It is not that easy for it be a feeble attempt to bring past, present and future into some sort of a perceivable equation and that it is as we all know it, an infinity.
And even if the math figures... what is one to feel about it? Second hand emotions? If not...hope? More importantly, wat do we do about it?
Now the subject in question.
I am a Indian. And an Indian woman at that but that is another long story. Let's just stick to the Indian part.
This has been a subject of many mixed feelings for me since the the day awareness hit me that though humans we are, we are not really the same.. at least not in each other's eyes.
My earliest memory is at my kindergarten. I was three when I got a first taste of racial based remark from a cluless Chinese kid my age who probably was jus mimicking his elders. Tho my Chinese speakin Grandma took care of him well.. it still left a mark. I realised i was Indian and he was Chinese and that made a difference. Since then... it has been countless ... the more profound ones of being racially segregated in school and educational opportunities flying pass u to the 'son or daugther of soil' (bumiputera, the Malays). So.. where we were born? If neither India nor Malaysia.. no man's land perhaps? Then in workforce.. same stuff everywhere... priviledges bestowed on others that render u somewhat of God's lesser children except God is not to be blamed.
I've heard many versions of it.. people telling how blessed u r to be an Indian (mainly from those living within cordoned off walls of denial) and the other extreme who consider it a curse (those who are going out of their mind at the unfairness of it all).
Yes. History states probably we had the most of wise men in our ancestral lineage. The greatest battles fought by man on earth are incomparable to those he has fought within himself... between his micro and macro existence. And our ancestors excelled at that. They found an answer. Their wisdom and knowledge flowed through generations and trickles in even into this modern day of science, technology and yes.. internet that is fast becoming THE manual for reference of life on this planet... or well.. almost. Though how a pre-programmed and recorded machine can do much.. I fail to foresee. That again is another story.
Religiously and spiritually... I'd say probably we are the more chilled out of society, probably we went thru the mill the long hard way being one of the earlier empires. Our ancestors hv experienced the callous undoings of wars that we learnt to value the gift of life considerably better. Now we are more concentrated in every day survival that we dont break heads over who is of the higher favour of God or its equal or other meaningless pursuits. Not to say we are totally bereft of fight, fire or prejudices.. just a bit more accepting of human flaws. And probably we have our wise men to thank for too for having imparted that piece of wisdom. Great kshatriyas like Gautama, Asoka, even Krishna and the Pandavas (in their death) set right the path to peace after their own horrendous experience of human sufferings, they learnt their lessons well. But the teachings somehow.. probably got handled by too many heads or hands down the centuries. Hence.. many losing its original essence.
In ancient India they had the practice of varna... the caste system. Now the original caste system is the opposite of what it is today.. the deviated version.
Wiki quote : Varna is a Sanskrit term derived from the root vrn meaning "to choose (from a group)." Literally translated, "Varna" means colour. In ancient Vedic society, a person's varna was assigned based on aptitude (guna), conduct (karma), and nature (swabhava). Over the years, these groups became hereditary.
Hence rendering it totally meaningless. For in those days... a dalit or untouchable can be born into a brahmin family and other combinations. Why we kept at this deviation.. probably motivated by status quo and self interest.. only God knows. But either way.. it is rather unkind to doom a child to a particular fate even before he starts to live. Defeats one's right to will and choices. Can something so powerfully life deciding placed in human hands, be fool proof?
These are jus a few possible reasons of many .. why the Indian society especially in this country resigned itself to its fate. Things are accepted with a sigh and destiny is blamed.
"Alas! Its our fate! What can we do?" Ive heard it too many times. It frustrates u.. then angers u.. and despairs u.
But bless the human spirit, its nature is always to kick back a second time when it knows it needs to fight and is not ready to die jus yet. And thank God it did.. and somewhere there was a combustion and fire caught on like quicksilver.
Finally. As it should. I am jus glad it happened in this lifetime for I had dreaded the thought of another generation curling up its tail and retreating to lick its wound in the deprived confinements of its pathetic life and die a slow death.
(Fast forward... Hindraf... rally.... arrest.. ISA...whats next? )
Now why the long story in the beginning? Because i jus wanted to bring about some understanding of why we let this happen to us in the first place?
Why .. despite the wisdom in our heritage.. we lacked the foresight of what we were subjecting ourselves to 50 years ago when we fought hand in hand for the freedom of this land?
Why dint our predecessors take care of our interest then but instead lent a free hand to all? How did we arrive to the state we are in today? We do hv ourselves to be blamed too. BUT that doesnt mean we hv to take such blatant disregard and injustice lying down.
Mistakes were made. We need to rectify. We can.
"Hindraf lawyer misses his children".
I read that headline and i felt my heart wrench. Mainly because it was also the same lawyer.. M.Manoharan (Hindraf senior) who had reunited me with my child 4 years ago.
He didnt deserve it.
His children didnt deserve it.
Why should such young lives pay for our ignorance, omissions and inactions?
Vicious circles can be stopped.
Must be stopped.
Takes a whole lot of effort from every human heart and head.
For those conveniently piggy riding the oppressors for vested interests and extra pieces of perks thrown towards your political career, remember India. We betrayed India to its invaders once too many times. She suffered unnecessarily and lost her glorious existence, fighting to start over again.
Lets not forsake those counting on us now. Its is no longer a matter of minding our backyard. This backyard is all ours..we all hv a share in it.
At least.. think of our beneficiaries....our children.. what kind of future ur subjecting them to. It is our dharma. Our duty.
This is one time, we need to fight. Not with guns and knives.
But with tenacity, courage, intelligence and wisdom.
After all, aren't these our greatest inheritance?
(Arjuna fretted when he had to fight his own people in the war of Gita. But for the greater good, Krishna finally persuaded him to lay off his fears and perform his duty to protect dharma. Our greatest enemy can be our own fears. And we hv much to fear from what we hv been thru ages. Ultimate test is whether we can overcome it when the need arises. And Arjuna blew his conch shell to signify the start of war.)
No comments:
Post a Comment