BEING ADEPT AT ADAPTATION!!

The thought train preceding this article came from an interesting personal experience which goes as follows. Due to an unexpected increase in the strength of girls in my batch and only two girls’ hostels in my college, it was decided to have double sharing in single rooms. Naturally the fact was omitted from the admissions brochure. Initially there was a hue and cry with promises to provide separate rooms by December. However, the year ended and now we all are shifting to the senior hostel. When a senior had exclaimed at the fact that how we were managing, I had said with a sudden literary flair, “Humans are very adept at adaptation!”

It was only then that I gave a deeper thought to this statement and found it to be an accurate observation. While biologists may disagree, apart from the chameleon’s camouflage prowess, I don’t think any species can match up to the adaptive power of the “homo sapiens”. Adaptation, since times immemorial, has been projected in a good light. “Survival of the fittest” indirectly implies “survival of the most adaptable”. It is almost a power. As a result, we have ignored that there can be a darker side to this ability of ours.

To understand this let us look at it from the current human angle. Our ancestors’ practices of making the best of things available around, in order to establish civilisations, were one of the best forms of adaptation. No doubts in that, but what about today’s world? How many times have we differentiated between “adapting” and “giving in”? Taking the example cited above, none of us actually made an effort to resist the decision, but willingly “adapted” to the small spaces provided to us. In a similar fashion we find that people instead of complaining to the municipalities about the mosquito, garbage or sewer over flow menaces, prefer to make their homes insect or stench-free. Far from protesting against the holding-up of work due to unreasonable union strikes, they draw pleasure out of the free time. Instead of resisting corrupt practices, they make their way out via supply of crisp notes at the appropriate places. Even gender discrimination is the result of mute adaptation of the fairer sex to the illogical rules of the patriarchal society. For example, girls wearing western outfits are usually disgustingly branded to provoke eve teasers!!! In rural areas, the lack of basic amenities and the persistence of social evils like caste discrimination, child marriage, female infanticide etc., has become a way of life. The notorious khap panchayats or kangaroo courts have yet to be eliminated despite the inhuman crimes (read justice meted out) by them. Lastly, living in a democracy, citizens have labelled politics as a dirty, dark corridor and responsible for all the problems imaginable, making no effort to change it. Participation is still a far cry. In short everyone (that includes me n you too!) has very “efficiently adapted” to the system, making no effort to change it. ( well pretty much like the creature below!!!)

This essentially outlines the fall of the ability of adaptation. It becomes a means of giving in and contending with whatever we have. No efforts are made to try out something new, exploring our unexplored powers of bringing about a change. We become so happy in the imaginary “adaptive comfort zone” created by us that we fear to venture out. We lose our will to challenge anything anymore. So therefore it follows that it is up to us to decide when we are adapting and when giving in. Adaptation is good until it does not hamper one’s progress, willingness to fight what is wrong and not give up until we have explored every possibility. After all the quest to achieve more and move up in life is the driving wheel for the train of development of not just our society, but the nation and thereby the world.