We do so many things in life, some of which are clearly geared towards a far distant dream. We are hopeful and in a sense sure of achieving that dream - we wouldn't be spending all that time and energy if we were not 'so sure'. However, not everything has to go our way either. Things may go haywire and our sustained and years of effort may be totally lost, in view of the intended purpose. It certainly causes pain and heartache. But I think what causes real pain and suffering is when you realize that the effort is 'wasted' not because it was worthless or you failed, but for some silly and absolutely ridiculous reason as your caste, or religion, place of birth, or some else's like or dislike. How to face angst? Helpless anger?
To see a life, especially a young promising and enthusiastic life, killed in some senseless violence. To see an activist being murdered for fighting what everyone knows is a just cause. To hear of a whole family shattered by the rape of a young daughter, only because they belonged to a particular caste, or religion or section of society. To come to know of a friend who has been denied promotion or benefits due to him only on account of him being of a different group than the one in authority... all of this puts to question the notion of having a dream, slogging it out for it... If all one works for can be wiped off by something so trivial and for no reason, then why strain?
Yet we do! We invest our time and energy in our plans. We slog it out for our dreams. We plan for years ahead of us. We hope! If we let doubts or fears grow, we'd not be able to do anything at all!
(But merely having hope is like walking carefully through a minefield - hoping that we do not step on one! As long as I'm not the one stepping on, everything is fine. Doing something about the minefield itself is an act of courage.)
To see a life, especially a young promising and enthusiastic life, killed in some senseless violence. To see an activist being murdered for fighting what everyone knows is a just cause. To hear of a whole family shattered by the rape of a young daughter, only because they belonged to a particular caste, or religion or section of society. To come to know of a friend who has been denied promotion or benefits due to him only on account of him being of a different group than the one in authority... all of this puts to question the notion of having a dream, slogging it out for it... If all one works for can be wiped off by something so trivial and for no reason, then why strain?
Yet we do! We invest our time and energy in our plans. We slog it out for our dreams. We plan for years ahead of us. We hope! If we let doubts or fears grow, we'd not be able to do anything at all!
(But merely having hope is like walking carefully through a minefield - hoping that we do not step on one! As long as I'm not the one stepping on, everything is fine. Doing something about the minefield itself is an act of courage.)
No comments:
Post a Comment