Saturday, May 06, 2006

CRISIS TALKS..
Turning over the crispy white pages of an oxford dictionary, we find the definition of unity to be ‘Singleness or constancy of purpose or action’. But as we turn over the faded, brittle, yellow pages of life we find it strikingly different. Being similar being of the same caste creed or religion will get you nowhere in this world of today. The age old links of brotherhood have become unchained. The new picture of life shows each person to be self sufficient. So where does the question of unity come in? The age old phrase of “unity in diversity “stands nullified. This turn of events suddenly finds one wanting for a new definition …

So a new question is put forward by analysts, where to find this unity, in the selfish world of ours. Where money overrides all other relational contracts .where “me “come over “we “in weightage. To answer this question lets go a few steps into the past .A single stride will take us to the Indian freedom movement lets look at the scenario a little before that, to understand it better. India was divided into many little kingdoms, fighting for their supremacy. Hence plundered many a times by afghan, Turkish and chengish tribes before finally falling into the hands of the mughals, though still remaining separated into various kingdoms. a little later , the divide and rule policy of the trading British left us mere puppets in their hands , as the crown shifted from the mughal head to the british . The famous saying “united we stand, divided we fall “was once more remembered in the hitherto golden history of India. A little into the future came Gandhi. he shone like a beacon to the wrecked, battered souls of the Indian masses. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, kings, paupers, poets the hitherto unknown untouchables and even some sympathetic britishers responded. They came in thousand, in millions.. Like never before, showing the world what unity in diversity really meant, finally showing the door to the britishers. The question is and remains.. Had India shown that kind of unity before could the britishers or for that matter anyone ever dared to step onto Indian soil with the intention of capturing it?
A little more into the future brings 9-11, the d-day for America and the reckoning day for the world over. This was the day when the world wept with the bereaved. A world, a nation, and millions of individuals were transformed instantly and forever by fireballs that wiped out thousands of lives, loves and dreams. We ache for all of them, because they are us. Every one of us was the target. For an indiscriminate attack, it was intensely personal. And we took it personally. From those individual reactions, melded millions of times over, came a unifying sense of fierce national resolve. Already that is evident. We watched, horrified. We cried, raged, struggled to get our heads and hearts around the monstrosity of events. "The definition of the world we had on that day was not the definition we had on the day before .We were turning to each other to sort that weird feeling of insecurity out."
Borders reopened before the day was out, the president returned to Washington by evening. A global crackdown on terrorists was announced with the UN also condemning the act and calling for action.
This was because the destruction of the two world trade centres did not just signify the might of the terrorists, but also the disrespect to the new world order, a challenge to the world to do what it could, to stop it. The question is if the world was unified in its war against terrorism before the black Tuesday, would they have had to bear this sorrow? Would the terrorists in India have the guts to indulge in cross border terrorism, would the Chechnyan rebels have the audacity to humble the mighty Russian government as it did ?
Does the world need a new crisis every time to realize the potential of unity? Does it require a new catastrophe just to make it understand that he/she alone can’t live the world alone, we need the society that we have created so lovingly through the ages. We need other people to recognize ourselves .we need the help of others to survive .These are just some of the very many examples of our day to day life which show that many a pages in history could have been deleted if we had been unified before a crisis struck us where it mattered the most. many a tear stopped , many a son saved .the world has stooped so low as to question the integrity of its own blood , then where stands its chance of believing its color , caste religion or country mates . to stand by one who risks losing all requires trust and courage the two words missing from the dictionary of most of the groveling creatures we call humans. I say I can’t trust a person because I think he doesn’t trust me. This mutual suspicion and distrust has led us into a disarray, a net from which we are unable to get out .when the word me gives way to we .. Then only we can hope to face every difficulty with confidence. But knowing this truth what is the world waiting for …perhaps a tomorrow ..? Perhaps an opportunity ..? or perhaps a new day bringing another crisis or catastrophe to again relive the brief moments of unity ……

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