Last Friday

Last Friday, I was elected President of the Student Council of my college, the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts.

Woo hoo! Celebrations right?

– No, not quite.

See while I am extremely glad that I have been elected to this position, I have also been one strongest voice in the crowd at college, constantly pushing for change and better practices. So when I was elected, the first clear thought that came to my head was:

“Shit, I actually have to do something.”

Being elected President is a huge honor, but more than the honor, it’s the sense of responsibility.

As a global society, especially here in India, we are extremely quick to say that our leaders are pathetic and that they have selfish motives, etc. Granted, they just might have those motives, but what exactly do we know? Are we there listening to their conversations, or seeing what they’re doing? Not exactly (and I know the witty ones will point out that they’re doing it to us)

How is that related to responsibility? Well, the problem is that my college is filled with a bunch of people who are completely apathetic towards any system of any kind. It doesn’t matter if it’s the college, or the state or the country. They just do not give a shit.

When it comes to quotable quotes, I believe that America nearly a hundred times more than the rest of the world, so to quote JFK:

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”

I am completely quoting out of context, in the sense that these words appeal to my current situation and I choose to apply them here (quick disclaimer)

When I read that statement, you can see how far the system has fallen. When was the last time the Government, any government asked us, as the people what we want? It’s always a duel, where they’re armed with a meter long sabre, and we’re fighting for our lives with a pocket knife.

Linking the dots. When you have a society that doesn’t believe in the system, because they feel that the system has turned their back on them, it becomes scary to become the person in charge of a system. Not for any other reasons, but because now all the comments are going to be about you.

They might not want it to be personal, but face it. When was the last time the Indian Government wasn’t called a farce, because Dr. Manmohan Singh doesn’t looks like a person who can’t pick his nose without asking someone else?

The system is a reflection of its leader.

So if this system goes belly up, I can blame whomever I want, I can say whatever I want, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be my fault.

I can deal with that. Honestly, I can deal with a hundred people coming and attacking me about a decision that I made, however, what I feel like telling each and every one of them, is do you have a better solution? Did you not think that I personally weighed out the options?

As a society, we are so quick to criticize. To quote Patrick Stokes, a philosophy teacher from Deakin University, who’s article I read a few years ago who starts his semester by saying to all his students who believe that they can say whatever they want and hide behind ‘it’s my opinion’

“You are not entitled to your opinion; you are entitled to what you can argue for.”

I sometimes feel that this is a statement that should be plastered on every street and put on every page of every book. Too many people feel that it’s their given right to complain. Mind you, when I used the term argue, I meant what it actually means, to cite evidence for your opinion. People seem to misunderstand that.

Something that I would like to apply to every single situation that I have to deal with in this next year will be under a banner that comes from all of these thoughts. I plan on asking each person who comes and complains to me about something or another, just one thing. Do you have a solution?

Granted, it’s not their job to think of a solution, but if they’ve thought about a solution, then they personally know that their idea isn’t full of hot air, nor is it invalid. Whether the solution is the right one or not isn’t the question, it’s simply proof to me that they invested in their problem. That’s something that I can work with; because by getting them to invest that little tiny part of themselves into the problem means that they are no longer apathetic towards the problem.

As the newly appointed President of the SSLA SC, I know that since Friday, my biggest problem, and the problem that will hound me for the rest of this year is trying to cure apathy. It’s a challenge and I’m hoping that if I achieve it, I won’t sit back and think to myself:

“Great job kid, you’ve cured two hundred, you’ve only got six billion, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, and seven hundred people to go”