The
soul of India, I am told lives in the villages and a travel through our villages is bound to give one a feel
of the salt of the earth! You are bound to come across simple country
folks with betelnut scarred teeth, shoddy clothes, disheveled hair and unwashed bodies,
but possessing a definite set of mores
and values that make their lives tick. For the city bred, this might appear
nauseating! From the Media, we learn that our metros loom with crooks who loot, rape and kill even
as ‘ahimsa’ is being preached to congregations in Churches, Gurudwaras, Mosques and Temples! And
these days, it is not uncommon to come across a ‘literate’ generation of
youngsters keen on making a quick buck, through hook or by crook to lead a lavish
life, even as one tries to live up to
the dream of Vision 2020 of a former President !
Life
in India can also take you thorough an
emotional roller coaster…Occasionally
the heartbreaking news of human
suffering perpetrated by a few perverts hits
you and temporarily freezes your urge to
do anything good for people. You may even ask yourself whether it is possible to love your own country man…Well, I have asked this myself and
soon, I find myself engrossed in
misgivings about the message of UNIVERSAL
LOVE propagated by Sri Sri Ravisankar and Mata Amritanandamayee!
Recently,
wrestling with such scruples, I came across this illuminating talk given by E. M. Forster during the intra-war years:
“…The
idea that nations should love one another , or that a man in Portugal should
love a man in Peru of whom he has never heard- it is absurd, unreal dangerous.
It leads us into perilous and vague sentimentalism. . “ love is what is needed’ , we chant, and ten sit back and
the world goes on as before. The fact is, we can only love what we know
personally. And we cannot know much. In public affairs, in the rebuilding of
civilization, something much less dramatic and emotional is needed, namely tolerance…This is the only force which
will enable different races and classes and interests to settle down together
to the work of reconstruction.”
- E. M.
Forster BBC Talk (1941)
Well
dear reader, don’t you think Forster’s idea is a common sense approach to the
art of living?
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