Stockholm syndrome

 Exactly 53 years ago, on August 23, 1973 a group of gunmen and women led by Jan Erik Olsson - high on drugs and holding a gun took hostages in a bank in Stockholm, Sweden. The world has seen several hostage dramas before and after this event. But what makes this one uniquely different is the hostages developing an emotional bond with their captors giving birth to a new phrase called  "Stockholm Syndrome".

The whole hostage drama got wide television coverage. The world was glued to TV round the clock. The audience were surprised when one of the girls taken hostage while talking to the authorities over phone started defending her captor. She had already developed a huge crush on her hostage taker who was a charismatic speaker and humored her by telling stories and playing Checkers.

The drama ended on day six when police sprayed gas into the bank, forcing the culprits to surrender, freeing the hostages and ending the crisis. But the "Stockholm syndrome" never ended and stuck around like a chewing gum stuck to your pants, refusing to go. It continues unabated in many places, in various forms where the victims love the perpetrators.

I have seen some of my college mates idolizing those professors who harassed them to no end, going an extra yard to eulogizing them, both before and after their demise. I am a son of a professor and I have ultimate respect for teaching profession. But needless harassing of young minds isn't something to be eulogized. It's Okay to admire the good things about our teachers, but to my surprise I have seen many victims of harassment needlessly going an extra yard out of way harboring "Stockholm syndrome" towards them. The famous writer Khushwant Singh who didn't spare any one including himself once wrote - "A person doesn't become better after death". He never spared anyone in his eulogy, he didn’t even spare himself when he wrote an self eulogy years before he died.

Coming from a feudal society, I heard folks eulogizing Babus (Bureaucrats), often smitten by them and the power they wield. It is not unusual to see victims at the receiving end of the Babus in Odisha saying -"ARRE SEY IAS OFFICER PEE KI BADEILA" (So and So IAS officer got drunk and beat some hapless folks). As if getting drunk and beating innocents by taking law into their own hands and taking advantage of their position is something praiseworthy. I know many who are forever stuck like glue to their marriages with "Stockholm Syndrome" in spite of being in an abusive relationship. Once a girl confided to me about her abusive relationship from a perennially cheating husband. When I questioned her compulsion of clinging to marriage and being stuck to a toxic relationship, her response was reminding me the title of a Hindi song -

"BHALA HAI BURA HAI, JAISE BHI HAI.
MERA PATI MERA DEVTA HAI".

Roughly transliterated,

"Good, Bad or Ugly, Wherever he stands.
After all, he is my husband".

We see lots of examples of the "Stockholm syndrome" in real life. Psychologically many of us tend to sympathize with our perpetrators. Part of it is due to our inferiority complex which makes us appreciate the stronger person bullying us which we aspire to do but can't due to various reasons - it could be lack of courage, the societal pressure etc etc. We get a vicarious pleasure by seeing our wishes replicated by someone else. What happens then is a perfect example of - "if you can't beat them, join them". More than 50 years since we are stuck with the "Stockholm syndrome" forever.