Happy Gandhi Jayanti

Happy Gandhi Jayanti to everyone who aspires for a peaceful and tolerant world.

This is the third time I starting this blog all over again. There is just so much I want to share with you, I seem unable to decide where to start with. Each topic I want to discuss is worth a book. What to focus in this blog, what to leave.. hard choice.. Should I discuss all of them? If I do, I risk sounding like a disappointed father seemingly unable to decide what to rebuke his drunk violent unstable child for - drinking, violence and being deluded?

Should I discuss how reprehensible was the brutal murder of 50 year old Mohammad Ikhlaq in Dadri, Greater Noida by a lynch mob on suspicion that he consumed beef? Should I talk about how some people are spreading poison in the name of religion throughout the globe? 

Should I talk about lack of empathy shown to the Syrian refugees by rest of the world especially by their Muslim brethren? Should I talk about the brutality and terrorism bred in the form of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko-Harem and likes of their kind? Or may be should I point out the fact that the arms and ammunition used by these organisations are created in factories that keep our economy running? Should I even begin on the greed of people and nations that has created this credit-based flimsy world economy that seems to run on promises but no substance? 

I really don't know what to talk about. Probably, in the hearts of your hearts, you all know what is right and wrong in what is happening around us. I know one thing for sure, if you were humanity, your father would have been pretty damn upset with you as you have turned out one psychopath of person and that is to put it politely.

We cannot fix everything in a day. Hell, I don't know if we can even fix it someday. But we can at least try improving our thought process. 

Firstly, it would be a great start if we can agree that no-one dies in the name of religion anymore. Religion is not above sanctity of human life, or laws of the land. Instead of tolerating corrupt practices, deceitful leaders, unclean surroundings, pitiful infrastructure, poverty and hypocrisies, we should tolerate each - other and respect everyone's right to live life happily. God does not exist in statues, monuments, stones, trees, cow or in any other material object you perceive to be holy. God exists in faith, so lay your faith carefully. Lay your faith in humanity, in love, in truth, in peace and in tolerance. Being tolerant does not mean being weak, it means knowing what to fight against, who to fight against. Fight against tobacco, alcohol, bribe, corruption, dowry and poverty. Pardon me in stealing these words of a lead protagonist of a popular TV show Mr Robot - "We live in a world built on fantasy. Synthetic emotions in the form of pills. Psychological warfare in the form of advertising. Mind-altering chemicals in the form of... food! Brainwashing seminars in the form of media. Controlled isolated bubbles in the form of social networks." Get real people, find your sensitivities, find your human connection. World will be a better place if you and I become even an iota of a better human being. Having a clean conscious is price-less. Be real and honest to your soul.

Secondly, if we can be less greedy, less materialistic, we would find more human in us. Life for most of us has become chasing ambitions and dreams, running after paychecks after paychecks. We buy luxuries of today with promises to pay for those luxuries tomorrow. Then when we reach tomorrow, we need more luxuries and we still haven't completely paid off yesterday's luxuries, so we borrow more with more promises. And at some stage, it builds up to impossible number of promises to keep and our world comes crumbling down. This is exactly what has happened to Greece and Chinese economies and rest of the world is not far behind. If entire American debt is divided by number of its taxpayers, each American owes roughly $65,000 to the world. Staggering fact!  There are plenty of economists sitting to discuss how to fix federal budgets of nations, I am just gonna pass on a simple advice on individual front - learn to live with less. Why is it important to remind you today, because today we pay respect to father of the nation who was a prophet of peace and tolerance and in his words one should have "Simple living, high thinking" and "There is enough in the world for need, not enough for greed."

- Shivank Kaul