P.A. Chacko SJ
The Indigenous people in India call themselves Adivasis. The Indian Constitution terms them as Scheduled Tribe. They claim theirs as the earliest existence in India.
The world of Adivasis is not one of accumulation of wealth. No wonder, they are not in the business of business. In fact, business acumen is almost zero in them. You see very few of them engaged in running a business. The reason is that accumulation of wealth is not at all a priority for them. The village socialistic pattern of thinking and the common way of acting may have something to do with it. ‘We all progress together or sink together.’
In the ‘get-rich-quick world’ of today, such a characteristic may be written off as belonging to the netherworld of defeatist mentality. But, according to me, this particular characteristic is a wholesome virtue because it does not push people into cut throat tactics and exploitative methods. No wonder, words like tension, mad race for showmanship, religious fundamentalism, self-importance, accumulation, and the like, are not in their dictionary. Men and women with high BP are a very rare phenomenon.
Such a way of life has been backed by a communitarian value that is lived out by indigenous communities. How long will it survive? Difficult to say! Because, the pressures of a consumerist and competitive world out there have their manipulative ways, masquerading with a hidden agenda!
But, for the sake of sanity of humanity, such beautiful values should not only survive but also should be adopted by the rest of the world. Competition may be a need, but it should not pull down others or prevent others from climbing the ladder of progress and advancement.