Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Whose India Is it Anyway?

The land that taught the whole world the meaning of peace and coexistence,the society that has been the paragon of cultural amalgamation today lies at the mercy of petty politicians who have but one true goal -to divide and rule ,and in the process make big bucks as well.

"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity"-But are we truly "awake",rather are we truly in our senses?

The events of the recent past,however prove otherwise.Godhra was a scourge of the Indian philosophy of life,where extremists ransacked humanity on the pretext of religion.The latest shame of the Indian people is the cowardly attack on non-Marathis in Mumbai by those ignorant few who are the self-proclaimed "guardians of the marathi manus".The intimidating tactics adopted by the latter to "restore Marathi pride" is not only going to alienate them from the rest of India,but also from the liberal minded Marathi people who, i believe,also take great pride in being an Indian.

Marathi or Sikh,Tamil or Bengali-we are nobodies without out tricolor.It is this nation that gives us our identity,not our states.India belongs to each one of its billion citizens.So we should unanimously condemn all such politicians who wish to create a ruckus by inciting communal and regional tensions,and work towards fulfilling the dreams that our founding fathers had for this great nation.

Whose India Is it Anyway?

Sunday, February 3, 2008

I Have a Dream



"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."-Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.


These words have been writ in the annals of history,and immortality has been attributed to the quote.But alas the world has only uttered these words with the selfish motive of justifying its own theories rather than imbibing the essence of these letters that together embody a vision-a vision of utopia;not only for America but the world.
Years have passed since these words were uttered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,but alas somewhere the vision has been lost.The context has changed and the "red hills of Georgia" are no longer a metaphor pertinent for America,it is today an embodiment of the Utopian world-a world of love,peace and cooperation,a world without discrimination,a world without fears,a world where no man be afraid of another.
The Luther Kings and Gandhis taught us important lessons.Lessons that are sadly forgotten today.The world is now exactly what these great men didn't want it to be-a vitiated environment where evil has the last say,where men have forgotten to trust each other,to have faith on each other,a world where cooperation unfortunately is mistaken for weakness.Love and brotherhood-these ideals are all but gone.

"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed.Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well"-Gandhi

Alas people don't talk this way anymore.Instead they say-“We will not tire, we will not falter, we will not fail”, in waging wars,in killing innocents,in taking lives.Today we go to wars on the pretexts of security,religion,national pride and yet we loose sight of the reals wars-the war against hunger,the war against poverty,the war against illiteracy,the war against disease.In the truest sense when we are at wars with our brothers , albeit of a different color ,creed or race, we are in essence at war with ourselves,for the "enemies children" our bombs kill are actually our own.For the same blood flows through our veins ,we breathe the same air, we cherish the same dreams for our children.We incite religion to wreak mayhem and yet we forget that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end,they are new every morning.But this love is showered to all irrespective of religion.
For all the ailments of the world there is but one cure-Love.So we must "inject love" in every ones mind and show them the true meaning of life-life is a gift fro God ,to be cherished and treasured.Remembering Marley-"The people trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off! How can I?


Light up the darkness!"