Being restless mentally and intellectually is a sign of a sensitive human being. I used the adjectives on purpose; even dogs are restless physically and so are tigers and lions. A Life Guru told me that the reason for this lies in their being carnivorous, the Dogs and Tigers, he meant! And I wondered how it is different for humans? Anyway, coming to the point of being restless, I used to look at it as some abnormality that should be overcome. Fool was I, why, am! Wait… Not exactly, I guess. That was the mental picture of ‘being restless’ developed in my mind while the negative was provided by external cameras, or should I say 'lenses'…?
Dynamism is a virtue that takes guts to bear for it never helps you settle. The real world examples imply it otherwise. Making progress has a prerequisite of being stagnant or stationery. Ever heard that cliché ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss…’ I really never could understand it. I mean is it an oxymoron or a paradox? Do you want the stone to roll or gather the moss? And in the first place why do you want the stone to do anything that suits your set of beliefs. Unbelievable! Leave the stone alone… it can decide for itself whether to take a roll or a toll. Why would you want even the individuals you know (there’s a trend to call them near-and-dear-ones) to act, react or behave in a certain way or manner. And don’t give me that crap of mannerism and socially acceptable behavior patterns; I have a Post Grad in it!
I am concerned about the entire being of the human race being dependent on the utility value of other human beings or any other being, if I could say. Now, if we are dependent on what others do or not do, does that make us consumerist or carnivorous? Don’t we know any other real ways of being content and feeling happy other than consumption? And if we do, what stops us from following them and refraining from consuming anything and everything that we could find, just like a Tasmanian devil? If reflected religiously it might throw some light on why Noah was instructed by the GOD to take the animals and not humans on his Ark (not the Titanic which was made by humans and sank to the momentary impulses, typical of humans) at the times of Genesis Flood. I know that Noah himself was Human but that was a symbolism of GOD, I believe as HE knew who were the culprits and could foresee what was in store if the mistake is repeated.
The end was close then and it is closer now. How close, nobody knows, not even the Nostradamus, I guess! The only thing that is sure is humans are literally dragging the end closer with what they are up to… blindly and unfailingly! There was this tale about Fate of the Sparrow I heard long back and somehow it always connects whenever I find myself in the meditating mode over ‘Our Common Future!’
This little sparrow was horrified by the creature following her and repeatedly exclaiming to itself ‘How is it possible?’ The poor Sparrow put all her strength to fly higher in the quest of getting rid of the dreadful creature and soon found herself flying in the Eagle’s zone. Although she was more relieved than triumphant of her accomplishment for the obvious reason, the Eagle watching her fly besides him was more concerned than surprised. With its conventional wisdom the Eagle could see the situation the Sparrow has put herself into and with great compassion, offered the sparrow to sit on his back and he will take her to a highest den where she could be safe. Completely believing in Eagle’s presumed wisdom the Sparrow took his advice as well as the free ride he offered.
The moment the Eagle took the Sparrow to the highest safe den, the creature reappeared and killed the Sparrow saying, ‘Now I understand!’ Completely bedazzled and taken aback with what it witnessed, the Eagle asked in astonishment, ‘Who are you? What have you done? And what do you mean by ‘Now I understand?’ To which the creature replied, ‘I am the servant of Death and I have been on the mission to take life of this Sparrow at this place. As the Sparrow was so small and this Den is so high, I was wondering how on earth this little sparrow can reach such a height in so little time. I was beginning to think that there must be some mistake by the Master of Death but you appeared on the scene and solved the mystery by making my job easier. I can’t thank you enough. Please accept my gratitude…!’
The Eagle was dumbfounded and couldn’t believe what has just happened. He was feeling proud and benevolent for what he did to the Sparrow moments before and no he was feeling extremely guilty of his deed with good intention. The situation has turned upside down in a flash. Nobody was wrong still the story didn’t have a sweet end. Helpless… that is how we all are. Or can we help…? Each other? I don’t know. 'The best helping hands are at the end of your arms’, I heard once. And I have decided to help myself. I have stopped flying higher in fear of creatures like Status and Position and Power. Nor do I entertain any Eagle to take me higher in a safe place. I am a Sparrow and I am absolutely content being a Sparrow. I have no intention of being an Eagle someday for I know very well what it takes to soar in the skies.
And yes, that’s what makes me restless, not my own situation; it couldn’t be better and I couldn’t be happier… by choice I mean not by any constraint by any means. What worries me is the life of those sparrows that would be taken higher by the Eagles with a misconception of serving a great cause. But sooner or later it would turn into a nightmare for once and for all, for one and for all. However there is a silver lining to the cloud. There is Light at the end of the tunnel. No defeat is fatal and no calamity is final as long as there is hope. This week started with such 3 incidences that comforted me a little and my restless mind found some solace, if not complete rest in peace…!
In Delhi, the Capital, the Land Bill would be reconsidered with some significant amendments like key clauses calling for consent and social impact assessment (SIA) whenever land is acquired for infrastructure projects, or other uses. This will at least postpone the Land acquisition process by some days at least and the time bought in the process could be utilized to convince the capitalists to consider our agrarian economy as the biggest and principal industry. This might just help to provide that impetus to shift the focus on the farmers and their drudgery.
In Maharashtra, admissions to Agriculture saw overwhelming response and the cut off was 94% for the first round, a historic high in any of the academic branch other than Engineering and Medical. At the same time, there are more than 60,000 seats for Engineering are vacant in the state. Not everybody graduating in Agriculture would become a Farmer but definitely would be a part of Agrarian Economy for one reason or other and that would be sufficient to boost up this extremely fundamental but ruthlessly ignored primitive industry.
Finally at home, in a first in the state, Green Corridors created in Pune and Mumbai helped a 22-year-old patient in Mulund's Fortis hospital received a heart from a brain dead woman in Pune's Jehangir hospital within 60 minutes. A green corridor between the hospital in Pune to the airport and another one from Mumbai's Santacruz airport to Mulund was created at a moment's notice. This is not only reassuring piece of news but extremely proud update for all of us as there could not be a better example of optimum utilization of available resources, technology, infrastructure and Civil Administration. Hats off to all the people involved in this iconic victory including all Medical and Traffic personnel who strived as well as all the sensitive and reciprocating civilians who cooperated to make it happen.
This brings me to the conclusion of an overstretched post that deserves all the length, breadth and depth (if you can gauge it!) and all I want to wish is amidst all those appalling news from all over the world poured on us day in and day out, may our weeks hereafter start with such soothing Monday Morning News! Amen!
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