Shocked, disheartened, angry, heart broken, all of those and more describe my state of mind right now. While these emotions have been brought forth with a vengeance by the recent chain of events, this is not the first time I am experiencing them, and the reasons were not much different then either. This post may or may not have a very coherent flow, simply because, I am rather upset and I want to speak my mind.... somewhere.
The India today, infact the entire world as it exists now, has no concept of the sacrosanct. Everything seems to be open for violation by any and everyone. It hurts me, because my country, my God are very personal and important to me. When you say ill about my motherland, it is equivalent to my own mother being abused, as it is, when God is spoken ill of. The unfortunate fact is, very few people take things to heart unless it is about themselves or immediate family, and only then all hell breaks loose. But my country, and God are no less personal to me, than my children or my parents. Yes, that is the plain and simple fact of it. It really upsets me still, when people don't stand up for the national anthem! That is how I am, and I have no shame in saying this, because I wear it as a badge of honour.
A couple of years ago, on Facebook, I had friends, who are intellectuals, people who have written and published books, not just fiction, but on topics of women's rights and their plights. At one point of time, I simply removed them from my friend list, I did not fight them, I prefered not to argue but just move away from people who were hurting my sentiments. These people called Lord Ram all kinds of names, anti-feminist, a wimp etc etc. I don't want to go deeper, because it will just enrage me further. But when I politely told them, what they think is incorrect, I was told that they had read the Ramayana in and out, and knew much better than me. I could see, that they had no sense of boundaries or limits, and believed themselves and their opinions to be superior to all else.This anti-Ram brigade has been there for long, most of them pseudo-feminists, with mastery of the English language, to whom feminism often represents, ability to drink freely, freedom of promiscuity for women and wearing not-so-modest clothing, without a care. The point is, nothing is sacred to them, just the ability to read, or be on the Internet seems to give people the misconception, that they can talk, just about anything. What saddens me more, is that there is no sense of loyalty, belonging or respect for anything at all.
What then to say, about kids who are still studying. They speak about Maa Durga in ways, they would of a promiscous woman on the streets, they have no wisdom, and are terribly misguided. I understand now, the meaning behind the words of Jesus, praying to God, and saying " Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do! ". Such is the state of mind of these people, young-adults, adults and more. They are ignorant, misguided and worst of all full of ego, to know or understand anymore than what they know. Where God is not sacred anymore, what chance does their motherland or Gandhiji stand?
It is also a great, and blatant show of insensitivity towards the emotions and sensitivities of others. That in my books, makes people rude and mean, because every individual is gifted with free-will and has the right to form their own opinions and judgments, but when the expression of these opinions happen at the cost of hurting others, it is these people who prove themselves insensitive and more importantly intolerant. Knowledge without kindness is worse than being ignorant, and knowledge acquired by reading or hearing, does not convert to wisdom unless correctly assimilated by us. We are generation with scant respect for anything, but ourselves, we are also possibly the most materialistic and selfish bunch of people to have ever inhabited the world. It is our lack of respect for anything beyond ourselves, which makes things more twisted. We presume we are wise enough to have an opinion on everything, things that are way beyond our comprehension, or capacity to understand. Instead of just anger, I am filled with a strong sense of pity, when I read a designer-wear donning, chauffeur-driven-car-traveling, completely-obsessed-with-outer-appearance lady assassinate the character of Mahatma Gandhi, with similar pseudo intellectual cronies nodding their heads along in vociferous agreement through comments and tweets, because they cannot in their air-conditioned environs imagine giving away their clothes to the poor, to live in just a dhoti, give a life of luxury to fight for the rights others. Such kinds think they have the right to criticise a man who brought them the freedom to actually afford those things and express their opinions freely. Ridiculous, sad, preposterous does not even begin to cover it.
Our ideas of being hip and cool are now synonymous with our ability to openly criticise religion and all that is believed to be ideal. Crab mentality at its best, if we can't emulate them, or be them, let us get into mud slinging. If you actually hold onto some ideals, principles or beliefs, you are more likely to be considered absolutely uncool. Chalta Hai is the attitude to have. In a group of friends, agree to anything and everything that is said, no matter how absolutely wrong or atrocious it is. It is considered maturity and diplomacy, to hear things and not react, a joke about a rape, or about the country or even God. Hear it and smile, if you cannot agree and applaud, in the least. This is the attitude that is being bred, and then built on. What starts with small slights on minor matters, then ends up with Mahishasur Martyrdom Day, because no one said a word, when it was small, because no one cares anymore if the country is abused. How much worse are we going to let things get, before we raise our voices? Before we decide, chalta hai is not the right way. Somethings are sacrosanct, and NO ONE has the right to violate those things. This is what our generation with too much information and very little wisdom or respect, needs to learn. That just because we cannot understand it from our small minded perspective, does not mean that thing is wrong, rather, it means we need to learn more, broaden our horizons further, and to make us realise that indeed we are but an ignorant creature, with just lots of junk information on our hands.
And yes, once again, a slight against India, or God, is as personal to me, as anyone abusing my children or my parents. That is the way, it has been, and that is the way it always will be. A person who abuses the very nation that has fed him, clothed him and educated him, is an ungrateful creature of the highest order. Law may, or may not punish him, but such people belong to the very scum of humanity, because ingratitude is the worst crime of all.
The India today, infact the entire world as it exists now, has no concept of the sacrosanct. Everything seems to be open for violation by any and everyone. It hurts me, because my country, my God are very personal and important to me. When you say ill about my motherland, it is equivalent to my own mother being abused, as it is, when God is spoken ill of. The unfortunate fact is, very few people take things to heart unless it is about themselves or immediate family, and only then all hell breaks loose. But my country, and God are no less personal to me, than my children or my parents. Yes, that is the plain and simple fact of it. It really upsets me still, when people don't stand up for the national anthem! That is how I am, and I have no shame in saying this, because I wear it as a badge of honour.
A couple of years ago, on Facebook, I had friends, who are intellectuals, people who have written and published books, not just fiction, but on topics of women's rights and their plights. At one point of time, I simply removed them from my friend list, I did not fight them, I prefered not to argue but just move away from people who were hurting my sentiments. These people called Lord Ram all kinds of names, anti-feminist, a wimp etc etc. I don't want to go deeper, because it will just enrage me further. But when I politely told them, what they think is incorrect, I was told that they had read the Ramayana in and out, and knew much better than me. I could see, that they had no sense of boundaries or limits, and believed themselves and their opinions to be superior to all else.This anti-Ram brigade has been there for long, most of them pseudo-feminists, with mastery of the English language, to whom feminism often represents, ability to drink freely, freedom of promiscuity for women and wearing not-so-modest clothing, without a care. The point is, nothing is sacred to them, just the ability to read, or be on the Internet seems to give people the misconception, that they can talk, just about anything. What saddens me more, is that there is no sense of loyalty, belonging or respect for anything at all.
What then to say, about kids who are still studying. They speak about Maa Durga in ways, they would of a promiscous woman on the streets, they have no wisdom, and are terribly misguided. I understand now, the meaning behind the words of Jesus, praying to God, and saying " Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do! ". Such is the state of mind of these people, young-adults, adults and more. They are ignorant, misguided and worst of all full of ego, to know or understand anymore than what they know. Where God is not sacred anymore, what chance does their motherland or Gandhiji stand?
It is also a great, and blatant show of insensitivity towards the emotions and sensitivities of others. That in my books, makes people rude and mean, because every individual is gifted with free-will and has the right to form their own opinions and judgments, but when the expression of these opinions happen at the cost of hurting others, it is these people who prove themselves insensitive and more importantly intolerant. Knowledge without kindness is worse than being ignorant, and knowledge acquired by reading or hearing, does not convert to wisdom unless correctly assimilated by us. We are generation with scant respect for anything, but ourselves, we are also possibly the most materialistic and selfish bunch of people to have ever inhabited the world. It is our lack of respect for anything beyond ourselves, which makes things more twisted. We presume we are wise enough to have an opinion on everything, things that are way beyond our comprehension, or capacity to understand. Instead of just anger, I am filled with a strong sense of pity, when I read a designer-wear donning, chauffeur-driven-car-traveling, completely-obsessed-with-outer-appearance lady assassinate the character of Mahatma Gandhi, with similar pseudo intellectual cronies nodding their heads along in vociferous agreement through comments and tweets, because they cannot in their air-conditioned environs imagine giving away their clothes to the poor, to live in just a dhoti, give a life of luxury to fight for the rights others. Such kinds think they have the right to criticise a man who brought them the freedom to actually afford those things and express their opinions freely. Ridiculous, sad, preposterous does not even begin to cover it.
Our ideas of being hip and cool are now synonymous with our ability to openly criticise religion and all that is believed to be ideal. Crab mentality at its best, if we can't emulate them, or be them, let us get into mud slinging. If you actually hold onto some ideals, principles or beliefs, you are more likely to be considered absolutely uncool. Chalta Hai is the attitude to have. In a group of friends, agree to anything and everything that is said, no matter how absolutely wrong or atrocious it is. It is considered maturity and diplomacy, to hear things and not react, a joke about a rape, or about the country or even God. Hear it and smile, if you cannot agree and applaud, in the least. This is the attitude that is being bred, and then built on. What starts with small slights on minor matters, then ends up with Mahishasur Martyrdom Day, because no one said a word, when it was small, because no one cares anymore if the country is abused. How much worse are we going to let things get, before we raise our voices? Before we decide, chalta hai is not the right way. Somethings are sacrosanct, and NO ONE has the right to violate those things. This is what our generation with too much information and very little wisdom or respect, needs to learn. That just because we cannot understand it from our small minded perspective, does not mean that thing is wrong, rather, it means we need to learn more, broaden our horizons further, and to make us realise that indeed we are but an ignorant creature, with just lots of junk information on our hands.
And yes, once again, a slight against India, or God, is as personal to me, as anyone abusing my children or my parents. That is the way, it has been, and that is the way it always will be. A person who abuses the very nation that has fed him, clothed him and educated him, is an ungrateful creature of the highest order. Law may, or may not punish him, but such people belong to the very scum of humanity, because ingratitude is the worst crime of all.
