatively small. Here is where the factor ‘Luck or Chance’ comes in. It is a great leveller.

Nobody stays a king for long and the people you meet on the way up, you will meet on the way down.’ Check the statistics of people and even Corporates – how many of the top hundred just 50 or even 10 years ago are there today and where did their replacements come from?

“History is a graveyard of Aristocracies. – Vilfredo Pareto

But it is also, true that the circumstances one is born into need not necessarily be a compulsorily constraining factor. It is more the attitude and manner with which one deals with such circumstances is what counts. In the Mahabharata, Karna is said to have complained to Krishna about how unfair life has been to him, right from his birth. To which Krishna had replied that his life, right from his birth, had been even harder for him and yet he never complained but did his duty according to Dharma. Everyone should considerthis and understand that wahtever the circumstances one. has been through, the results Come only from the right attitude and the right efforts.

Economic inequality is only one of the many types of inequality, especially once one’s basic material needs are satisfied. It is the perceived pecking order one is in, that counts (see Annexure – I below). Such variation is here to stay… as the ‘Pareto Principle’ shows us in every measure of life, and we have no alternative but to learn to live with it.

“Without happiness there is no life. Without dissatisfaction there is no growth. So be happily dissatisfied. Being dissatisfied with others makes one unhappy, being dissatisfied with oneself helps one grow. Hence, on all matters of the world bench mark your expectation against 5 out of 10 and thus avoid much dissatisfaction about which you can do nothing. But for all matters regarding yourself, benchmark against 10 out of 10, so that any dissatisfaction then encourages your growth and development” – T. T. Rangarajan

Inequality of recognition and, of the wealth such recognition brings, is better understood if the underlying reason is recognized. (See Annexure – II below)

Talking of Equality of Wealth, I am reminded of an old story when John. D Rockefeller , the worlds ‘First Private Dollar Billionaire’, in 1916 as the then wealthiest living American, was asked by a Journalist with a penchant for adjectives, a trait also, shared by many of our Politicians and would be Intelligentsia today, – “Don’t you think it is obscenely vulgar and shameful that you alone have a BILLION DOLLARS when so many in the world around you live in abject poverty having so little?”

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