Penny wise, Pound foolish

This senior man was known as an austere man, who would spend hours on end in order to save a few pennies, and would glory in it. He would walk for more than an hour, and would not take public transport, because he had to pay for the travel, and ultimately come back home exhausted. He has a very strict sense of poverty (as a religious man who has vowed poverty, this is very much fitting), and would swear by it. If one were to look at his shoes, it would be worse than that of a beggar, and he has only one pair of dress, which he would wash at night and wear it during the day. Well, that is his style of practising poverty, and no one can really argue with him about it.

It is true, he is fully convinced of what he does, and if it is his personal conviction, no one has the right to question him about it. But what I am concerned about is, not about his personal conviction, but about how his personal conviction comes in conflict with the interests of others living with him. I have realized that it is not easy to live with people who have strong personal convictions; it is rightly said that it is hell to live with saints! But the saving grace is that this gentleman would not demand the same standard from others, leave alone impose it on others. At the same time, he would not like to be questioned about his standards.

He had been coming to our office for three days to complete his annual ritual – entering the marks of a subject he was teaching in the college. This is the moral education, and it is doubtful if any of the students took his classes seriously, but he takes the examinations and marks so seriously that he would spend more time tabulating than in correcting them. He would tabulate them in MS Excel and then would check it, double check the marks, so that there is no error, and then would go one by one marking all those who had failed in Red. Then he would need to take a print out of this for the file. I had been asking him if it is all worth the trouble, and he would want it that way, and no one can argue with him about it.

It was said that this gentleman had one of the finest brains in the campus, but after his completion of the doctorate in physics, he began to teach in the college, but it was found that what he taught went over the heads of students and so he had to be stopped. In the meantime he took up certain topics as his areas of interest, which in the long run, became his obsession, and he would fight with people tooth and nail in order to show that everyone who did not subscribe to his views were wrong and that only he could give answer to some of the moral and religious problems which haunted the human society.

I have no regrets about the man, because there is a fair amount of genuineness in him; he is excessively obsessed with poverty, and it would be a futile effort to argue with him about the notion that poverty does not tantamount to privation and even beggary. We need certain essential things in order to live a decent and dignified life; if one thinks that these things are redundant, and would not like to avail them, then the person is sure to place himself on a separate ground, morally condemning everyone for not following his own standards and precepts. I would not dare to call his way of doing things as ‘penny wise and pound foolish’, but it would be very close to it. If only he could put to good use his wisdom, then he would be richer than the richest. But it may take him another birth to look at the other side of the spectrum.

Partying on Poverty

The menu was not all that appetizing, and the smell of the dishes was not all that inviting, and yet the partying lot were huddled together to make the best dishes possible out of the least that was available. The menu list did not run in to pages, but just a few in number, but that did not matter to the family which had gathered, big and small, young and old, to celebrate their togetherness. It was like a stillness dawning after a stormy night, and they were sure that every stormy weather had brought them together and strengthened their bond and fellowship, and the "party" was merely an excuse.

The family which had been struggling to get out of the poverty which had been imposed on it, could hardly take a few steps before they are drawn back to the very spot they had been languishing for years. If they begin to blame others, there would be no end. The first and the most important culprit would be God, who had imposed such a privation that they had to struggle to have even one square meal; who had taken away the breadwinner at a very young age, and the young mother had to struggle to bring up her children, educate them, and get them married, and support them even after their marriage, when the marriage did not go too well.

The best image that comes to my mind when I think of this family partying on their poverty, is the story of the "stone soup". These poor senior members of the family brought their mite, the best from their privation, but they were full of joy to contribute their best to make this party memorable one. They are not going to think about their poverty, what they do not have, but are going to capitalize on what they do possess, the comfort and strength of the company of one another, and this was their greatest asset, and they had come to feel this beneath their bones.

When families are well off, they do not feel the need to get together occasionally to strengthen their bonding; they believe that the money and comfort they enjoy were good enough to assure them of a better days to come; the bonding with other family members, relations, and friends is not so essential for them to get going. That is the tragedy of the neo-riche, and there would come a time in their lives too, when they would be forced to seek after their lost family roots and find succor in them. For the poor and have-not it is a joy and way of life to come together and share their lot, but for the rich and the haves, it may become a socio-cultural necessity.

I feel partying on poverty can be one of the greatest moments of celebration in the life of a family, who have nothing to share, but their pain and suffering. They have nothing to offer to one another, than their shoulders to lean on. They have nothing to contribute to the party, but their own share of sob stories and painful memories. This party is sure to strengthen the bonding of the family, and no storm and cyclone can ever take the little pleasures and joy they enjoy. Today I take my hats off to this family partying on their poverty, and I only hope more and more families may bring in their poverty and party on them, so that their bonding may be strengthened day after day.

'Greater Common Good'

The most important principle which is operative in corporate endeavors and production and service sectors is undoubtedly 'profit'. Everything is geared towards accruing greater profit. The people who had invested a lot of money wish to make more money, several times more than what they had invested. The 'business' people do not care for what happens to the rest of humanity, so long their purses are full. But the law of nature prescribes that every attempt to have 'profit' is bound to deprive some deserving person from his/her share of due wealth.

Unfortunately in most of the countries, the political leaders belong to the cream of the society, who have the least experience of the poverty, sweat and blood of the poor, who earn wealth for the nation. Depriving the voiceless masses is seen in almost all the nations, rich or poor. It happens in the South African countries, in the developing Third World countries, and in the developed nations too. The concerns of the poor and the majority most often do not appear in the national agenda; it is only the interests of the moneyed and muscled men and women who control the policies of development.

India had so many instances where the political bigwigs had been pushing so-called developmental projects (supposedly at the greater interests of the masses!), which deprived the poor farmers their ancestral lands, the water, forests, rivers, and the community. The fight for the holy river Narmada by Mehta Patkar and her Narmada Banchao Andolan is just the tip of an iceberg. There are projects which are aimed at displacing thousands of people, without proper rehabilitation and infrastructural facilities. Some years ago I had the privilege of witnessing what the people who would lose Narmada riverbed were going through.

Today the phrase 'greater common good' has become a mockery. One would hear this phrase repeated again and again at all political platforms, at every election campaigns, and it has become a cliche today. But then who cares? The people who sponsor the election campaigns and political meetings and rallies would have their pound of flesh by hook or by crook, and no one can stop them from doing it. The state machinery would in fact, stand by them to make sure that no one lays his/her hands on them. That is the state we have reached in the country.

In order to live a happy life, we do not need to worry about profits! Anyone who has the profit motive in business is bound to guided by greed and selfishness, which would lead him/her to take recourse to any social and moral evil, which may be justified before a court of law. I would like to consider for a while how I respond to the genuine yearnings of the people of the land. Am I able to feel their pain and agony; their tears and blood, and cry for their fundamental human rights. If the state denies these, then where could they take refuge?

Madness of Human Malady

It is incredible to imagine what the human beings are really capable of! It was only the human race which was able to unravel many of the mysteries of the universe, and life on earth; it was the human mind which is capable of travelling back in time and space, and at the same time travel to the distant future and predict what is in store for them. Unfortunately no other animal had been given that privilege to re-create the earth we had been handed over; and it is hard to say if we have made the world better or worse! Our children would be in a much better place to answer such probing question.

At the table during dinner, our conversation came back and forth to what the human beings are capable of! They would do any thing crazy in order to prove to the world that they mattered, and what they were convinced of was God's word! We recalled to mind the air craft pilot who took the US plane to blow the Twin Towers! It was not merely a matter of "guts" to even blow one's own self, which can never be refitted, but to be convinced that they were doing something good and worthwhile! Many fanatics may name them martyrs, but were they really so? Especially when we see hundreds of people murdered due to the plot hatched and executed by them!

Or think of the 25/11 attack on Mumbai! I simply admired the amount of work that had gone behind such a masterplan! No ordinary people would be capable of planning and executing such a complicated plot! Great minds were involved in such an attack, and the very fact that these people who executed the plot for the most part went "missing" during the time of the blow, was ample proof that there could not have been anything left for chance! That really is proof of human ingenuity, and what they are capable of achieving. But unfortunately, much of the human positive energy is wasted!

If only all the human energy which is wasted with unhealthy practices and destructive schemes and plots, is preserved to do good to humanity and to the universe, there would not be so much of disparity, inequality and poverty in the world! Just imagine how much money, time, energy and resources are wasted by corporate houses, not so much to keep them on the top, but to keep the competitors down. Millions of rupees/dollors are wasted in maligning the competitors, suing them with cases which are next to non-sense, just to disrupt the production of things which may put the other corporate house in jeapardy.

The amount of money spent on advertisement is targeted not so much to introduce new products and goods, but to show how their product is better than the rest; how their goods are the best in the world! There is no question of comparative degree here, but only the superlative ones. Will it be possible for humanity to ever realize the futility of investing so much of energy, time, and resources in things which can only harm humanity, and shorten the life on earth! Will good sense ever prevail on earth, and rival nations, groups and sects ever be able to put aside the differences and seek similarities, which alone can bring respite to the otherwise fast disappearing species on earth, the human race!

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.