Last week while going through my timeline on twitter, my brain crashed, went abruptly into a reboot and booting was only possible in safe mode. That meant going offline, disconnecting myself from all sources of media. But was that possible, yeah you all predicted right, it wasn’t. I was soon back online. Going through my timeline, flickering through web pages, looking at some, where it said Obama killed Osama and sometimes in pursuit of being fast, the other way around.
But it was a treat for the media and the twitter world. Both sections went abuzz. For media it was something they dream every day, a spectacle to be given proper coverage. So totally senseless articles such as TOI’s fictitious description of the Navy SEAL also made their way in, once again displaying new lows our Journalism has achieved. But apart from these a bigger question loomed.
I have always been confused, thinking about why people choose the path of becoming a terrorist. Everywhere one sees, it is said that a terrorist has no religion one country etc. But although the former one is very controversial, the latter one seems to have been found. Of late Pakistan has been seen as a country which not only shelters terrorism, but also is now the hub.
But all these things aside, again the same question rises how one can take the dramatic step, how can one be so brutal. Have we ever thought who is a terrorist and who is not or we choose what our media tells us to? I decided to take some help from a professor of ours. Professor Google. As I expected there is no internationally agreed definition. We all think a guy who spread terror is a Terrorist. Well if that is the case I have faced a lot of terrorists in my time at school and college. So as it is goes, it is up to a nation’s discretion or the big daddy controlled UN’s.
They say everyone part of the Al-Qaeda pledged allegiance to Osama himself. A guy who they thought lived in caves, away from the riches that he would have inherited. A guy who was a veteran of a war that saw the Soviets bite the dust. A guy who people thought has only one mission, to see the west go down. But was it that people chose to be a terrorist just because of that one guy. If it was so, then I guess we’ll soon witness the end of Al-Qaeda at least.
I decided to go some years back, some 30 years, when Punjab was under militancy. Another person having credentials of the same magnitude emerged there also. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was seen as a charismatic man, a man who revived a movement of extremism in Punjab. Whose only motive in the later part of his life was to have a separate Sikh state known as Khalistan, exactly on the lines of our beloved neighbour Pakistan. But then many horrifying incidents happened including Operation Blue Star, fake encounters killing many innocents and finally normalcy returned. Punjab was peaceful, En route to being prosperous again. What happened later, the politics is a different story although.
So I decided to do some thinking and came up with an answer. The reason a person chooses to be a Terrorist is the same why a person chooses to be a Cricketer or an Actor. They all get influenced by someone in that field. But then as I have a habit of contradicting myself, I couldn’t refrain from saying isn’t it those role models come after one has picked up a trade or is it really the other way around? Well this has one again left me scratching my head. If anyone of you readers have some theory please feel free to comment. For the moment let me scratch my head a bit more, I think I have some itching problem #$@)*%
Last week all of us were given topics to speak on, for the last evaluation of our Effective Business Communications sessions. Like the rest I was also given two topics, one being the title of this post and the other one being “The creative artist’s freedom to creativity is a threat to social stability”. The second one was so long that I lost my breath when I read it the first time, so I decided to stick to the first one, which I thought would be easy to prepare, although that was not the case eventually. But nevertheless I went forward and below is what I thought would be the script, which again was not the case.
Honestly speaking I was perplexed when I first looked at this topic. Robin Hood is and has been one of my favourite childhood heroes. I had no answer, not even any idea where to look for them. No clue at all.
But then it reminded me of Krishna sir and I saw a ray of hope with secondary research. I decided to dig deep and read as much as possible about Robin Hood and Terrorism.
I was surprised to find out that there was no fixed, universally accepted, agreed upon definition of terrorism or who is a terrorist. The closest I came was this UN General Secretary report which stated “Terrorism is any act which causes bodily harm with an objective of intimidating a larger population”. And terrorist is anyone
Whose methods are violent in nature,
Whose aims and motives are Political in nature,
Whose actions have a wide psychological effect than the immediate victim,
And who works with an organization with a clear cut chain of command.
After reading this, I was even more confused. I thought how Sherwood’s Prince of Thieves could be one of such.
Yes his methods were Violent in nature. Yes his action had a far wider psychological effect than on the immediate victim, so much so that even King John felt it. And yes he had an organization called the “Merry Men” with him being the leader.
But what was it that he really did? He robbed the rich and gave it to the poor. He was what a lot of economists call today a believer of “Equitable Distribution of wealth”. If he would have existed a few centuries down the line, his name would have been taken with the likes of Lenin or even Karl Marx. He championed poor’s cause, a hero of the poor, and a messiah for the oppressed.
He cannot be termed as a terrorist, at best a communist. I believe Robin Hood was a terrorist or hero depends upon from which side of the fence you are looking through.
So here comes another Sunday. It’s been a while I rested on a weekend and not go for some partying or shopping. But I have to say as much as I love partying, travelling or shopping, this time I really liked a quiet and alone Sunday. As the first thing on my checklist was to get a good amount of sleep for my sleep deprived body, so I woke up in the afternoon when finally my back started aching. And then as always I had missed my breakfast and lunch at the hostel mess is an option that I never consider. So I decided to take a walk and treat myself to some paranthas. That is how I ended up settling for the nearest market to our hostel which is Kailash. I went there, got my cell phone recharged, another thing I can strike off the checklist and ordered some paranthas. At that point only one thing crossed my mind if only I could have mom’s handmade paranthas. I got my order and started eating. Just as I was engrossed in them, some advertisement struck my eyes. It was one of those kinds where you take out a printout and you go around the town pasting them on the walls. It read
Required-Receptionist
Salary- 6000-8000
UG/Graduates/MBA
I was stunned. It really shook me. I was so taken aback that I forgot I was having food. How can an MBA even think of doing the job of a receptionist, leave alone the salary. You go to a B-school, pay around half a million Rupees at least and then go through the entire rigor to be an MBA. They teach you operations, marketing, finance, HR, strategy and what not. How a person after learning so much, can even think of being hired as a receptionist? I started thinking, my mind now totally diverted from the fact that I had no food for the last 15 something hours and now a plateful of paranthas lied in front of me and only me. I thought, how can that person who gave that advertisement, think of hiring an MBA for the specific job. Well It didn’t require too much of thinking. It takes no Sherlock Holmes to figure out that we are living and studying in a fractured system. A system which has stuck to the old notion of just getting admission in a college and then go through the motions and one thinks he will end up having a job. This has what led to the dilution of what MBBS, MBA or other educations really meant. Many of us study because we think we don’t have enough education to match how much we want to earn. And we forget the fact that it not the education but the capabilities that matter. We forget that in the real world nobody gives a damn what degree you have, they see what you can do. What results you can deliver. I think the person who gave the advertisement, is aware of the same fact. He knows he might hire an MBA for the job of a receptionist but then that’s all he or she might be capable of. Here I am not questioning our education system, what I am questioning is our mindset, how we approach our life at college. Are we one of those who just go through the motions and are desperately waiting for two years to end, so that they can finally earn something, or are we part of the other breed who approach everyday as to learn something new and make a change in them. Are we the same what we were a year ago or there is a fundamental change in how we think, how we act. These all are questions I think all of us who have this huge burden on their shoulders to be dubbed as nation’s future should ask oneself. What am I here for?
AND I THINK REALITY IS UNDERRATED.
Last few days, something has happened but it has been hard for me to put it in words. I have been unable to figure out what that has been and more precisely why? I have been running here and there for years, reading lots of stuff, questioning it, discussing it with people looking for answers. But it never occurred to me what was the question. But suddenly today it happened. I started thinking about what was the question. But still what really was the question is irking me. And then it struck me, WHAT DO I LIVE FOR? You might think what am I talking about? This is a fundamentally simple question. And that is what really is, a fundamentally simple question and one with a very hard to be answer.
I started thinking. I decided to look around, looking for people close to me and what might they be living for. Is it the family? Or that dream? , Or the money? How could be the answer, to such a simple question be so tough to be answer. I have read numerous books, numerous blogs, many newspapers, magazines etc. But all that looks like going for a toss, when I try to answer this question. I close my eyes and I feel this dark hollow black area where feel I am struck, looking for the way out. I see myself standing and wherever I look it all looks the same and I get no idea which way to go. Am I living for money or to be with the people I love or a dream which is so vague that it makes modern art look meaningful? What is it?
We all come to this world with a blank mind and we all get to know this world and ourselves gradually, taking each step with the help of our parents, friends and others who influence us over a period of time. I don’t know why but somehow after the time this question struck me, I have been unable to find answer to any dilemma that came my way. And this thing is so bothering that it is making me feel as if I am asphyxiating. Well most of us look for answer in the people who have influenced us over a period of time. Our parents, achievers, our friends or might be a big brother. And there is where my confusion even becomes more acute. I really don’t understand where to look for answers. I look at those in Egypt fighting for a cause and many losing their lives for it. Do we live to fulfil a cause? Then I look at people who study day and night to be something, but what something? I know this post is full of questions and I really don’t know what to write more. But if someone is reading this do try to answer this question. “WHAT DO WE LIVE FOR?”
