My first feeling of hatred for terrorism was when I
encountered a camp of homeless orphans during a mountaineering session in
Kashmir. Some of us were chosen to supply foodstuffs there, and I had an
uncanny feeling that it was going to be a day of boredom. There were over a
thousand of children all wrapped up in coarse Pashmina shawls, sitting in their
bamboo tents.
That day, I realised what humanity was all about.
The biggest drawback of our country is that it takes
things way too seriously while there are many other more considerably important
issues waiting to get noticed. It is ridiculously illogical when a farmer who
hangs himself in front of a politician gets the main cover headline for a
newspaper, while the case of a mass suicide by a farmers’ union has to settle
with a small column in the ‘Local’ section. The reason? The first case has a
politician, right? This fact itself explains everything. In every single
article I’ve read on this issue, the opinion of the person giving the speech
has been the focal point, and not the victim himself.
Why is there
any need to highlight the issue of recording an hour-long show for an entire
week, only because it has a language that is ‘misogynistic’, ‘derogatory’ and ‘offensive’
to the general public? Agreed, that it was not a show to be openly exhibited to
a family audience; agreed, that it really was an offensive, foul-mouthed display
of innuendos. But Indians really need to grow up. What was the need to stretch
on the same old rotten subject at length? Doesn’t it actually publicise such
events even more?
One thing Indians need to realise is that there is
no use of publicly showcasing your anger on the denial of rights. This anger
needs to be accompanied by solutions to the problem. Returning of awards only
signifies that you are infuriated. Such an act actually proves that you measure
your talent and work by the scale of how good (or how bad) you think your
country is. And if such is the case, you actually do not give enough justice
and recognition to your talent, since talent cannot be measured by anything but
its acceptance. And rejecting the very evidence of its acceptance is equivalent
to disrespecting those who accepted your work and honoured your talent.
The intrinsic mechanism of the country is so
delicate, that the country can go berserk by any little news, and can even make
an immensely trivial issue blow out of proportion. And when it does, issues
such as terrorism, insurgency and corruption are forgotten. Whenever a wave of
intolerance strikes the society, logic, thought and reasoning is forgotten, and
the idle part of our brain takes centre stage. Conclusions are drawn without a
second thought, and the ability of right judgement flees from our body. How
could you then expect the country to progress in the true sense, if its own
citizens get mad at things that are too far-fetched and trifling and do not
deserve to get popular notice?
I am intolerant, because I cannot tolerate the
intolerance of others. I am intolerant, because I cannot bear with the
existence of homeless orphans in the coldest region of the country. I am
intolerant because I cannot make amends for the effects of terrorism and
violence. I am intolerant, because I don’t give a damn to news that is no news,
but get worried when others do. I am intolerant, because I get influenced only
by news of substance.
I am intolerant, because I am concerned, deeply
concerned.
And people need to understand my concern…
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