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As human beings we have the proud
privilege of being the most dominant species on planet earth. As we go through
each day of our lives, we rarely give a thought to the justification of
being human beings.Life itself is an enigma whose true eseence is often a
matter of personal perception. In juxtaposition with the reality of death,
life is an irony. On the other hand, for those who always view the half filled
glass, life is a gift. The sad part is, that not many of us appreciate this
gift. We exist, but rarely do we live. We are born, we learn,we receive
education and we find our respective means of sustaining ourselves. Then what
do we give back? Most people will scorn the question and merely dismiss it as
an absurd philosophy. But I cannot help but ask myself, what have I done to
justify my status as a human being and showcase the essence of humanity.
I remember a tumultuous December
afternoon in 1992. A little boy, hardly 10 years old playing by himself in his
own courtyard. The world around him did not seem complicated. Ignorance,
however is seldom bliss as the little boy was to find out soon. He became the
victim of one of humanities greatest enemies. Hatred. An angry mob stabbed the
boy for giving shelter to a man of another religion. The injury was not fatal,
but the scar impregnated the boy’s mind forever. Those of us, who remember that
painful December, will now enter into a session of recollection. The
Babri masjid demolition reflected the darkest outcome of any organized soceity.
Kolkata remained relatively peaceful as opposed to other areas, but there were
isolated incidents which stood out.
Mankind, evolved into a social
structure that was necessary to frame a civilization. While this was being
achieved, several other facets evolved quite naturally. Every organism exists
and is desperate to thrive. In order to achieve this, it struggles to compete
with other organisms for food, physical niche and an overall supremacy. By the
virtue of their evolved minds, human beings take this basic tenet of life to a
whole different level. The more organized our social structure becomes, the
greater the divide among people. If we simply consider the permutations and
combination it takes for our genetic material to produce the amazing diversity
of humans, it is even more mind boggling to realize the differences in our
thought process. A social structure is needed, a religious tenet may be
required, but at what cost? Have we ever thought that during the course of
spectacular scientific and social achievements, what we are losing? The other
side of the balance remains obscure to all of us.
Let us try and analyze the problems
that we as humans face today. Remember, I am speaking from the viewpoint of a
human being and not as a member of a
particular religious or political faction.
The basic thing that humanity lacks
is awareness. Our education has merely become a tool to get a job. Ask
yourselves, how many of you love your job? How many of you remember what we
were taught in school? Do we remember our history, our geography, are we aware
of how we evolved as a social being? For those of you who are able to
remember, are exceptions and should consider themselves fortunate enough to
have survived the rat race of mankind. However in the back of our minds we know
that we have lost out. For the fortunate ones who have had the means of being
educated as well as the ones who have been deprived of it, we suffer a common
fate. Lack of awareness. Education alone will not suffice. What it needs, is a
wake up call from within. The world today, are faced with numerous
difficulties. Half of it arising from religious inequalities and the other half
from the lack of genuine foresight. Humanity is at a critical stage. It almost
seems we have reached the saturation of human excellence. The wheel, the fire,
the electric motor cannot be re-invented. We need a kick start. An inspiration
that will fuel our hunger for excellence.
I believe that by virtue of being
human beings with an ability to think, innovate and feel; each one of us have a
duty. Apart from ensuring that our lives are stable, we need to serve humanity.
This statement may sound overtly benevolent, but in reality it is very
simple. We need to spread the word of awareness. Dialogue, meaningful dialogue
coupled with action. We can start with our own family. Educate those who work
for us. Help in making people aware of the world around them. For those of you
who are reading this article, and wondering the efficacy and relevance of it
all, unconsciously you have achieved a lot. The ability to think and make
people think is a great gift. In this essay, I try to awaken our latent ability
to think and discuss. This piece of communication and the eventual
correspondence with those who read them might not mean anything in its face
value. But the essence of humanity is to feel, and if one of us after reading this
can feel the urge behind my effort, it will be a victory to all of us. Let us
attempt to justify the true nature of our existence. Let us attempt to view our
lives in a new light.
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