The inherent goodness of humankind!

Despite setbacks, and there have been many, I refuse to dilute my belief in the inherent goodness of men at large. Evil, though it often lurks in the most unlikeliest of places has not yet succeeded in changing this belief despite tremendous environment inspired efforts.

I have always believed that men are inherently good and why not – after all, all of us are a part of the tremendous cosmic energy that we recognize as God. And if God is good, how can his constituents be bad or evil? What we generally witness are acts that are bad or evil and we often make the mistake of treating the act and the actor as one. Difficult it is to differentiate between the two, yet we have to, for therein lies the essence of life.

And therefore those who form their own opinions based on the true understanding (if that is indeed possible) of the infinite cosmic energy, and are not swayed by the opinions of masses are the ones who live life to the fullest, and that is how it is designed to be.

The theory of Karma sounds good and often takes a lot of burden off our heads for our acts of misdemeanor, yet I fail to be firmly convinced.  After all the infinite cosmos is not meant to be like humans – holding us responsible for each and every single act of ours – for by its supposed nature and constitution it has to be forgiving and not revengeful. And there is also no supercomputer at work, logging down each and every single act of over six billion souls and then paying them back in the same coin in this life or thereafter.

Yet goodness by itself is a reward that should enthuse those who indulge in evil to take recourse to course correction. Acts that are good and humane in nature impart a deep sense of satisfaction that is often divine in nature. Yet the intent is what really matters, good acts committed with the intention of appearing good in the eyes of others may not yield desirable results.

And that leads me to think whether there is a level above mere acts of goodness or evil. And if there is, it has to be genuineness and that again would come out of a deep and pure thought process that too over a period of time. Being genuine is maybe what really matters, to and in this world of ours and the great cosmos.

The turmoil continues!

I am often amazed at the generally prevalent tendency amongst the upper crust to decry those who are actually making life comfortable for them. Imagining a life without the presence of those who serve us and take care of our routine needs at home and office silently and often efficiently makes me cringe in pain.

Our peons and personal staff in the office and our servants at home are generally the silent army whose existence is noticed only when the job they perform is not upto our hallowed expectations. And then they are shouted at and demeaned, very often to a ridiculous extent, not exactly commensurate with their failing.

Having lived in Delhi, the apex city of the country, for a fairly long period, I have suffered being a witness to the demeaning acts of those in power and also those who roll in wealth even if of an ill-gotten origin. The chief executive of fairly recent vintage in railways who almost daily went to the extent of snatching money from the hapless servants who worked in their home besides heaping many other unmentionable indignities. Many others in powerful positions also display similar traits of leaving no opportunity to pull down those very persons who make their lives comfortable.

Somehow I am unable to appreciate this widespread national malaise of human beings treating others of their own elk disparagingly.  Perhaps such a breed is not human after all and are many notches below even though they may be regard themselves otherwise.

Many media reports of politicos, bureaucrats and even highly paid corporate maltreating (often maltreating is a mild word) their household servants have emerged in recent times and that makes me wonder whether it has now become a social issue beyond correction. Perhaps it is symptomatic of a society evolving through the morass of ill gotten wealth and rampant abuse of power by those who were meant to emerge as role models. Yet what frightens is the sheer scale and often social acceptance or mere lack of concern for such practices.

Such conduct is indeed sign of a society that is immature and backward in the true sense. That demeaning others is surely not a sign of greatness is something that we have to realize from the core of our hearts. Yet who wants to be merely great in a setup where greatness is almost always equated with the quantum of power or wealth one wields. Perhaps when we acquired independence, we were a bunch of people uneducated in the real sense, but were destined for self rule and the chaos and misdemeanors by those meant to set things right therefore continues unabated. 

Amen!