I was running down the pages
of history of mankind to find out what are the beautiful creations of a mob or
a crowd. And to my surprise, there weren't any! No poetry, no music, no
painting, no great piece of art or a fabulous creation has ever happened in a
crowd. It is ironical that more the amount of individuals in the crowd less is
the amount of individualism in the crowd. Crowd is never individualistic. The
characteristics of every individual are dissolved in the crowd. We tend to
forget that individually we aren't what the crowd wants us to be. Have we ever
realised that in a mob, we clap when the mob claps, we laugh when the mob
laughs, and we also recite the slogans as the mob does. Individually the same
statement may not evoke the same kind of response from us but in a crowd we
tend to do what the crowd does. Hitler writes in ‘Mein Kampf’ he had just 15 –
20 people to support him in the beginning. How is it that he went on to create
an empire? He would ask these 15 – 20 people to disperse in the crowd when he
would speak. They would exactly know when to clap or when to recite a slogan.
The crowd would join in!
Let us come down from crowd to
a group or team. We all talk about team work or group dynamics. We all say man
is a social animal. We are all taking it too far. Groups, crowds or teams are
the biggest hindrances in an individual’s inner growth. Be it our friends,
families or peer groups, they all work against our inner growth. Have you ever
wondered, while walking on the road, you are one person when the road is
totally empty. The moment you see somebody walking along on the same road, you
become a different person. We all make faces, sing or dance in front of the
mirror in the bathroom. Even elderly people become child like when they are
alone in a room. It is that individual that couldn’t come out of the closet in
the presence of others.
Yet, we all have a phobia of
being alone. It is a misconception that aloneness is loneliness. Those 30 mins
or so everyday just for ourselves is our right, we all deserve it. At the same
time, we should respect the fact that even others around us need it. It is
often looked at in negative light when somebody says ‘I want to be alone for a
while’. We all tend to think, there is definitely something wrong with him. It
is not true. Everything could be going well and we could still need to be alone
for a while. It is not without a reason that Abraham Maslow puts ‘Self
Actualisation’ at the top of his needs pyramid. We all need some time for
introspection, to go beyond the shackles of civilised living. Have you ever
seen a nomad going to a psychiatrist? More civilised we are and higher the
chances of needing a psychiatrist. No wonder why so many of these non sense
self help books are the best sellers in developed nations. We take care of ourselves
and the rest will take care of itself.
Let us all
celebrate solitude!
