Don’t sow the wind…

There is an old saying that if you sow the wind you will reap whirlwind. Alas, despite history being replete with such instances, people in power do not realise the import of this age old golden wisdom. And for those who do not care two hoots for English maxims dismissing them as elitist gimmicks, Indian mystic Saint Kabir has a similar piece of advice. Paraphrasing the couplet in English language it becomes — whatever you did, you did not care, then what use repenting. If you sow a Babul sapling (a thorny tree), you cannot get mangoes. The powers that be have just one objective, to rule. By manipulating emotions of people and dividing them on socio religious lines. The latest of the tricks is the controversy created in the name of dress code. It started from an educational institution in Karnataka but has sent ripples across the country. Though the matter has reached the court of law and the ideal course of action should be to let the legal interpretation provide the solution. Yet, there are people across religions trying to foment trouble for petty gains. That India has been both a witness and a victim of such dirty designs is rather unfortunate. The biggest irony is that what the shrewd British rulers used as a tool to divide the Indian people and communalise the masses to perpetrate their rule has been used by the Indian politicians to gain political advantage. For the British, divide and rule was a governance strategy, while for the Indian politicians it is a political game plan,a diversionary tactics to sway the people for electoral gains. There is need to educate the people and create awareness about the diabolic designs of the political class. The tragedy is that we do not have scholars who can take up the task to clear the haze surrounding the concept and practice of religious doctrines. Misapprehensions between people of different religions is the root cause of communalism. Historical evidence suggests that the relationships between India and Arabia predates the Arab conquerors’ arrival at Sindh. Even before the advent of Islam, the Indian Ocean trade had brought the Arabs and the Indians together. The basic issue is that there has been hardly any sincere attempt by Indian researchers to understand the nature and essence of Indian religions. In fact, European scholars have devoted considerable attention to Islamic and Hindu religious texts and brought out well researched and authentic literature. The establishment of global harmony and peace calls for an understanding and civilised dialogue among major religions. Dr. Han Kung, leading scholar of Theology has very clearly stated that “no peace among Nations without peace among religions. No peace among religions without dialogue between the religions. No dialogue between religions without investigation of foundations of religions”. A civilised and rational view about religions will suggest that they all have one denominator. It is important to understand the significance of that denominator. While it is commonplace to hear Swami Vivekananda being quoted, one would do well to realise what his principal lesson about religion was. Rather than rabble rousing over hijab, members of both religions may better recapitulate a verse from the eternal poet Ghalib — if men were to come out of the self-limiting veil that covers their eyes, they will see glorious revelation in every faith.

Corona’s parting message to us

Some two years back God instructed me to visit your world. Not happy with your ways, God directed me to make you understand what divine disruption is all about. You had been interfering with the ways of the nature causing all sorts of disruptions to feed your ego. You advocated disruption as the new way of life, proclaiming that it was the next big thing. You thought that your escapades would not irk God and you can get away with all that. But God’s patience gave way. I was thus pressed into service. One more time your actions invited the ire of Almighty. In the past also your unruly ways had forced the Lord to send my other brethren to make you mend your ways. For centuries this has been happening. But you forget things easily. Once again you invited God’s ire. Perhaps you forgot the devastation by one of my cousins 100 years ago. The destruction you have caused needed divine intervention and I was pressed into service. As your actions disturb the equilibrium of this wonderful system created by the Lord, He had no option. He wanted you to realise that all those perks and benefits you enjoy as human beings is not your entitlement but was bestowed on you by God’s grace. Since you failed to acknowledge God’s munificence and show gratitude in your actions for all that you are given in life as a gift from God, I had to descend as an agent of the divine. My mission was to make you mend your ways and behave like you were supposed to by virtue of being a human being. But you tampered with nature’s bounty, destroying His creations for sensual gratification, even playing dirty with your own brethren. My intervention was the divine wish to make you realise your mistakes. I don’t know how far I have succeeded in accomplishing my task, but as you should understand, even my patience is wearing out. Being sick and tired of causing disease and devastation in your world, I intend to leave. Two years is a long time to learn the basic lessons that God wants to impart and if you still don’t understand, it’s your choice. My experience suggests that much learning is still to be done but the question is how much more time can be given. God has been trying to make you realise to discriminate between right and wrong for centuries but he, too, has limitations.Those many pandemics of the past had only short term effect with you resorting to business as usual without remorse. Since the time of stone age I have observed that you have not changed much. The same old human nature this time also. Even as you watch your tribe perish, your greed does not go away and your ego continues to drive you to unreason. These two years that I stayed with you made me realise that despite so much of devastation and death, there are some who still want me to be here. For them my presence became opportunity to make hay even if the sun doesn’t shine. Many balance sheets became profitable. Many filled coffers, many created new businesses and many became monarchs usurping all power, posing as the Messiah. But its time I must depart. To you O’Man I can only say that be what God wanted you to be. And to God when I meet him I would say better luck next time.