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.

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th of September has indeed been lucky for the nation and its constituents. In Modi, the nation got a new ray of hope in the otherwise hopeless scenario that we find ourselves engulfed in. The enthusiasm of the constituents over Modi got a major fillip by the rare court verdict that that satiated the collective conscience of the country. The perpetrators of the heinous crime on the 16^th of December have been paid back in the same coin and for once, justice was not merely seen to be done it was actually delivered. Yet the mere fact that the juvenile who was the worst of the lot has got away lightly should lead the society to introspect whether someone fit to rape and murder be treated with kid gloves. Is it not a travesty of justice?

Perhaps the nadir had been reached, both in governance as well as social values and the now the road is only up, uphill I must say and moving forward therefore would indeed necessitate a resolve much more firm than what the nation has witnessed in its history. It appears that the second war of independence has just begun, and this time it is not freedom from foreign rule, but freedom from mal-governance, rampant corruption and a erosion of ethical and moral values. It is indeed time that we as a nation realize that true freedom and development do not come cheap and the price would have to be paid even sixty six years after the tryst with destiny.

A new era of nation building appears to have dawned on this land that was once regarded as the noblest and richest territory in the world. That is what gives a rare significance to Friday the 13^th of September 2013.

Many of us are shocked and angry at the clamor of a few misguided souls lamenting at the award of death penalty to the gang of four, the gang that achieved the rare distinction of carrying out the most heinous crime possible on a human being. That these misguided souls would have been singing a different tune had their own daughter undergone a fate similar to Nirbhaya is also true. While the hanging would indeed act as a deterrent to many rapists lurking in dark corners and allays, its impact would be many times more if it is carried out in full public view in the Ramlila maidan. The ground that every year witnesses the mythical victory of good over evil would indeed rejoice over the real elimination of evil from the society. 

Evil needs to be crushed with an iron hand and not given an opportunity to rise again. Ramayana and Mahabharata, the two holiest epics of the hindu religion have shown the way that evil needs to be crushed for the good of the society. This judgement therefore gives solace to aggrieved hearts and there were millions of them after the 16^th December incident. 

Friday the 13th would indeed have a new connotation from now on! 

Being a good human being is the crux!

Drinking and smoking are considered to be universal vices more so in the hindu society at large that generally scoffs at what it considers are drunkards and smokers. Yet my heart as well and the brain plainly refuses to accept the premise that all those who partake of the bottle or the packet are sinners or a bad man, on a scale higher that those who do not. For me, drinking as well as smoking falls in almost the same league as partaking of food for survival. At best these can be regarded as human traits with a slightly negative connotation bordering on health related issues.

I find it strange, often ridiculous that the society lays a strong negative premium on these traits, while at the same time accepting bigger vices like corruption or sexual misdemeanors without even batting an eyelid. Often it places on a high pedestal, people with power and pelf, regardless of the bloke having his hand perpetually in the till or indulgence in vices related to the fairer sex.  Whether one is a good human being with the milk of human kindness freely flowing within him or not, rarely merits consideration. Moreover while goodness is normally looked upon with awe as well as appreciation, yet the ability to recognize goodness gets clouded by irrelevant considerations. 

Perhaps the society at large is unable to differentiate between goodness and evil, yet attempts to do the same on the basis of visible traits like affliction to the bottle or general behavior. The attempts are however confined to merely scratching the surface and judging people on symptoms rather than their deep interiors. Often our appreciation of the goodness or the evil in a person is also clouded by the glamor that the person exudes based on the power or wealth at his command. And so the bureaucrats, politicos and industrialists generally command aura and awe despite their goodness coefficient often being in the dumps.

It is likely that our response or appreciation in these matters has been conditioned by our remaining under mughal followed by british subjugation for a very long period. It is however time that our benchmarks for assessing human beings assume proportions at par with the developed world.