Fanning the Favorites

Every one of us have our own favorites, be it a color, or person, or an object, and we are often more attached to our favorites than others, and may even enter into fierce fight in order to safeguard or protect our favorites. We have seen several instances in India, when a favorite cinestar had expired, or lost the political battle, there were admirers ready to immolate themselves, and some of the stars thus have found place in temples and places of worship. This may be an illustration of the extent of madness that people go to, but no doubt these stars and idols become so very important in the life of these often illiterate masses, that they would do anything for them.

It is one thing to have favorites, and another to indulge in unbridled favoritism, especially when a person is required to go beyond all regional, linguistic, national, religious, cultural or ethnic categories. But when I come across persons who are so very attached to their own linguistic or cultural group, that they blatantly bend all norms and rules of decency in order to express favoritism to the people they belong to. As people belonging to a particular culture, language and region, we are required to favor our own people, to express our solidarity with them, especially if they are in need of our support and cooperation, but that cannot take place when they are engaged in public service. When these kinds of things happen frequently, such persons are sure to lose the confidence of the people they serve.

It is such a touchy issue that no one would dare speak about it, but when no one talks about it, all concerned would be quite conscious of the undercurrents of such things happening around. Unfortunately unbridled favoritism is something that cannot be kept hidden for long; sooner or later people would come to know about bending laws, rules and regulations in order to accommodate a person just on the merit of his/her language, religion, or region or culture, and it would be quite shameful to be accused of favoritism. Bordering on favoritism is nepotism, of which many of our political leaders are often accused of, starting from the husband of our nation’s first citizen to the lowest ranking public servant.

Every time when favoritism is in effect, bending the rules in order to accommodate a person who does not deserve the favor, what is obvious is also the fact that some persons who in truth deserved the favor is unjustly denied. This goes against the very notion of justice and truth. Anyone who is concerned of social justice cannot indulge in favoritism, in one form or other. But we live in a world where favoritism and nepotism are considered law of the land, and you would be frowned upon if you refused to favor your own kith and kin, there are very few options left open. When a person denies direct favoritism, s/he would be branded as insensitive to the social ties, and when s/he favors his/her own people, then there is injustice done to someone else, while favoring some others.

It would be almost impossible to close one’s eyes from favoring one’s own people, even when one is aware of the repercussions, which may not be all too sweet; there would be occasions when one may be forced to favor one’s own people, even while closing the eyes to some other deserving persons, but if these occasions are exceptions, then one may be considered as safe. But when these things happen as everyday reality, there is a danger that soon such persons are sure to face the ire of the people who have been denied of their due rights and privileges. On several occasions I have felt the pain of being disregarded, because some others had to be favored, and that only makes me conscious of being on my guard to protect myself from indulging in such dubious acts of charity!

Touching Lives

Today the city of Kolkata bade final farewell to one of the citizens, who had become part of the history of this state for the past sixty years or so. Jyoti Basu, a man who is as short in stature as his name, and who had such a command over reaching out to the masses, and holding the reins of governing the state for 23 years, that today about half the city had gathered on roads to bid him farewell. Basu had always been a controversial man, and he had equal number of foes as friends. He had political rivals, who could not help but take their hats off for his political acumen. But the problem with us is that we often love to label people, and if we label Jyoti Basu only as a representative of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), then we may be doing injustice to his personality.

We all of us have several sides to our personalities; one is personal, another social, and there are cultural, familial, political and economic, and academic; the list is rather endless. We may not excel in all the fields, but we cannot ignore any of these fields, because they are all interconnected. If the professional side occupies much of our time, then our personal and familial ties may weaken, and that may have further unpleasant consequences. At the same time, it is not possible to allot equal amount of time for all the different fields of one’s personality. We need to prioritise our areas of interest and importance and have to divide the time accordingly. I believe Jyoti Basu would have done this exercise several times in his long life.

Our lives are very short in comparison to the age of the universe; Jyoti Basu had lived 95 years, and out of which about ten to fifteen years would have gone out of his control; the past five years, he was at the mercy of his family and friends, to decide what he wanted. But out of the eighty years, we take quite some time to establish ourselves in the society; we begin to build up a family, which takes some more years; this way our lives are spent so soon, often in a disoriented way. If we focus on what we have gained in life, we may be quite disappointed. Instead if we begin to ask ourselves what have I given to the world, out of the little I came into the world and out of the little I made for myself, then probably we may be able to smile as our spirits take leave of our mortal bodies.

I feel there is one simple yardstick to measure the success of our lives; surely this is not on the basis of the amount of money, wealth and riches we have accumulated, through fair and unfair means; but this yardstick is based on how many lives we have touched over the years. Most of us are simple people, with acquaintances who are too few to number; we may be able to reach out to only a few hundreds or thousands in a year. But I would feel happy and contended if I am able to touch the life of at least one or two in a year. If I am able to make at least one or two persons to smile in life, then I should be proud to be a human person.

It would be hard to determine how many people Jyoti Basu had touched in his long life; but slowly we shall be hearing the stories of men and women who had felt the warmth of this person, and such sweet memories are the greatest tribute that can be paid to the departed souls. These stories are the ones which can give life to the earth, and make us feel life is worth living. As we express our “Lal Salaam” to Jyoti Basu, I would like to ask myself, when I am on the verge of bidding final farewell to this wonderful world, will I have at least a handful of men and women, whose hearts will throb for me, with love, admiration and wonderment?

In Support of Wars

You might be surprised to see the title saying that I stand in support of war, and you may wonder what had prompted me to say that. It is true no sensible human person can ever advocate war. I am reminded of the 84 year old Benjamin from Xavier University in Cincinnati, who holds an anti-war theory, inviting the people around to fight against the war system. Paradoxically here is a man who is warring against war system, and I cannot help but take my hats off for this man, who is fired with so much zeal that he talks about it at every time he gets an opportunity. But what sort of wars do I recommend: is it the kind between the nations we hear on newspapers each day morning? Of course not. I am in support of war against all that dehumanizes human persons, robs them of their basic human dignity!

I wish nations will take into account their needs and how their needs deprive someone outside. There is no limit to the greed of people in the Western nations, and they would go all the way to fill their stomachs, even when they know that there are millions of hungry stomachs, crouching in their beds night after night. I wish the developing nations will war against the multi-national companies, who enter sheepishly into the poorer nations, to rob their wealth by introducing consumables not needed for them, thus creating an artificial need in them, through their surreptitious ad campaigns. There are very few wealthy nations who have avowed to eradicate poverty in the other half of the globe.!

It is time that the world rises to understand the importance of war, but not with weapons, artillery, guns and rockets. Here is a call for a bloodless war, where the aim is not to destroy but to build (yes, to destroy human greed and avarice, self-centredness and jealousy). Here is a call to put together what centuries of neglect, hatred and vengeance has caused to humanity beyond shores. Time is running short, and it is time that we put together all our strength to wage war against nations and state which believe in survival of the fittest and the fastest. Every one of us has the responsibility in rebuilding the world through war against the enemies of human family.!

Often I am shocked to see the evil, whose tentacles spread far and wide each day, drawing to its vicious circles all those who are weak and wish for soft solutions for hard problems. Corruption at different levels of governance and social living has made honest men and women aliens in this world, and have even branded them as misfits in this beautiful world. Is the world not losing fast the breed of honest and sincere men and women? Is there anyone to war against this kind of epidemic spreading to all corners of the world? This is one lesson I have to learn today : if I am not part of the solution, then I am surely part of the problem. If I don't raise my voice against injustice today, I am part of the perpetrators of injustice in this world.!

I am fully conscious of my own limitations and capacities; what I can and what I cannot, even if I desire so much. But there are things which do not require much from me, but my mind and heart. If only we war against our minds and hearts which are becoming narrower each year, then there is a hope that some day we may find peace returning to the earth. Today I would like to pause for a while, and go through the day slowly and reflectively, and pick up one or two moments, where I needed to war against. It is possible that I was quiet when I should have raised my voice, or I raised my voice, when I should have been quiet. It is often within my power and control to reverse many of the evils that plague our society. If only I want. Is it not necessary that we continue to war till the world is transformed into a garden of Eden, and regain her pristine glory she enjoyed millennia ago.