Sunday, August 7, 2016

Tum besaharaa ho to ...

Talking Peace is like preaching religion.
As is the sad irony in both cases:
They are not meant to be practiced in essence.

One hardly comes across any glorification of Peace, except of course the Nobel Peace Prize.
On the other hand look at the glorification of violence.
And the amazingly potent pretexts under which violence is justified.
Most often this vicious activity of justifying hate , murder and rape is sheathed in holy virtues.

The loftiness of sacrifice and "bravery" in giving up one's life for a cause, never mind killing many more before one can qualify for the seventy-two-Virgin reward in Heaven above.
or
That one-in-a-thousand medal of appreciation (which often comes posthumous)

Why is "resting-in-peace" easy but "living in peace " difficult ?
Any thoughts for the families who are left behind to collect the gallantry awards?
Oh ! Don't we honour them enough ... ?
Big bunches of flowers, Facebook Salutes, candles  ... ! 
What more can one do ?

So do we realize what we are doing when we buy toy Pistols, and models of tanks, fighter air crafts, soldiers etc for our four-five-six year olds?!
Are we not gifting them a world of violence at that tender age ?
Even a call to make children do well in exam comes wrapped in words like "fight", "Win" etc

Some time ago I read a quote by His Holiness The Dalai Lama
He says ...



Interestingly while in digital India , WhatsApp University syllabus is creating battallions of youth armed with degrees in hate politics , there still are in the real world old Hindi film songs that enrich peoples' lives with beautiful messages of co existence reminding us of a shared heritage

Take for instance
तुम बेसहारा हो तो
किसी का सहारा बनो
तुम को अपने आप ही
सहारा मिल जाएगा  ..."
Written by Anand Bakshi Saheb, this is not just another film song.
It is philosophy expressed in poetry.
Philosophy of non violence and compassion, of comradeship and sharing, of spreading love instead of nurturing vindictiveness.

Listen to the following lines:

" तुम हो एक अकेले तो 
रुक मत जाओ चल निकलो 
तुम को रास्ते में कोई 
साथी तुम्हारा मिल जाएगा "

These words give much hope to someone holding the light of peace standing firmly even in their solitude !
Bakshi Saheb's this song also calls for finding peace inside your heart ...

"ना मिलता है प्यार बाज़ारों में
ना बिकता है चैन दुकानों में 
ढूंढ रहे हो तुम जिसको 
उसको बाहर मत ढूंढ़ो  
मन के अंदर ढूंढ़ो
प्रीतम प्यारा मिल जाएगा"

The enormous energy of youth is a paradoxical combination of dream-like softness in thought and steely determination in action
Hence it is of utmost value that in a country of such immense diversity as India , this energy is channelised towards nurturing life and building the nation on the principles of justice and equality
But instead of such positive attitude being developed , what we see happening around us is an alarming contrast
Young boys and girls reading the WhatsApp University course , are being robbed of their power to think rationally and the lines of their inexperienced palms are beginning to get imprinted with destruction .

Another couplet from the same song says:
"सब्र से जीना आसाँ होता है 
फ़िक्र से जीना मुश्किल होता है"
Meaning:
Patience (सब्र) is a trait that brings comfort, and eventually shows the right path.
But "फ़िक्र" denoting a restless / revengeful mind is like termite.
It eats into your confidence and erodes all sensibilities.

How much peace can a cycle of hate and counter hate beget anyway ?

And as far as justifying violence on the basis of Newton's action-reaction theory is concerned , one must understand that life is not Science or Math.
Here neither two opposite forces attract each other nor do two negatives make one positive.

In life one can live in peace if one can bust and break the action-reaction theory  , clean the cobwebs of past animosities , and open the windows to let in the light of happiness and harmony

Let us open our hearts to the music of peace and poetry of love.