The Indian Crab Mentality

Crabs are known to display a peculiar behavior when you put a consortium of them in a bucket. While it’s relatively easy for either of them to get out of the bucket, the result is far from this. The creatures tend to pull down their mates persevering to get out of the makeshift hellhole. In short, the "if I can’t do it, then neither can you" attitude is exhibited by the brachyura. Having read this, it shouldn’t surprise you when I say that humans are akin to crabs—we become jealous and bitter upon seeing others excel and succeed.

This ‘crab mentality’ is prevalent across the world, observed everywhere irrespective of gender, creed, or any other demarcation. India, my country, is reeling under the crippling effects of this psychological trait, and it’s saddening to see how its citizens, despite identifying the pitfalls, incessantly demonstrate and promote the "your success burns my eyes" frame of mind. The Indian political ecosystem is a case in point of belittling the opposition’s achievements, even when both sides are going to reap the benefits of that unilateral effort. And the media simply endorses these ridiculous antics by staging so-called ‘news debates’ and whatnot. Be it Congress, BJP, or any other political outfit, why can’t you give credit to the other party when it’s doing something positive!

‘Sharmaji Ka Beta’ is a phrase that graces most of the Indian education related memes. For those unaware, the phrase refers to the neighbor’s child who is proficient in everything: studies, sports, etc. And this kid in turn is the benchmark that your child ought to match. Such relentless, superficial comparison of one’s child with others’ shows the complete disregard for virtues like individuality. For example, if a student scores 99.96% in some nationalized exam (it reminds me of a guy who topped the CBSE exams 3-4 years back), he or she is mocked on social media. Instead of heartfelt words of appreciation, comments such as ‘there’s no use to studying so much’ start doing the rounds. The millions of pathetic, jobless engineers produced in India every year are also the outcome of not being able to flourish in academics; most often, these poor souls were coerced into taking up engineering--their parents could not withstand seeing their neighbor’s son or daughter earning 7-figures after graduating with an engineering degree.

Detrimental effects of this mentality can be seen in other spaces as well. The Indian IT industry, with the service-based companies to be specific, is jam-packed with pretentious employees. Instead of taking cues from the company’s star performer on delivering sublime job performance, co-workers are more interested in gossiping about the hypothetical ‘malpractices’  that the employee would have engaged in to get the well-deserved recognition. Nothing but ill will and pretense! Working in a battle-royale like setting where there’s everything but encouragement and admiration for individual contributions, is distressing and demotivating (to be honest). The typical Indian employee that we come across while commuting through public transport, with a company-issued identity card hanging from his neck and a lunch box in one hand, is always seen frowning; as if happiness eludes him. The reason’s likely going to be office politics which is nothing but crab mentality in disguise.

If you happen to reside in India, you’ll be well-aware of the clout this mentality wields. Your experiences at home, school, college, office, etc. exhibit subtle, if not direct, hints about the psyche in question. Before you jump to any conclusion, I want to make something clear—the whole concept of crab behavior isn’t just about the negatives. Our primal instincts naturally arouse shades of envy and selfishness. And they’re there for a reason—the competitiveness among homo sapiens was imperative for the progress made over thousands of years, driving the transition from living a caveman-like life to becoming the modern-day, tech-savvy millennial. Complete elimination of this psyche from your personality may have severe implications. Embrace it and use it for your gains, without inflicting any kind of damage to the very source who incites jealousy in you.

If you give serious thought to the mentality discussed above, the extent to which it has plagued India would come as a surprise. A lot of factors are attributed to the hindrance of India's development and it's a pity that we, the citizens, willfully overlook our negative mindset--the major factor behind the problems this nation is facing at present. There are innumerable consequences of the Indian crab syndrome that I haven't mentioned. If I were to do the same, this post would easily manifest into a book!