Pros and Cons of Chir Pine in uttarakhand

Chir Pine( Pinus roxburghii) is the for the fist introduced by Britishers in the areas of uttarakhand and himachal Pradesh due to its quality wood which is used for constructing houses in the hills and in furniture-making.

The Forest Survey of India has found that chir has now taken over 16% of the total 71% forest area of Uttarakhand. Due to its enormous occupation of the territory, Chir Pine is causing the problems for the bio-diversity and other environmental related problems. 

(Note:-At present, There are only three states, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, in the country which produce Pine resin, the rest is imported from China and Indonesia.)

Pros:-

• Resin of the chir is used in varnishes, adhesives, dyeing, chemical industries and medicines.
• Due to its commercial and medical values, Resin of chir is being auctioned nationwide by Govt of Utterakhand, which is receiving annual income of Rs. 90 crore out of that auction.
• Villagers growing chirpine are being benefitted due to its annual returns.
• It is drought-tolerant and survives with less water.
• Leaves of the chir pine are being used as mats for animals, which are being affected by severe winter in the utterakhand. 
• Its trunk can be used as timber.

Cons:-

Cones of the Pine

• Chir pine is not edible for the both humans and wildlife. Epecially, wild life animals are suffering from the hunger due to vast presence of the chirpines, which spreads 16% of total forests of the utterakhand. 
• Due to its large presence, Chir pines are becoming the hurdle in maintaining the bio-diversity. Broad leafs in utterakhand, which is witnessing the vagaries of the climate, is much needed due to it ability to face the floods and in controlling the soil erosion but due to high presence of the chir pine is not allowing the broad lead presence.
• Resin of the chir is highly inflammable.
• Chir easily catches the fire. Thats what reason for the growing levels of the forest fires in recent years.
• Due to forest fires, damaged forest soil is not capable of preventing the either run-off or soil erosion, which automatically increases the devastating floods.
• the needles of Pine trees are acidic in nature which even turn the soil acidic, prohibiting any other green growth in the forest. Thats why Chir Pine doesnt allow any growth of plants or grass.
• The pine resin, exposed to the air, would easily harden and crystallise but it can be softened for use by heating. Thats why, many mafia people are setting afire for their commercial purposes.

To solve the problem, Govt shall takes steps to reduce the number of Chir Pines and move towards increasing the diversity of the region by reintroducing the local varieties, which are useful for feeding the hunger of wild-life, which reduces the man-animal conflict, for reducing the soil-erosion, forest fires and for increasing the flood-resistance in ecologically sensitive area. 

What is Hindutva according to the judiciary?

On Tuesday, a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing oral arguments in two cases — Abhiram Singh v. C.D. Commachen and Narayan Singh v. Sunderlal Patwa — declined an opportunity to reconsider the correctness of a series of judgments rendered by Justice J.S. Verma in December 1995. There, in what are collectively called the “Hindutva cases”, the court delivered rulings that caused great mischief on the idea of India as a pluralistic, secular state. It held that pleas made by appealing to the terms “Hindutva” or “Hinduism” during an election campaign did not necessarily constitute a corrupt practice in violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA) since the terms ordinarily refer not to religion but only to “a way of life”. The judgments, however, overlooked the RPA’s true objective. As is plainly evident from the legislation’s language, it intends to instil in India’s elections an atmosphere of secular integrity. Now, the seven-judge Bench, presided by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, has expressed its unwillingness to test the legitimacy of Justice Verma’s view, on the ground that the issue finds no mention in the orders referring the cases to it. The upshot is the continued perpetuation of judgments that are not merely deeply flawed, but also eminently dangerous in their purport.

Secularism can mean many different things, and, in India, the term is often imbued with a significance that goes well beyond its popular meaning. But what’s clear from the debates of both the Constituent Assembly and Parliament, in various iterations, is that one of the key features of secularism, as it’s understood in India, is an endeavour to separate religion altogether from electoral politics. B.R. Ambedkar, who played a sterling role in the RPA’s drafting, was particularly keen on ensuring that the statute conformed to secular principles. “I think that elections ought to be conducted on issues which have nothing to do with… religion or culture,” he said during a crucial stage of the debate in the lead-up to the law’s enactment by what was then a provisional parliament. “A political party should not be permitted to appeal to any emotion which is aroused by reason of something which has nothing to do with the daily affairs of the people.”

Ultimately, it was with this sentiment in mind that the RPA, through Section 123(3), outlawed, as a corrupt practice, the appeal for votes by any candidate contesting in an election, on grounds, among others, of religion. In the celebrated S.R. Bommai v. Union of India case, the Supreme Court recognised the value in this provision. To fight elections on a plank of religion, Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy wrote, was tantamount to eroding the country’s secular fabric. But, barely a year later, the court subverted India’s secular credentials when it ruled on the Hindutva cases.

A Bench comprising Justices Verma, N.P. Singh and K. Venkataswami heard appeals by 12 different members belonging to the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Bal Thackeray and the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Manohar Joshi. These persons, some of whom had won in the State’s elections held in 1987, had been found guilty by the Bombay High Court of violating Section 123 of the RPA. They had, in the court’s view, invoked either or both Hindutva and Hinduism to influence the outcome of the elections.

The Supreme Court’s chief opinion in these cases was rendered in the case of Dr. R.Y. Prabhoo v. P.K. Kunte. Here, the court heard appeals over a verdict which had found the mayor of Bombay, Prabhoo, and Bal Thackeray, who had campaigned for him, guilty of corrupt practice. The court ultimately dismissed both appeals. Indeed, it would have been difficult for it to rule in any other manner — Thackeray in his campaign speeches had not only appealed to the idea of Hindutva, but had also claimed that “[The Muslims] should bear in mind that this country is of Hindus, the same shall remain of Hindus... if Shiv Sena comes to power and if the morchas come — first of all (we) shall make them come. Everybody will have to take diksha (initiation) into Hindu religion.”

But in arriving at its conclusion, the court made several inexplicable findings that ultimately helped foster a culture of electoral perversion. “The term ‘Hindutva’ is related more to the way of life of the people in the subcontinent,” wrote Justice Verma. “It is difficult to appreciate how… the term ‘Hindutva’ or ‘Hinduism’ per se, in the abstract, can be assumed to mean and be equated with narrow fundamentalist Hindu religious bigotry, or be construed to fall within the prohibition in [the RPA].” It’s of course true that the mere mention of the word Hindutva or Hinduism can barely be seen as offensive in and of themselves. But Justice Verma’s attempts at defining these terms only gave a fillip to those from the far-right.

Quite opposed to analysing the real roots of Hindutva — which V.D. Savarkar had defined to include “all the departments of thought and activity of the whole Being of our Hindu race” — the court, in Prabhoo, instead referred to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s work, Muslims: The Need for a Positive Outlook. In so doing, Justice Verma concluded that the word ‘Hindutva’ “is used and understood as a synonym of ‘Indianisation’, i.e. development of uniform culture by obliterating the differences between all the cultures coexisting in the country.” As A.G. Noorani, most notably, has since pointed out, the court’s elisions lie not only in failing to refer to Savarkar’s works, but also in the misquoting of the Maulana, who hardly saw Hindutva as a redeeming movement. The judgment in Prabhoo makes for even poorer reading when seen in conjunction with the verdict in CM Joshi’s case, where the court found that the statement, the “first Hindu State will be established in Maharashtra”, was not tantamount to invoking religion in soliciting votes, but was rather merely “the expression, at best, of such a hope”. As a result of these opinions, today, a candidate who declares himself to believe in Hindutva or in a Hindu Indian state would not be indulging in a corrupt practice. For he may simply be referring to India’s cultural ethos as a whole.

In its immediate aftermath, Justice Verma’s judgments secured widespread approval from Hindu nationalist groups. “The Supreme Court has put its seal of judicial imprimatur on the Sangh ideology of Hindutva by stating that it is a way of life or state of mind and that it is not to be equated with religious fundamentalism,” said an editorial in the Organiser, a publication of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. To the BJP, the judgments acquired a near-cultist status; the party routinely sought protection from the rulings to justify remarks made along starkly communal lines, by trumpeting an idea that Hindutva is after all only a way of life.

However, in truth, these celebratory actions, aimed at creating an impression that the Hindutva judgments are entrenched as law, ignore vital facts. Only a few months after Justice Verma gave his rulings, the Supreme Court, through a different Bench, found itself in disagreement with his views. And it referred the case, an appeal filed by the BJP’s Abhiram Singh, for the consideration of a larger Bench. Eventually, in 2014, this reference (now heard by a five-judge bench) came to be tagged with another BJP leader’s case, which had, in turn, been referred to a seven-judge Bench; in that order of reference, in Sunderlal Patwa’s case — ambiguous as it is — doubts appear to have been raised over whether an appeal by a candidate to a religion other than that which he practises amounts to a corrupt practice under the RPA.

No doubt, between the two orders making reference to a seven-judge Bench there is no specific question concerning a reconsideration of Justice Verma’s judgments. But to use this as a ground to abstain from reviewing those opinions overlooks the fact that for more than 20 years, the verdicts in the Hindutva cases have stood, despite being questioned by a Bench of the Supreme Court’s own judges. Needless to say, on the relative merits of Mr. Singh and Mr. Patwa’s cases, the court would have to consider, on facts, whether they indulged in any corrupt practice under the RPA or not. But to decline altogether the opportunity to review Justice Verma’s judgments is an exercise which is, at best, pedantic, and, at worst, an abdication of a critical responsibility. For it once again places at the peril of the unique deferrals of India’s judicial system a group of decisions that have proved most damaging to the country’s secular fabric.

Liberal theory, in certain forms, may demand unconstrained speech, even in the course of electoral campaigning. But, in India, the right to free speech is subject to reasonable restrictions on grounds, among others, of morality and decency. To hold that secularism is a part of the Constitution’s basic structure while simultaneously condoning a politics of hate that is propagated in the name of religion — in this case, Hindutva and Hinduism — is simply incongruous. As Chief Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar observed in his 1964 opinion in Kultar Singh v. Mukhtiar Singh, to allow any sway in election campaigns for appeals made on the basis of religion, race or caste “would vitiate the secular atmosphere of democratic life”. The Supreme Court’s seven-judge Bench would have done well to defer to Chief Justice Gajendragadkar’s views. A re-examination of Justice Verma’s judgments, far from being “pseudo-secular” as some critics might have us believe, is imperative in the interests of restoring an element of integrity in India’s political process. It is time we placed precepts of democratic morality and decency at the vanguard of our republic.

by

Suhrith Parthasarathy is an advocate practising at the Madras High Court.

The Art of Accomplishment: Six Principles from Vedanta

The essence of Vedanta is self-knowledge. In my work with organizations, I found six principles derived from Vedanta to be quite helpful in coaching executives to become successful and fulfill their dreams. These six principles are interdependent and describe a cycle. When you follow this cycle, you develop new competencies and achieve higher levels of success. Also, the more you practice the six principles, the more you begin to know yourself.

1) Clarity of Intention: Many of us have some idea of what we are after when we take on a project. More often, though, we may not have clarity about our goal, let alone know how to measure success if we do achieve it.

Intention is critical to achieving success. For example, in India, when we perform a special religious ceremony like 'Sri Satya Narayana Puja,' we start with 'Sankalpam,' a Sanskrit word for 'Intention.' We pray for our wishes (purusharthas) like dharma, money (artha), desires (kama), and spiritual freedom (Moksha) to be fulfilled. We also pray for the benefit of society/world (loka kalyana praptyartham).

When the intention is not clear, attention shifts from one thing (one desire) to another and leads to confusion (vikalpa). In such circumstances, we often end up compromising our own efforts and receive less than what we desired or even deserved. Without a crystal clear intention, we rarely experience a sense of accomplishment.

So, how do you increase the clarity of your intention? Ask yourself:

• What is it that I want?

• What evokes passion and joy in my heart?

• What am I willing to give up (sacrifice) to achieve the desired goal?

• If I have more than one intention, which one should I first attempt?

These questions bring to the surface some of our assumptions and passion and help us prioritize our intentions (and hence our actions).

2) Awareness: To succeed, intention alone is not enough. The message of Swami Vivekananda is: 'arise (Utthistatha), be awake and aware (Jagritha) and stop not till you reach your goal' (prapthavaran nibhodhata). Awareness is of two kinds: Self awareness and the awareness of the world around us. When we develop true awareness of self, we begin to understand the true nature of world also and that we are manifestation of Brahman-ultimate reality. There are four special sentences in Upanishads that reveal the nature of Atman (self) and Brahman and those are called 'maha vakyas' or 'great sentences:' Each approach Brahman from a different perspective while addressing the non-differentiation of Atman and Brahman.

• The first sentence or Maha Vakya, from an Upanishad related to Rig Veda, tells us that Consciousness is the Brahman (Pragnanam Brahma). It is called a 'Lakshana vakya' meaning 'defining sentence' because it defines Brahman in terms of Consciousness. 

• The second Mahavakya, from an Upanishad related to Yajur Veda, tells us that each of us are Brahman (Aham Brahmasmi). It is called 'Anubhava vakya' as only through experience that we can gain understanding of our true nature. 

• The third Maha Vakya, from an Upanishad (Chandogya) connected with Sama Veda, is 'Tat-tvam-asi.’ It is not just that I am Brahman, you are Brahman and the entire substratum of this world is also Brahman. This is called 'Upadesha Vakya' or sentence that is taught by teachers (Gurus) to their disciples to prevent arrogance and develop respect and compassion for others. 

• Finally, the fourth Maha Vakya, from an Upanishad (Mundaka) related to Atharva Veda, is 'Ayamatma Brahma' meaning ‘This Atman is Brahman.’ Since this sentence reveals the non-dualistic nature of atman and Brahman and keeps us connected with the larger reality, it is called 'Anusandhana Vakya.'

What blocks our awareness? Patanjali (exponent of Yoga Sutras in addition to Grammar and Ayurveda) said that there are five mental processes that act as enemies to awareness. They are:

• Our own expectations and standards (pramana),

• Our mis-identified and wrong knowledge (viparyaya),

• Our imagination (vikalpa),

• Sleep (nidra) and

• Memory (smruthi).

While sleep and old memory are easy to understand as blocks to awareness, Patanjali warns us that we have to watch out that our own standards, incomplete and false knowledge, and imagination don't take over our mind and make us either proud or sloppy or negligent. Indeed, we must be aware and vigilant against our complacence (Jagriti). Know that we shape the world through our actions and the world shapes us through its reactions. And we need to continually and dynamically re-assess where we've been, where we are, and where we want to go.

How do you develop more awareness? Reflection/contemplative practices, writing a journal regularly to become aware of our own thought processes and continual reassessment of our intentions are helpful. Most awareness is tacit. Learning to pay attention to body signals, pains and pleasures and energy shifts in the body is key to developing higher awareness and acute sensitivity to one's own body and mind. The more aware you are of yourself, the sharper your senses are to observe your surroundings!

3) Empathy for one another: While clarity of intention and awareness gets us onto the path to success, empathy and compassion helps us to gain support of others. Both in Bhagavad Geeta as well as Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, friendliness (maitri) and kindness/compassion (karuna) are two attitudes that are encouraged in working with others. When you begin to see yourself in others and feel for others genuinely, you will find that others reciprocate those feelings. Time and again, I have found that affection (vatsalyata bhava) and warmth towards to new people always brought positive results. When the situation had conflicts and divisive, these attitudes of maitri and karuna were able to diffuse that tension and create some 'openness' to an amicable solution.

What is empathy? It is like "walking in another's shoes." It implies the imaginative act of being the other person. Empathy is the foundation for emotional intelligence. By being kind and empathetic when you could be harsh, you can build lasting relationships with your colleagues, employees and customers.

The practice of empathy really requires demonstrating openness, mutual respect and trust in relationships. Deep listening, not just to the words but the meaning behind the words, is the foundation for an empathetic relationship. Sharing from the heart and feeling the pain of the other nurtures relationships. Empathy begets more empathy and is the source of a creative partnership.

4) Appreciation for each other and what you receive: While empathy opens the door, appreciation welcomes you in. Vedanta tells us to tell the truth that is pleasing to others and withhold what is disliked even if it is the truth. (satyam bhuyat, priyam bhuyat, na bhuyat satyam-apriyam) It does not mean that we should lie to please others, but it maybe better for people to find such truth themselves. Appreciation is not flattery but genuine acknowledgment of another's contribution. By letting you know that I appreciate what you have done for me, genuinely and specifically, I let you know that I honor and respect who you are. Appreciating a person and their work boosts morale and amplifies what brought that appreciation in the first place.

However, one can only appreciate others to the extent that one appreciates oneself. So appreciation is also about self acceptance. How does one practice self acceptance? Make it a ritual every day to find something positive that you have done or some contribution that you have made to others. Even if the work did not yet produce the desired result, appreciate the steps you have taken so far. Similarly appreciate what others have done, even if the results are not produced the first time they try it. Be authentic when you give such feedback and only then discuss how to improve future efforts and results.

5) Stretching beyond your own limits: We operate mostly on autopilot (under the influence of Maya). We become comfortable with 'karma theory' and when we fail, we say that it is our fate. While our fate might have something to do with our circumstances, if we don't learn from those failures and take actions that stretch us beyond our comfort zone, we are not using our free will (sveccha) to break out of our karma. Sveccha came from two words 'Sva' and 'iccha' meaning my desire. This is where we make choices and the clarity of our intention helps us immensely. When we are stretched, we gain access to our creativity and passion.

People are naturally uncomfortable taking risks and failing because we focus only on the end result. We don't accept or appreciate failure very well in our culture. Each 'failure' could create a mental block in us and create boundaries around us. Most such boundaries are self-imposed, though we like to blame others for their contribution. By learning to stretch even though we don't want to, we begin to break those mental barriers and discover untapped potential. Aspiration and desperation are two good motivators for stretching beyond our limits. And curiosity, genuine inquiry (not inquisition), empathy, and appreciation provide the impetus and support for people stretching beyond their limits and discovering new possibilities.

To practice this principle, find opportunities to learn and be vulnerable. Be willing to fail and look stupid and ask questions instead of making assumptions. Practice telling the truth when you are not sure what the implications are. Interestingly, you will find out that you are modeling a behavior that leads to 'stretching the limits.' You are creating an environment of nurturing and caring in which other people let their guards down and discover themselves to be bigger than their own imagination!

6) Letting go of what does not work and old mindsets: Practice (abhyaasa) and detachment (vairaagya) are two recommendations that Lord Krishna gives Arjuna in Geeta to gain control of his mind. While the first five principles could get you to the edge of success, success eludes those who are not able to know when to let go and move on. Letting go does not mean giving up. It means not to be attached to the result while continuing to perform the action.

Habits are difficult to change because we continue to do what we have always done by default and expect different results. By learning to let go of our old mindsets, we can begin to discover new possibilities and new approaches. Krishna advises Arjuna to do his best and to let go of his attachment to the fruits of his action. Such letting go gives us freedom to act and takes care of our nervousness. Many top athletes set themselves high goals and then let go of the attachment to those goals making them free to play their natural game bringing out the best in them.

Letting go is also about flexibility and good judgment. When I know what to let go of and when to do so, I can take responsibility for what I can hold onto and for how long. I can only take responsibilities for what I have freedom to let go. I cannot take accountability for any of my actions that I do not have such freedom.

The Cycle of Six Principles

Intention provides the direction and focus for our actions. Awareness gives us the capacity and intelligence to go after our goal. Empathy helps us build partnerships with others and appreciation is the key to motivation and productivity. Stretching beyond the perceived limits helps us to grow and meet the challenges presented and letting go of our attachment assures not only success but accomplishment. Together, these six principles convey the essence of Vedanta. Practicing them with self awareness leads not only to success but to self-discovery!

Source:-

http://mithya.prasadkaipa.com/learning/sixprinciples.html

Can Supreme Court Enforces the National Anthem in Movie theatres?

It is the Duty of Supreme court to release certain orders that can increase the unity and integrity of the nation.

A national anthem is generally a patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.

Our National Anthem:-

Jana Gana Mana Adhinaayak Jaya hai

Bharat Bhagya Vidhata

Punjab Sindh Gujarat Maratha,

Dravida Utkala Vanga

Vindhya Himachal Yamuna Ganga,

Uchchal Jaladhi Taranga

Tav shub naame jage,

Tav shub aashish maage,

Gahe tav jayagaatha.

Jana Gana Mangal Daayak Jaya hai

Bharat Bhagya Vidhata.

Jaya hai, jaya hai, jaya hai,

Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya hai..

English Translation:-

Thou art the ruler (directing the nation for farewell) of the hearts of all people,

Dispenser of India's fortune.

Thy name rouses the hearts of the Punjab,

Sind, Gujarat, and Maratha,

Of the Dravida, and Odhisha and Bengal.

It echoes in the hills of Vindhyas and,

Himalayas, mingles in the music of the

Yamuna and the Ganga and is chanted by

the waves of the Indian sea.

We pray for your blessings,

and sing by your praise,

The saving of all people

waits in thy hand.

Thou dispenser of India's fortune,

Victory, victory, victory to thee

The afore discussed national anthem indeed praises the nation and eulogise our national leaders struggles in their journey. It is really acceptable to sing the song wherever and whenever there is time to sing to remember our national struggle and to inculcate national values in our blood and souls.

It increases the Spirit of the nationalism, which is main background thought of the supreme court. 

That thought even supported by the Article 51A (a), which says that "It is our duty to abide our constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, national flag and national anthem".

In many instances, Supreme Court is incorporating many values of directive principles of State Policy, even though which are not enforceable.  In the same way, supreme court has taken the decision to enforce the national anthem before beginning the movies in theatres. The spirit behind the order is very good and unquestionable but is it implementable?

Look at it in the rational way,

1. Movie theatres are not only for the Indians but  also foreigners. we cannot ask them to stand whenever national anthem is being played.

2. Every one( consider large sections of indians) have the positive outlook  and love towards the nation and national anthem. Is it fair to express their love and respect solely in particular way????!!!! that is standing in movie theatres. they can express their nationalism in many ways such as by serving to the nation or by paying the taxes or by joining in the govt services ,especially army. Exercising the power to express one’s love and respect in particular way is against the article 19.1 that is freedom of expression.

3. It can increases the vigilantism.(it already happened in the tamil nadu).

4. Entertainment and expression on the nationalism are two separate entities. One cannot ask two combine them in particular way. People come to theatres for entertainment but not to express their national spirit. 

Conclusion:-

nationalism or patriotism comes from what we have done to our nation instead of standing up when  anthem that is played in the movie halls. The respect to National Anthem shall comes from within  but shall not be enforced. If it is forcefully enforced that will shows the FORCE but not love and respect toward the nation and its people.Enforcement with force will definitely shows the Judicial Overreach. 

Little Background Information:-

• National Anthem is written by Rabindernath Tagore.
• It is for the first time sung on 27 December 1911 at the Indian National Congress, Calcutta .
• Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose commissioned a free translation of the national anthem from Sanskritized Bengali to Urdu-Hindi. The translation was written by Captain Abid Ali, composed by Captain Ram Singh Thakur and was called Subah Sukh Chain.
• National Anthem is adopted by Government of India on 24th jan, 1950.

- By Madhav Kiran, Aspirant of civil service exams.

Talcolt Parsons- Social system, pattern variables.

What is social system?

A social system has been defined by Mitchell (1979: 203) as ‘consisting of a plurality of al actors interacting directly or indirectly with each other in a bounded situation. There may be physical or territorial boundaries but the main point of reference sociologically is that here individuals are oriented, in a wide sense, to a common focus or interrelated foci’.

Early approaches to the concept of social system.

Utilitarianism - Utilitarianism is a school of thought, which believes in the fact that pleasure is better than pain. It is a philosophical outlook and is generally associated with the name of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). According to this outlook utility is the greatest happiness of the greatest number. The proper goal of all human beings should be maximisation of utility.

Bentham believed that good motives are good as far as they lead to harmony of interests of an individual with those of others.

Positivism - This term also has been used for the distinct doctrines of school of philosophers known as ‘logical positivists’. They believed in the central idea that the meaning of a statement lay in the method of its varification. Any statement, which could not be verified, therefore, becomes meaningless.

Idealism - Idealism is the school of thought, which believes that the mind plays a key role in the constitution of the world as it is experienced. In the history we can discern different forms and applications of idealism. Its most radical form has been rejected because it is equivalent to solipsism. Solipsism is the view that all reality is nothing but the activity of one’s own mind and that in reality nothing exists but one’s own self However, idealists usually recognise the existence of the external or natural world fully. They do not claim that it can be reduced to the mere process of thinking. They believe that the mind is active and

capable of producing and sustaining modes of being that would not have existed otherwise, such as law, religion, art and mathematics

Concept of Social Action

The concept of action, according to Parsons, is derived from behaviour of human beings as living organism. As living organisms they interact (orientate) with outside reality as well as within their own mind. Behaviour becomes action when four conditions are present.

i) it is oriented to attainment of ends or goals or other anticipated affairs,

ii) it occurs in situations,

iii) it is regulated by norms and values of society,

iv) it involves an investment of ‘energy’ or motivation or effort.

When all these factors are present, a behaviour becomes action. Take for example a lady driving an automobile to go to a temple. She is probably going to offer prayers. In which case then the offering of the prayer is her end or goal to which she is oriented. Her situation is the road on which she is driving and the car in which she is sitting. Moreover, her behaviour is regulated by social norms or values in which the offering of prayers is recognised as desirable. In addition, she is applying her intelligence in the skill of driving which is learnt from society. Finally, the very act of driving the car implies expenditure of energy, holding the wheel, regulating the accelerator and skilful negotiation through the traffic on the road. When behaviour is seen in this analytical context, it can be defined as action.

Orientation of action can therefore be divided into two components, the motivational orientation and the value orientation. Motivational orientation refers to a situation in which action takes place taking into account needs, external appearances and plans. The second form of orientation is value orientation, which is based on considerations of standards of values, aesthetics, morality and of thinking.

A social system, according to Parsons, has the following characteristics.

i) It involves an interaction between two or more actors, and the interaction process is its main focus.

ii) Interaction takes place in a situation, which implies other actors or alters. These alters are objects of emotion and value judgement and through them goals and means of action are achieved.

iii) There exists in a social system collective goal orientation or common values and a consensus on expectations in normative and cognitive (intellectual) senses.

BASIC UNIT OF ORGANISATION OF A SOCIAL SYSTEM

The Motivational Orientation

The range of motivational orientations are three. These are the cognitive, the cathectic and the evaluative orientations.

i) The cognitive orientation makes actors see their environment or object in relation to their need dispositions as a mental object. They, i.e. the actors, attempt to understand the objectivity of the subject matter of observation.

ii) The cathectic orientation involves emotional attitude of actors towards their object.

iii) The evaluative orientation leads the actors to organise their effort in realisation of their object with optimum efficiency. Take for example the behaviour of a housewife going to the market to purchase vegetables. The cognitive orientation enables her to judge the quality

of vegetables in relation to her need and need in relation to its prices, the cathectic orientation would determine as to which vegetable she likes more than the others, and the evaluative orientation would make it possible for her to make a choice of a vegetable which gives her maximum satisfaction.

The Value Orientation

The range of value orientations also comprises three parts. These are the cognitive, the appreciative and the moral.

i) The cognitive orientation is one, which relates to the issue of validity of judgement.

ii) The appreciative orientation is that which makes it possible for actors to judge their emotional response to object, its appropriateness or consistency.

iii) The moral orientation is one, which refers to value commitment of an actor towards his or her objects.

PATTERN VARIABLES

In order to develop concepts, which could reflect the properties of all action systems, Parsons was led to a set of concepts, which could bring out the variable properties of these systems. These concepts are termed pattern variables.

There are in all five pattern variables, each side of it represents one polar extreme. These pattern variables are

i) affectivity versus affective neutrality

ii) self-orientation versus collectivity orientation

iii) universalism versus particularism

iv) ascription versus achievement

v) specificity versus diffuseness.

Affectivity versus Affective Neutrality

Affectivity versus affective neutrality concerns the dilemma of role performance where evaluation is involved in relation to a situation. How much should a situation be evaluated in emotional terms or with a degree of emotional neutrality? This poses a difficult choice in most roles that we are expected to perform in society. Take for example the mother-child relationship.

It has high degree of affective orientation, but discipline is also required. So on many occasions a mother would have to exercise affective-neutral role in relation to her child’s socialisation. But motherchild relationship is essentially dominated by affectivity. In comparison, doctor-patient relationship brings out the aspect of affective neutrality that

characterises a doctor’s role.

 Affective-neutrality is essential for proper medical care, especially where surgical treatments are involved. But according to Parsons in all role performance situations the dilemma of choice and its degree of expression or commitment remains.

Self-orientation versus Collectivity Orientation

Similarly, in self-orientation versus collectivity orientation pattern variable the main issue is that of moral standard in the procedure of evaluation. The moral standard arises from the fact that actor has to make a choice between his or her own gratification and its deferment for the good of a larger number of people, a collectivity.

 Some form of altruism and selfsacrifice is involved. The dilemma of this pattern variable has always been present in human life from primitive mode of economy and society to modern civilisation. The notion of socialist society and socialist consciousness offers us a good example where a whole social system and patterns of its institutions are based on the dominant choice in favour of collectivity orientation. But as Parsons has rightly pointed out, institutionalisation of such values is always fragile. This is because the response to the situation by the actor is always in the form of a dilemma.

Universalism versus Particularism

Universalism versus particularism is a pattern variable which defines the role situation where the actor’s dilemma is between the cognitive versus the cathective (or emotional standards) evaluation. A very good example of roles adhering to universalistic standards of human behaviour are role performances which go strictly by legal norms and legal sanctions.

 It one abides by the rule of law irrespective of personal, kinship or friendship

considerations, then that would be an example of the universalistic mode of role performance. If one violates legal norms only because the person involved is a kin or a friend, then particularistic considerations would be said to be operating. Parsons says that in societies where the role of the bureaucracy of formal organisations and modern institutions have become widespread there the dilemmas of Universalism and particularism have

become a matter of choice in everyday life.

Ascription versus Achievement

The actor’s dilemma in the ascription versus achievement pattern variable is based on whether or not the actor defines the objects of his or her role either in terms of quality or performance. In India a very good example of this pattern variable is the role performance governed by the caste system. In the caste system, the statuses of persons are determined not on the basis of their personal achievement or personal skills or knowledge but on the

basis of their birth. Ascription is based on assigning certain quality to a person either by birth, or age, or sex or kinship or race. Achievement is based on personal acquisition of skills and levels of performance in society.

Specificity versus Diffuseness

The specificity versus diffuseness pattern variable concerns the scope of the object of role performance. Scope, in this case, is to be understood in terms of the nature of social interaction.

Some social interactions, such as between doctors and patients or between buyers and sellers of goods in the market, have a very specific scope. The nature of these interactions is defined in terms of a very precise context of interaction. A doctor does not have to understand the social, financial or political background of his or her patients in order to treat them and to give them a prescription. Doctor’s task is very specific. So is the case of

sellers of commodities in the market, who do not have to know the general details of the life of their customers. Such roles are specific in terms of the standards of response between actors.

On the contrary, some role relationships are very general and encompassing in nature. Such roles involve several aspects of the object of interaction. Some examples of such role relationships are friendship, conjugal relationship between husband and wife, relationships between kin of various degrees. All these relationships are such where the actor does not

interact with another in a relationship in a specific context as such, but in a diffused manner such as in case of two close friends. The scope of interaction is flexible, open and encompassing in nature.