Good bye 2008 and welcome 2009

Good bye 2008 and welcome 2009​

2008 has become history. Time keeps moving, whether we like it or not. ‘Happy New Year’ can be heard all around us. However, as we grow mentally, we realize how empty such wishes sound. No year can be happy all around and for all. However, all of us wish that it happened.

2008 was not a very happy year for India. There were quite a number of bitter happenings and the Mumbai shootings top the list. Just a handful of desperate youngsters took the whole country on a free ride for sixty hours! Modern weapons have made this possible. Otherwise, how can just five or six young men manage to fight a whole battalion of soldiers and guards? All of us kept wondering how on earth could ammunitions, which could last for sixty hours continuously, be amassed in the Taj Hotel! However lax the security system may be, it is not a joke to hoard AK-47s and bombs that can scare thousands of people for 3-4 days. What lessons have we learnt by this incident?

Of course the first apparent lesson is that security measures have to be really foolproof at all important places. But all of us know this is easily said than carried out, because it is humanly impossible to keep a 24-hour vigil on every single person of the country. In that case, half the population should be policemen watching the other half! Thus the imminent lesson is that peace can never be bought with violence. If only the misguided youth are made to understand that life is invaluable and has to be lived fully by one and all, things will be different. Children should be goaded with the truth that all that they wish may not happen and they have to be ready to face failures. If the world has to be rid of violence and terrorism, the only way is to ensure that more and more youngsters do not become terrorists. For this the entire world has to work very hard and see that justice and truth rule the world, instead of corruption, cunning politics, bossism, discrimination, misused power and above all MONEY. The hearts and minds have to work together to make this planet a peaceful place to live on. An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind and that is what we are now doing. The lone terrorist who has been captured will become the target of the anger of all the people. Anyone slightly under suspicion will also be tortured and that will send more angry signals to the already frustrated souls.

No terrorist organization can carry out such large scale operations around the world without the support of powerful authorities, in cash and kind. This is a very simple truth that all of us understand but only do not know how to make those powerful people understand that the demons whom they create for destroying others will have no second thoughts in using the power of ammunitions against their own masters, because once a demon starts using his power, he will have no soft corner for anybody. There are any number of examples in mythology and history for this. The Asuras of Hindu Puranas, the disgruntled generals and soldiers of many Kings, the cunning and deceitful friends of many emperors, the dissatisfied beaurocrats and politicians of the modern era are all pointers to the theory that people bestowed with unchecked powers to cause harm to others, will have no hesitation in using the same powers against their benefactors!

The only way to make this planet safer is by making such powerful people understand that peace cannot be bought with violence and weapons. It is sad that every country in the name of self-defence, spends a major chunk of its GDP on arms, ammunitions and army, instead of looking into the basic needs of its people. Of what use is a land well-secured, when its people are dying of hunger, malnutrition, unemployment, poverty and untreated diseases? Who wants peace which sits on a cushion of fear, uncertainty and violence? If I cannot trust my own neighbour or my own Government officer or my own policeman or my own judiciary, how can I live in peace? Unless all the arms factories are closed down and all the Governments positively work for the welfare of their people, peace can never prevail. We cannot live peacefully in a country with beefed up security, because no amount of caution can protect us from meaningless and aimless terrorism. We can ensure perfect safety and peace only when we can ensure that every person’s right to live is respected and the assets of the earth are shared by the humankind in a fair manner. Of what use is a piece of earth, which we cannot carry to our grave? Why this squabble over the natural gifts of the Almighty? Has all the progress made by us not taught us even this simple lesson? Life is short and instead of enjoying it, how come some of us are ready to bomb ourselves to destroy scores of others?

The recent incident that happened in Bangalore is an eye-opener to all of us. It shows how the fear psychosis works. A guard at the residence of a military official shot at an innocent youngster out of over-caution, as the young man was fleeing off from him, despite his orders to stay-put, thinking that he was a terrorist! We cannot blame the poor guard, who did what he did out of pure duty-conscience and caution. The recent Mumbai shootings have sent a wave of fear around the country and anybody moving about suspiciously or behaving suspiciously is bound to be observed with open eyes. Had only the young man, who was just fleeing from the police, who were chasing him for a traffic offence, stopped and explained things to the guard, things would have been different. This shows the kind of peace we are buying by ‘beefing up’ security!

Hope the year 2009 will bring some sense into all of us and make this planet a better place to live on!

Sudha Narasimhachar

 

Thank you for those lovely appreciations friends. These are the best award that any writer can get!

Sudha Narasimhachar