Brothers in Arms

The title of this blog is the name of a Gregorian song, Masters of Chant, Chapter 1, and as I listened to the song, as is usual, the words were not that clear. So I googled and found the lyrics, which were so very wonderful that I thought I would dwell on just four lines from third verse of the song. These are the words which caught my attention from the song : There's so many different worlds / So many different suns / And we have just one world / But we live in different ones. These words I feel, depict our present predicament; what we have done with the world, and how we have alienated ourselves from our brothers and sisters!

I may be lucky not to have my close relatives or parents or siblings across the border, in Bangladesh or Pakistan or Sri Lanka. I may not be able to feel the pain and agony those who do have their dear ones across the wired fences, nor will the country's leaders will ever feel it. It is the same earth, same green fields, same rivers, but we have given them different names, different attributes; we have painted our fields and waters with political colors, and the same waters which flows from the courtyards of our dear ones across the border, become untouchable poison when it reaches our shores! What have we done to this earth, and what have we done to the humanity?

It is heartening to realize that I have an identity which is so very different from those of my friends and relatives living across the border (an imaginary line of control that some people have drawn in their minds, and expect the whole population to abide by it). I envy the birds of the air, which can fly across these wired fences without passport and visas; I envy the insects, who can give a wake up call to the people of neighboring countries. The birds of the air and the insects of our gardens know that it is one world, and why have we not understood this great philosophy! And still we would hark that humanity is far more advanced than the plants and birds!

Bernard Shaw, several decades ago, had shown the futility of arms, in his popular and enlightening play "Farewell to Arms". It is true, he used the word 'arms' with a pun, but nevertheless he had a point to make. The world is becoming smaller and smaller day by day; the rising sectarianism across the globe is a threat which is far more dangerous than the ecological devastation we are so frightened of! Each nation is facing growing sectarianism, which are based on the selfish interests of a handful of people, and the nations are not able to contain them, and so, our world is becoming narrower day by day, and I am afraid after a few decades, we may have village-nations (like the city-states of the Greeks and the Romans).

We cannot think of a nation, which will be prepared to give up arms happily, in order to let the pigeons of peace fly in the sky, to let the citizens walk freely. If only the money that is spent on keeping a vigil at the wired fences and the borders were used for educating the rural masses, India would have been a super power long before. If only the money spent on arms and ammunition, fighter planes and warships were utilised for poverty eradication programs, the nation would have grown into a happy nation. It is time that we the conscious citizens of the nation make conscious and serious efforts to over throw the wired fences to forge ahead and meet the brothers and sisters longing for a warm hug across the borders!

Care for the World

There is so much of noise at Capenhapen, where the world leaders have assembled to take stock of saving the world; suddenly there is a great concern shown by all nations to salvage the earth before it perishes, and there is a tendency to start the age-old blame game, and very few honest nations daring to own up their own responsibility for making the world what it is today. In fact, the common persons on the road are quite oblivious about what is happening to the world; as one walks on the main roads of the city, one can come across men and women huddled together, burning old and worn-out tyres and enjoying the warmth they give, without realizing the harm it creates to them. Climate change, unfortunately, is not the concern of the most citizens of the world.

There are different theories which define the future of the earth, if conscientious effort is not made to salvage the earth from destruction. There are also a group of skeptics who believe that the harm created to the earth is irrevocable, and whatever we do may not much change the situation; if we make a conscientious effort, probably we may prevent further damage taking place, but that may not make the situation better for tomorrow. But there are also people on the other side of the camp, who claim that if the whole world make a concerted effort, we may be able to create a better climate, not only geological, but also psychological. And the very fact that most of the nations had come together to take cognizance of the situation is clear sign that it is the major responsibility owned by all.

The Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh had made an impressive and meaningful declaration of what the nation is going to do in black and white to make things better. Towards the end of his appeal to the world community, one like stuck me: the most affected by the climatic changes are the least responsible for them. India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka had been facing the major backlashes of climatic changes, and it is beyond all doubt that the people who have misused the earth’s resources and morally polluted the earth, wish to hide themselves under the carpet. The hundreds of men and women who slowly lose their fields, homes due to rise in sea water, cyclonic waves creating havoc in coastal areas, tsunami’s threatening to wipe away human race from coastal regions… the South Asia has been a major victim, and the nations who are responsible feel it is not entirely their business to do something about it.

It is alright for the nations to thrash the things over the table, but it is time for each one in the world to ask himself/herself : what can I do, on my personal capacity, to help shape a better world for tomorrow? Our tomorrow depends on our today, and until every person is involved in this global mission, after about 20 years, we may not be there to discuss the issue, nor find more than half the human population. Probably the slogan that should go rounds today in all our social gatherings is : ACT NOW! We do not need to do great things to make the world a better place for our posterity; small things matter, and we do not need to wait for someone to start the ball rolling. We could start here and now.

What am I doing today which may help ‘heal the world, make it a better place’, to borrow a phrase from that famous song! The emission level is said to be increasing at alarming speed, and I make it a point to walk as much as possible, instead of adding to the carbon di oxide emission. Being conscious of energy consumption is another area, where I keep my eyes and ears open. If I can walk the stairs, I do not require to use the elevator; most often people have the wrong notion that if there are things, they should be used. The tragedy is that we often do not inform people about these things; I have hardly seen any of our coworkers walking the stairs; even the sweeper and newspaper man would automatically go in to take the lift. I wish all families and institutions make it a point to abstain from the use of electricity or motor vehicles periordically, and teach children to do the same. These are some of the things that all of us can do easily.