Friday, December 29, 2006

The Banality of Evil

'We ought always to deal justly, not only with those who are just to us, but likewise to those who endeavor to injure us; and this, for fear lest by rendering them evil for evil, we should fall into the same vice.'
So says Hierocles of Alexandria
Evil can be simply said that to be the phenomenon which is a result of a person exceeding his or her right/s and intruding or transgressing into the territory of other's rights. Whether that is deliberate or not, is immaterial.
But the worst thing about Evil events happening frequently is that it becomes commonplace. We all read reports of bomb-blasts happening here and there almost everyday. We do feel sorry for the innocents killed or injured, but we don't get as shocked as we used to do earlier. We do get angry, but now the feeling is that 'just one more blast has occured'. It does not touch us as it used to earlier.
Crimes are reduced to mere statistics - we no longer get upset about the number of murders, robberies, undertrials, low conviction rates among others reported in the media. Media has to focus on each case to ensure enduring public interest like seen in the Jessica Lall case, the Priyadarshini Matto case, etc. New cases come in the headlines, only to be replaced by fresh cases every day.
And then we start talking about public insensitivity and public indifference... but how many cases will a person remember?
Thus, evil & crimes become commonplace, & people learn no longer to fear them. A bomb-blast occurs one day & life goes normal the very next... unless some vote-hungry politician calls a bandh. No, the people are not callous, but no longer afraid. Life goes on...

Friday, October 06, 2006


DESTINY...

There couldn't be a truer thing said...
Many people belive in Destiny, Fate, Luck... name it whatever you wish... All actions they perform & the results there-off... are dependant on a Higher Power...
This, according to them is a sign of their belief, their trust in the Higher Power... This is actually an escape from Responsibility...
You are who your Choices make you... You are who your Actions make you... What you do affects your life, affects others... Thus the credit for every victory goes to You, the blame for every Defeat as well... There is no escaping it...
Is it something to be escaped from anyway? Is it that heavy a responsibility that one needs to apportion the blame onto some other entity, no matter however revered it might be?
Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
It is this Destiny that makes up for those chains which bind Man... It is this responsibilty for owning up for one's actions that gives one Freedom... Freedom to do as you wish... subject to the Results to you & to others...
One may say, as a result others's actions also affect us... Very true... so, it is beneficial that others also own up to their actions... make it an ever-lasting chain... so that Mankind gets Free...
Life is not a Straight Path...
It is branched, like a Tree or... like Forked Lighteneing...
You are... What your Choices make You...
If you had made a different choice...
It would not be you here...
It would be someone else...
Looking back...
And asking Different Questions...
Break Free... From the Bonds of Destiny...
Take Life... Into Your Own Hands....