MUMBAI - LOSS IN TERROR

‘We are hoping she is still alive. Hope is all we have...’
‘I didn’t think I would survive...’
‘I have lost my son...’


I won’t make a statement on terrorism. I won’t talk about the attack. I won’t write about the politics of it all. I won’t share my views on the global crisis. I won’t deliberate on how it may herald the beginning of a change, if at all. I won’t.

I have not read much and I don’t have much clue about what the word ‘terrorism’ precisely stands for. I don’t know the several meanings it may have. I don’t know much about being attacked. I have never been a witness to it or been in the midst of it. I don’t know how it feels to be there at that very moment. I don’t know much about my country, not even about the state I live in to even have a view on what would affect the millions and millions of people around the globe. I don’t know much about human nature, let alone what brings about a change in the masses, what brings about revolution.

But I do know about loss. I do know about how it feels to lose someone you love. I do know how hard it is to believe and to accept and come to terms with the fact that the person, living, breathing, laughing and smiling has ceased to exist in a matter of few moments.

I do know about fear. I do know what it means to be vulnerable and to hang on to hope even in the most hopeless situations.

I do know about regret. I do know when the heart just longs to and wishes to turn back the time and do things differently; to have stayed back at home or to have left earlier.

I also know about the guilt; the ‘what if’ and ‘if only’. What if I had gone instead of her? If only she hadn’t gone!

I do know about death. I know when it comes accidentally or through a lifelong sickness. But I don’t know and I am unable to comprehend how a human being can kill another. I don’t know how we have become our own death.

Perhaps, I will never know. But do I really want to know, when all that I know is more than enough to constrict my heart and suffocate my soul?

"THE WORLD'S A RIDE!"

I just saw the documentary ‘Zeitgeist’ and it blew my mind away. To know that there is so much one doesn’t know. And yes, I will use the classic phrase and say that, ignorance is bliss, did apply in this case as well. It was fine and it was good till I saw and heard all that was shown and told. To realise that most of what we call the world is really a farce and how we are unaware of our own actions contributing in maintaining the show. To realise that most of what we do and how we react is but a well-thought of, well-executed and well-hidden methodology we blindly follow. We are made to believe we are in power, when all along we were the ones being controlled and played around with.

There’s so much to the world than the new releases in the theatres, the new car out in the market, the new restaurant recently launched or the new channel that’s coming up. So much more and yet we see so less. So less of what really is and gaze upon those that adds no value to our existence.

But it is not easy to stop at a point somewhere, looking at the things around us, realising the foolishness of it all and starting out a new course with an eye for detail. To appreciate and respect the very basic of human emotions. To respect life and spread humility. To understand that there has to be more to our living than the mere every day routines. Even if it is to live a routine life, to know that we can always make a difference with simple gestures and kind words, to those who need them.

Behind the veil. Beneath the surface. Beyond what meets the eye. We know we are all the same. We are united by virtue of being Human. Differences crop up only when we start learning the ways of the world. From the very first step, the very first sight… we get caught up in a series of words and actions that depict and glorifies every little thing which makes us different from the rest. Barriers are galore. Stopping us from thinking and considering even for a while, that We are all the same. We are all human.

If somehow we can invest more in being humane, we will perhaps find peace reigning supreme and we will find that there is no need for conflict. There is no need for war.

In Bill Hicks’ words:

“The World is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round, and it has thrills and chills and is very brightly colored, and it's very loud. And it's fun, for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they've begun to question, 'Is this real, or is this just a ride?', and other people have remembered, and they've come back to us and they say 'Hey, don't worry. Don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride.' and we KILL THOSE PEOPLE.

‘Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride! SHUT HIM UP! Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.’

It's just a ride.

But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that. You ever noticed that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because ... It's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear wants you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead see all of us as one.

Here's what we can do to change the world right now, to a better ride:
Take all that money we spent on weapons and defense each year and instead spend it feeding, clothing, and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and WE CAN EXPLORE SPACE, TOGETHER, BOTH INNER AND OUTER, forever ... in peace.”

Bon Voyage, My Friend!!

Being kind and generous. Being humble and grateful. Some of the simplest of things are the hardest to do. But the reward is enormous. The irony is, however, those who walk this path, long for no reward or recognition of their effort. The effort itself is a reward and the outcome its recognition.

Our daily lives are complicated. There's just too many struggle, too many disappointments and heartaches on the way. It is a great effort just to sustain a very simple and happy life. Finding happiness is not easy. Finding happiness in simple things all the more difficult. The method of our search for happiness. The means of achieving it. The ways of nurturing it. They all differ from one individual to the other. One thing is common, they all demand a lot of discipline and humility in us. Most are not able to do so. Not because we don't want happiness. But because we long for instant happiness. Something fast. Something quick. And what is achieved ever so swiftly must end as fast as it began.

It is not hard to do the simplest of things. What is hard, really is to do it persistently. To keep going at it no matter what obstacles may come our way. To know and to believe that it is the only way to live. We tend to, most of the times, keep something handy to fall back upon so that we have a way out if we are unable to follow the path we have chosen. But the very fact that we keep a back-up shows our lack of conviction in what we are doing. If we knew and we believe 'this' is the only way we know how to live, we will no matter what, live 'that' way. Survival is an instinct that has no match in any of the human emotions. So, we will live. We will survive.

Who doesn't have doubts? Who doesn't have fears? We all do. That's the very reason why we believe. If there were no doubts or fear in us, why would we even make an effort to embark on a journey. It is because the journey entails many uncertainties and hardships, that we believe in overcoming them all to finally reach our destination.

There is no end to a journey. The journey continues, like it always has been since ages. Only we stop to rest. As long as we travel, we will always know where to go. And as long as we are humble and kind, generous and grateful, the journey will only enrich us more.

Bon Voyage, My Friend!!