Domain Name Babu

Babu in several Indian languages means 'the boss' or even 'monsieur'. The suffix ji makes it very respectful as it is used to mean one's father too. Babu has also been widely used as a first name and surname in many parts of India.

In British India babu was used to mean a native Indian clerk who was educated enough to help the colonialists tooth and nail in plundering India. They were known for their blind loyalty and so drew hatred from the nationalists. This was the beginning of a more negative usage for this term.

Since the 20th century up to the present times babuhas been a sweeping statement on the Indian bureaucrats and all government officials used mostly by the Indian media. A typical babu sits on the files, deals with red tape, procrastinates, takes bribes, snobs and snubs, behaves in a copybook style, and smiles only in befitting company and meticulously follows a dress code. The term, ironically, defies class division as it is applicable from the clerk upwards to the topmost officer in the hierarchy. The problems start right here.

We embark upon this cumbersome task of taking an incisive look into the manifestations of this usage, because of its sweeping nature and the fallacies inherent.

Babu is overwhelmingly male. It'd be inhuman to say that the Indian bureaucracy is absolutely devoid of women. A gender bias that would hardly be tolerated by the modern day feminists! But, by the way, where they've been all this while?

The babu syndrome is rooted in the basic Marxist-Leninist fallacious philosophy. It'd always been fashionable to be anti-establishment if one could afford it. The establishment implies the people of the government i.e. the bourgeois; and all others employed in non-government sectors are anti-establishment i.e. the proletariat. It's very tempting indeed to be able to be a part of the proletariat even with a fat paycheck and to be able to assert it by damning the 'bourgeois' as babus. The picture gets even rosier with all the sops offered by the establishment to the esoteric creatively-inclined professional anti-establishment fat-check-earners. So then, when creatively it's strictly 'babu'; and when favors are to be had it's politely babuji.

The sweeping nature of the syndrome makes it well nigh impossible for the babus to even dream of achieving any type of fame or good name. They cannot be creative, they cannot do professional work and they cannot even be sensitive people. When some of them do good work they are ignored or the work is not noticed. The 'proletariat' just cannot afford to notice such work as that will nip its 'outsourcing' aspirations in the bud. The 'bourgeois' indulges in outsourcing because it's accepted that it cannot do it. So, there is only one way open to the babus for achieving 'fame'-be corrupt and be corrupt in a big way. The creative 'proletariat' will stop at nothing to expose the establishment and there'd be a big bang of free publicity and hype.
We are not sure if this is entirely an Indian phenomenon or such type of mindset aimed at the government officials exists in other countries too. The Babu Theorem may very well provide a fertile ground to ponder upon and analyze such uncouth issues.