Indian vs. American morality
Yes, I am talking about that poor Indian woman who was criminally charged for merely walking out of a Target store in the U.S. with some items. I understand she was leaving the shop with items worth $1,300 (₹1,11,994) she hadn't paid for. But does that mean you brand her a thief? There are so many things wrong with the way she was treated, I'm amazed patriotic NRIs still continue to patronise American retail instead of buying all their groceries on visits to India.
This tragic miscarriage of justice can be traced to three factors: no clear warning or messaging that the shop was under CCTV surveillance; no option given to the woman to bribe the police officer and settle the matter; and complete mismatch between a state-of-the-art Indian morality and an American system based on a crude assumption of equality before the law, with no allowance made for nuances such as class and caste of the accused.
This column is a satirical take on life and society.
Privacy lost
The first one alone sealed her fate. The entire incident is attributable to a simple cultural difference between India and the U.S. with regard to CCTV cameras. In India, any shop that deploys CCTV cameras warns customers they are under surveillance. You will see a sign saying, 'Smile, you are on camera' or 'Weep, Big Brother is watching you'. So you know the shop expects you to pay for the things you put in your shopping cart.
This Target store in Illinois did have cameras, but they were all hidden from view. It also had no signs alerting customers they were under watch. Seriously, is this kind of clandestine surveillance even permitted anymore in civilised society? What about privacy?
Anyway, faced with acres of goodies and no cameras, the lady naturally assumed it was okay to leave the shop with some items. If she was indeed required to pay for them, some staffer would surely come and remind her, or at least there would be a security beep at the exit alerting her that the goods were not 'complimentary'. But when she walked out with her cartful of items, there was no beep. So imagine her shock when all of a sudden a guard jumps out of nowhere, calls her a thief, and takes her to the police.
Clear case of entrapment
One may still condone the guard's over-enthusiasm. But what about the American police? The Indian woman graciously offers to pay for all the merchandise in her cart. But the policewoman would simply not let her pay and close the matter.
It was heart-breaking to see the woman repeatedly plead with the police saying, 'The best thing would be for me to pay and finish this.' The cop's stone-hearted reply: 'The best thing would be to not steal in the first place.' Seriously, how can you call it stealing when the so-called thief is literally begging to pay for everything she took?
This is where the primitiveness of American morality stands exposed. It sees everything in black and white — as right or wrong, with no shades of grey. Indian morality, evolved over a period of 50,000 years, is a far more sophisticated system. It makes allowances for the complexities and mysteries of human nature. It knows that a person may walk out of a shop with unpaid goods but without any intention to steal — just to see whether they get caught, or purely as a social experiment. This is not accidental. Our sense of right and wrong comes from an ancient truth summed up in a proverb we all learnt as children: 'The crime is not the crime; getting caught is the crime.' This is why withholding information about the presence of CCTV cameras is the real crime in this entire saga, for it duped the poor Indian woman into thinking she wouldn't be caught — a really egregious case of entrapment if you think about it.
People often ask me, 'You are bright, talented, and a South Indian. What are you doing in India? Why aren't you settled in the U.S. like Sundar Pichai?' I always tell them, 'America is a backward country. No predictability when it comes to rule of law. Anything can happen to anyone.' People would laugh at my answer. They thought I was joking. Now everyone is realising I was dead serious.
The author of this satire, is Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.
sampath.g@thehindu.co.in
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