Since I’ve been jotting these columns down and you’ve been reading them up, how about taking a break from the usual practice and revisit the last year and gnaw at some of the snippets from the past. I’ve carefully chosen four excerpts in all, read them and know thyself about our journey from nowhere to nothing .
An imperiled goddess
Justice, dearest sirs and ma’ams, has a long, eventful past and it hasn’t aged gracefully. In the beginning, all that was expected of her was to punish the wrongdoer in kind. In times of kings and pharaohs, it went into exile and was replaced by revenge and/or mercy (depending on what end one finds himself). The mood swings of those in power primarily defined who’ll be spared and who’ll head to the gallows.
Child of myth, magic and folklore, no other concept in the history of mankind has stirred more debate and caused more headaches than justice. Fates of countless men, entire kingdoms, many a civilisations perished because they relegated the Esteemed Lady to bottomless pits. Many others prospered as they revered her, followed her dicta and knew that under her shadow they can tread on the road that leads to the palace where ‘greater good of all’ is the norm, not a mirage or illusion.
Two cheers for democracy
I had a final meeting with reality when the ideals of democracy that once conquered Fascism, wrecked Communism, ushered in freedom, wealth and prosperity for the downtrodden of the world, an idea that was deemed best mechanism devised by mankind to govern its affairs got trounced by honorable president-elect in a land far-far away.
Trump’s victory is the latest link in the chain of events where lads and lasses who had one vote to cast voted for Brexit in Europe, made Shri Modi — an avowed Hindutva proponent — PM of the world’s largest democracy in Asia, re-elected Vladimir Putin in such succession that Tzars of 19th century would envy Mr Putin’s faith.
The whole edifice of democracy with all its bells and minarets, its glory and grandeur stands crippled beyond repair or redemption. Individual, and I say this with a very heavy heart, gave in to all that is base and vile in human nature when scared of bogeymen by Big Brother.
All the lofty ideas, all the tall claims, all the hymns about all things nice and good have dashed. The dominos have started to fall. The wisdom of our age goes thus: Hatred, not love unites a threatened, frustrated group of people.
The recipe was same everywhere: Tell them a bogeyman is after them, sell them tales of crypt, pinpoint the rascals responsible for their misery, show them you have the elixir and can administer it to, pit them against those who call your bluff and voila victory shall be thine. As every vice when sugarcoated in sweet syrup of nationalism, peppered with delusions of grandeur, becomes the most sought after virtue.
Midnight’s children
Many of us share the fate of our beloved motherlands. We have to put up with misery in all its gory forms because the ‘husbands’ (read leaders) of our land are either posing as mythic titans or busy in one-upmanship. All of this should better end as we have too many ‘weary’ generations before us.
Pakistan and India have barely lost any opportunity to teach each other ‘lessons’. Now both neighbours revel in a schadenfreude that was cultivated over time and has become such a mammoth that it’ll take years before Pakistanis and Indians think of each other as regular human beings, capable of basic human emotions.
In our bid to loathe, we’ve dehumanised each other. We have lost empathy, because it has been ages that an ordinary lad from Islamabad sat with a young bloke from Delhi and discussed the hidden frustrations and shared fantasies that describe youth.
Tit-for-tat is the supreme principle we follow and the only dictum we adhere to goes something like, ‘In nukes we trust’. Our usual blame game starts with RAW-RSS-Shiv Sina being squarely responsible for all the suffering Muslims of Pakistan and India face. From the other side of LOC, it is ISI-Hafiz Saeed-Kashmiri militants that wreak havoc in an otherwise idyllic India.
Kashmir, ahh, that daughter of Eve both Able and Cain are willing to do anything for. Be it Akhand Bharat or Kashmir banay gaa Pakistan the solution lies not in slogans yelled with all the might of our lungs. Rather than playing to the local and international galleries for empty applause and/or pat on the back both Able and Cain need to talk Eve over on a table as by force none will have her or retain her. Moral of the story: It is better to behave like good neighbours rather than archetypal characters from scriptures of yore.
We share more than borders, dearest sirs and ma’ams, we share languages that sound familiar even if we don’t understand one jot of them, we share common heritage that is engulfed in haze, we share echoes that go unheard in minarets, temples and mosques, we share nightmares that came to be known as ‘slices from history’, we share idols we no longer believe in and gods that have forsaken us when we needed them the most.
We, the Number-1
Ask yourself this. What is our big lie? You know what a big lie is, right? Well, a big lie is a lie that is so mighty, so humongous, so Number 1 that everything dwarfs in comparison. So, our big lie is not to question the ‘why’ behind certain happenings, certain phenomena, certain accidents, certain mishaps.
Our big lie, dearest sirs and ma’ams, demands us to know our boundaries and remain within them. We all are Orwell’s Winston Smith, some being taught the lesson, some about to learn the lesson, some spared because they have to teach the lesson to the uninitiated (Disclaimer: I am not pointing towards Doctor Doom, Doctor Speak Strange and any other folks of their ilk).
We thought we’ve grown wise and masterful with age. Alas, we haven’t. Those who manipulated us in the past with frightful eventualities promised us fascinating future prospects have come to realise that they need to broaden their outreach. Enter Number 1. With all things Number 1. All shows Number 1. All content Number 1. Serving Number 1 to remain Number 1
A very happy Eid, dearest sirs and ma’ams.
