"Equality": A common thread and a motive that has given impulse to many a struggle be it social, political, religious........ Human history can mostly be summarized as the friction between individual ambitions and collective good. On one hand has been the effort by an individual/group to assert their supremacy in thought and deed and this being countered by the other (we might say "oppressed") in trying to throw off the yoke and make their voices count.
The result of one such struggle has been the system of "Democracy." To me, this system is the reflection of one of the best possible heights that refinement in human thought can conceive in the socio-political sphere. And the icing on the cake has been our ability to "put it to practice" and bring this system to life.
Democracy is the embodiment of human possibilities. Throughout the known history of mankind "division" has been one of the watchwords of social life. Division on the basis of colour, creed, religion, gender etc and the enjoyment of rights based on the strata to which he/she belonged, was considered as one of the foundations on which society existed. To shatter beliefs such as these and to have been able to accept the "in-alienable" equal rights of each and every individual is a milestone worth remembering in human history.
That said, with all the hope that Democracy offers to the masses it also comes with the usual "advertisement-post script" ie "* Conditions apply." Democracy can fulfill its possibilities only when there is collective responsibility. As the adage goes "With greater freedom comes greater responsibility."
However "Good" a social system may be, it all finally boils down to that one human factor of "Empathy." A citizen of any Democracy has to "Feel" for every other fellow citizen of his and has to bear in mind that the system is not for "personal ambitions alone" (although it has its own place) but for "collective good."
Amidst all the apparent negativity I feel we have done "Good", but we can do "Better."
As I sign off, I think it is time that we "Pat ourselves on the back" and congratulate on this wonderful creation of man: Democracy..
Cheers,
Anikethan
Monday, March 26, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Random Thoughts:India: The ancient, the eternal and the ever new
"Today India discovers herself again. India: The ancient, the eternal and the ever new."
These are the words that historian Michael Wood leaves us with, as he concludes the documentary "The story of India." It is a beautiful (I am unable to find a better word) documentary, in the way it has been able to offer a bird's eye view of the important events that have shaped India as it is today.
Reading/getting to know the history of at least the country that we live in, I feel, is a necessity for any individual who intends to be active in the social and political structure of a Democracy (or any governing setup for that matter). This I feel all the more, considering my own mis-givings about a lot of things around, all the while. In this phase of my life, where possibilities lie open ahead with also the emotional and physical energies to turn "Possibilities" into "realities", it is so easy to get conclusive about things, driven by emotions. I find it so easy to stand on the pedestal of the "righteous" and pass judgements on my fellow citizens (and this has happened quite a few times, although I try to be quite cautious in not trying to do it.) But having gradually started to read history, some perspectives are changing.
When I find it difficult to overcome habits that I have been conditioned to for a few months/years, what to speak of a Civilization that has a recorded history of at least 5000 years. The ebb and flow of the events that have sculpted India right from the coming of the Aryans through the Mauryan, Guptan periods and the birth and spread of major religions like Buddhism and Jainism, then invasion of the Afghans, Turks, the rule of the Delhi Sultans, the Cholas, and the Moghuls, the birth of Sikhism and finally ending with the coming of the European powers and culminating in the Democracy that India today is.... Well, these are just a few of the major events that have stirred Indian history. And to think of the way I was passing judgement about the India of today, without even realizing the strong undercurrents that have shaped her...
Yes, we do have our own back-slidings. But the way out of that is certainly not through criticism. Swami Vivekananda, a prophet of modern times, and one of the best ideals of the synthesis of western scientific rationality and eastern mysticism, a man who had seen God, had this to day in his address "My Plan of Campaign":
"....I simply want to be like the squirrel in the building of Râma's bridge, who was quite content to put on the bridge his little quota of sand-dust. That is my position. This wonderful national machine has worked through ages, this wonderful river of national life is flowing before us. Who knows, and who dares to say whether it is good and how it shall move? Thousands of circumstances are crowding round it, giving it a special impulse, making it dull at one time and quicker at another. Who dares command its motion? Ours is only to work, as the Gita says, without looking for results. Feed the national life with the fuel it wants, but the growth is its own; none can dictate its growth to it........ This national ship, my countrymen, my friends, my children — this national ship has been ferrying millions and millions of souls across the waters of life. For scores of shining centuries it has been plying across this water, and through its agency, millions of souls have been taken to the other shore, to blessedness. But today, perhaps through your own fault, this boat has become a little damaged, has sprung a leak; and would you therefore curse it? Is it fit that you stand up and pronounce malediction upon it, one that has done more work than any other thing in the world? If there are holes in this national ship, this society of ours, we are its children. Let us go and stop the holes. Let us gladly do it with our hearts' blood; and if we cannot, then let us die. We will make a plug of our brains and put them into the ship, but condemn it never. Say not one harsh word against this society. I love it for its past greatness. I love you all because you are the children of gods, and because you are the children of the glorious forefathers. How then can I curse you! Never. All blessings be upon you! I have come to you, my children, to tell you all my plans. If you hear them I am ready to work with you. But if you will not listen to them, and even kick me out of India, I will come back and tell you that we are all sinking! I am come now to sit in your midst, and if we are to sink, let us all sink together, but never let curses rise to our lips."....
Swamiji had understood the pulse of India and yet he had this to say. I feel this is the best possible attitude that we can have as we go about our knowing/unknowing contribution in taking our motherland into the next phase of civilization.
"Assimilation" has been India's answer to the influx of new ideas and I am sure it will continue to remain so in the years to come. As we try to come to terms with the humungous nature of the work in front of us in terms of the basic necessities that need to reach millions of our country-men, in terms of providing that long lost self-identity to millions and finally in terms of awakening the "spiritual" within each of us and thus ensuring a synthesis of the east and west and laying the foundations for the new age, we had also better not forget that the conditions of today are not the making of a day or even a century, but rather a complex and "impossible to reason out" chain of events dating back to unrecorded history.
Looking forward to be a part of "India the ancient, the eternal and the ever new."
Anikethan
These are the words that historian Michael Wood leaves us with, as he concludes the documentary "The story of India." It is a beautiful (I am unable to find a better word) documentary, in the way it has been able to offer a bird's eye view of the important events that have shaped India as it is today.
Reading/getting to know the history of at least the country that we live in, I feel, is a necessity for any individual who intends to be active in the social and political structure of a Democracy (or any governing setup for that matter). This I feel all the more, considering my own mis-givings about a lot of things around, all the while. In this phase of my life, where possibilities lie open ahead with also the emotional and physical energies to turn "Possibilities" into "realities", it is so easy to get conclusive about things, driven by emotions. I find it so easy to stand on the pedestal of the "righteous" and pass judgements on my fellow citizens (and this has happened quite a few times, although I try to be quite cautious in not trying to do it.) But having gradually started to read history, some perspectives are changing.
When I find it difficult to overcome habits that I have been conditioned to for a few months/years, what to speak of a Civilization that has a recorded history of at least 5000 years. The ebb and flow of the events that have sculpted India right from the coming of the Aryans through the Mauryan, Guptan periods and the birth and spread of major religions like Buddhism and Jainism, then invasion of the Afghans, Turks, the rule of the Delhi Sultans, the Cholas, and the Moghuls, the birth of Sikhism and finally ending with the coming of the European powers and culminating in the Democracy that India today is.... Well, these are just a few of the major events that have stirred Indian history. And to think of the way I was passing judgement about the India of today, without even realizing the strong undercurrents that have shaped her...
Yes, we do have our own back-slidings. But the way out of that is certainly not through criticism. Swami Vivekananda, a prophet of modern times, and one of the best ideals of the synthesis of western scientific rationality and eastern mysticism, a man who had seen God, had this to day in his address "My Plan of Campaign":
"....I simply want to be like the squirrel in the building of Râma's bridge, who was quite content to put on the bridge his little quota of sand-dust. That is my position. This wonderful national machine has worked through ages, this wonderful river of national life is flowing before us. Who knows, and who dares to say whether it is good and how it shall move? Thousands of circumstances are crowding round it, giving it a special impulse, making it dull at one time and quicker at another. Who dares command its motion? Ours is only to work, as the Gita says, without looking for results. Feed the national life with the fuel it wants, but the growth is its own; none can dictate its growth to it........ This national ship, my countrymen, my friends, my children — this national ship has been ferrying millions and millions of souls across the waters of life. For scores of shining centuries it has been plying across this water, and through its agency, millions of souls have been taken to the other shore, to blessedness. But today, perhaps through your own fault, this boat has become a little damaged, has sprung a leak; and would you therefore curse it? Is it fit that you stand up and pronounce malediction upon it, one that has done more work than any other thing in the world? If there are holes in this national ship, this society of ours, we are its children. Let us go and stop the holes. Let us gladly do it with our hearts' blood; and if we cannot, then let us die. We will make a plug of our brains and put them into the ship, but condemn it never. Say not one harsh word against this society. I love it for its past greatness. I love you all because you are the children of gods, and because you are the children of the glorious forefathers. How then can I curse you! Never. All blessings be upon you! I have come to you, my children, to tell you all my plans. If you hear them I am ready to work with you. But if you will not listen to them, and even kick me out of India, I will come back and tell you that we are all sinking! I am come now to sit in your midst, and if we are to sink, let us all sink together, but never let curses rise to our lips."....
Swamiji had understood the pulse of India and yet he had this to say. I feel this is the best possible attitude that we can have as we go about our knowing/unknowing contribution in taking our motherland into the next phase of civilization.
"Assimilation" has been India's answer to the influx of new ideas and I am sure it will continue to remain so in the years to come. As we try to come to terms with the humungous nature of the work in front of us in terms of the basic necessities that need to reach millions of our country-men, in terms of providing that long lost self-identity to millions and finally in terms of awakening the "spiritual" within each of us and thus ensuring a synthesis of the east and west and laying the foundations for the new age, we had also better not forget that the conditions of today are not the making of a day or even a century, but rather a complex and "impossible to reason out" chain of events dating back to unrecorded history.
Looking forward to be a part of "India the ancient, the eternal and the ever new."
Anikethan
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Random Thoughts: The generally uncared for 4th basic necessity of life
There are a lot of things that keep cropping up in the mind but the laziness (or whatever it might be) in not trying to put them down always results in a pathetic posting rate in the blog :)
Was thinking of the 3 basic necessities that we so religiously are taught from childhood ie "Food, clothing and shelter ." No doubt these are the bare minimum requirements for physical existence, but in the process of grappling about for these we somehow seem to have forgotten one more necessity, that which I consider is as important as the other three. That is "A right ideal."
A look at the urban society will drill down the effects that the lack of the 4th necessity is bringing about. The government comes up with the best possible plans (The execution or lack of it is a discussion for another day.) to lift the economically backward sections. We have excellent schemes in place. But at the same time there are hardly any to channelize the energy of that section of the population that has a comfortable social life.
And the result is "lopsided development." We have on one hand a large section of the society that is at loggerheads with life itself. Making ends meet is a herculean task and as Swami Vivekananda says, their life is that of "next door neighbors to brutes."
And on the other hand is the "Aimless, uninspired" urban populace immersed in self-indulgence.
We might find it "self appeasing" to speak of the freedom that democracy has endowed us with. But we must also remember that "With freedom comes responsibility." And today's urban India does not seem to deserve that freedom. A superficial glance at the astounding progress that many nations have made points to some point in their history when they had to literally rise from the ashes like the Phoenix and they had an "Iron fist" (administrator) controlling them for a while. Many a country has had to build itself from ashes. On the other hand, ours has been a relatively less dramatic last 100 years(in terms of the scale of violence and destruction). So considering the situations, if we have to achieve the same social progress that these nations have achieved and also constantly enjoy the freedom that they at many points of time did not, the responsibility on each one of us in tremendous.
I am not sure if it is my "seeing the glass half empty", but we currently have with us an educated class that instead of being the torch bearers of progress seems to be torching the progress.
I might seem overtly critical, but mere "Stock Market" justifications of economic progress are not the want of the day. Our progress and refinement of society is truly reflected by the status of the most insignificant person in our society.
The possibility of erecting a grand edifice, which if built can shelter innumerable souls and can be a beacon for the future generations to come, stands before us. Time will tell what we make of it. But everything said, it is certainly high time we got "Inspired."
More on this later.......
Cheers,
Anikethan
Was thinking of the 3 basic necessities that we so religiously are taught from childhood ie "Food, clothing and shelter ." No doubt these are the bare minimum requirements for physical existence, but in the process of grappling about for these we somehow seem to have forgotten one more necessity, that which I consider is as important as the other three. That is "A right ideal."
A look at the urban society will drill down the effects that the lack of the 4th necessity is bringing about. The government comes up with the best possible plans (The execution or lack of it is a discussion for another day.) to lift the economically backward sections. We have excellent schemes in place. But at the same time there are hardly any to channelize the energy of that section of the population that has a comfortable social life.
And the result is "lopsided development." We have on one hand a large section of the society that is at loggerheads with life itself. Making ends meet is a herculean task and as Swami Vivekananda says, their life is that of "next door neighbors to brutes."
And on the other hand is the "Aimless, uninspired" urban populace immersed in self-indulgence.
We might find it "self appeasing" to speak of the freedom that democracy has endowed us with. But we must also remember that "With freedom comes responsibility." And today's urban India does not seem to deserve that freedom. A superficial glance at the astounding progress that many nations have made points to some point in their history when they had to literally rise from the ashes like the Phoenix and they had an "Iron fist" (administrator) controlling them for a while. Many a country has had to build itself from ashes. On the other hand, ours has been a relatively less dramatic last 100 years(in terms of the scale of violence and destruction). So considering the situations, if we have to achieve the same social progress that these nations have achieved and also constantly enjoy the freedom that they at many points of time did not, the responsibility on each one of us in tremendous.
I am not sure if it is my "seeing the glass half empty", but we currently have with us an educated class that instead of being the torch bearers of progress seems to be torching the progress.
I might seem overtly critical, but mere "Stock Market" justifications of economic progress are not the want of the day. Our progress and refinement of society is truly reflected by the status of the most insignificant person in our society.
The possibility of erecting a grand edifice, which if built can shelter innumerable souls and can be a beacon for the future generations to come, stands before us. Time will tell what we make of it. But everything said, it is certainly high time we got "Inspired."
More on this later.......
Cheers,
Anikethan
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