To 2016 with Hope

                                                To 2016 with Hope

We are close to ringing out 2015 and ringing in 2016. This is the last week of 2015 and with a fond hope that no earthshaking happening is likely to be in the next three or four days, it is a reasonably good time to make an assessment of the year gone by. Has this year been one of joy and satisfaction, one of peace and cheer or one of gloom and disappointment, one of disquiet and depression? We are familiar with the saying that for a pessimist the glass always looks half empty and for the optimist the glass is forever half full. Many of us follow the middle path neither sanguine nor dispirited, oscillating between periods of hope and despair, light and darkness, faith and distrust, self- confidence and self-doubt. The protagonist in the documentary I am Twenty says: “I would say that our achievement is that we have a hopeful tomorrow. Our failure is that our today is very precarious.” This is not a unique phenomenon for 2015 but this is life’s little irony that shows life to be the co-existence of contraries.  We have time to be glad and time to be sad, time to soar high and time to sink low and this is an endless cycle repeated year after year. Personally and professionally speaking I have nothing to write home about. No momentous event can happen to a septuagenarian ( and that too if one follows our Prime Minister who has drawn the Lakshman Rekha at 75 for all aspiring men and women) that could be written on the back of a postage stamp . But since one is still alive, alert, has an ear to the ground and overarching all these has no axe to grind, it is possible to look back without rancor and malice, animus and disappointment and prepare to meet 2016 that cannot avoid partly  being a carryover from 2015. Hence how good a year 2015 has been to carry over to the next year?

While it may seem dismal to list out how bad 2015 has been, it will be naïve to ignore the catastrophes so that we prioritize clearing the debris and rebuilding in 2016.  Firstly 2015 has been a year of aviation disasters involving three major air crashes accounting for nearly 500 deaths. Apart from the technical failures, the hand of man in these disasters portends a tragic and terrifying omen.   The year also witnessed earthquakes of magnitude between 7 and eight in Nepal, Afghanistan and Chile (though here despite 8.3 magnitude the casualty was limited to 14) with death toll around 10000. Landslides China, in Myanmar mines, in Malaysia were the major global disasters while rain havoc in Tamilnadu in India had affected 18lakhs of people inundating residential areas and rendering loss of life and property of an unimaginable magnitude. Again the hand of Man in these disasters has been distinct and we can ignore this only at our peril.

The COP ( Paris Conference) on climate change for all the headlines it made ended with the same platitude of collective responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions though the agreement will be effective if only55 countries which produce 55%  green house gas emissions ratify the agreement. Kumi Naidoo of GreenPeace International sums it up: “ the deal won’t alone dig us out of the hole we are in, but it makes the sides less steep”. The cap on emissions is still loose that could see a rise in temperature by 2.7 to 3 degrees leading to catastrophic and irreversible floods, rains, droughts and heatwaves in the future. Will we learn the lessons of 2015 and rebuild a new secure world that is safe for us and for the future generations?

The threat of IS is almost a foreboding of an imminent apocalypse. The attack of IS and the counter attacks after the Paris massacre does not bode well for the world. The West plans to come together to fight the cruelty and atrocities unleashed by IS on innocent people and the possibility of this fight escalating to World War III is a grim prospect for all nations and democracies. Can 2016 usher in a peaceful world?

Back home, seven months into governance at the beginning of 2015, the Modi Government had to contend with angry voices of artists and intellectuals against growing incidents of intolerance that have  wracked the country for the best part of the year. The cultural battles on what to wear, what to eat, what to learn, what to read, whom to love and whom not to love  have gone full blast . Will 2016 inject sanity and liberality to clogged and closed minds that are engendered by cultural atavism?   This year saw a few older icons come perilously close to a fall while new icons have been raised for reasons other than iconic. The debates on issues of tolerance and liberty have been more of a slanging match than any substantial effort at understanding them. Loud and censorial, often descending down to attacks on personalities, the punches on the Television and the attacks and counter attacks on the twitter have touched an all time low. The election speeches were highly provocative and the arrogance of a few of our political netas have reached abysmal depths. Will 2016 see more civilized debates and less noise from the anchors’ microphones and their strict adherence to TV neutrality? Will the New Year see our leaders and political spokespersons  raising the political discourse to more informed and mature levels rather than following the tu tu, mein mein route? Will people abstain from shooting off their mouths and talk with discretion, courtesy and politeness? Will 2016 see an end to acrimony and bitterness between rival political parties to make way for effective governance?

The positives are to be seen in the rise of new voices demanding redressal of violence,  in the humungous  effort at containing environmental pollution, PM’s constant efforts to reach out to world leaders, sharing his  “personal chemistry” with them- the outcome of which in terms of big foreign investments and resolution of  India’s border disputes with neighbouring countries  is awaited with eagerness and anticipation. The various measures taken by the government for financial growth and development have to be seen in meeting the common man’s necessities and aspirations. Energy, education and environment are awaiting urgent reforms to kick start development. Will 2016 see a take- off from what had hitherto sustained the nation or will it see a jettisoning of everything of the last seventy years and returning to the years of the ancient epic times?

In the final analysis 2015 has witnessed the promise of a revival of an ancient past and a renewal of a new dawn- much the same  on the lines of Robert Frost:

The future is lovely, bright and hidden

We have many promises to keep

And twelve months to go before

Ringing out 2016 and ringing in 2017

Lessons to learn in the aftermath of Chennai Floods

                           Lessons to learn in the aftermath of Chennai Floods

Nature has had her last word. She has demonstrated how patience when stretched can turn into passion untamed. In Tamil which has the reputation of being a language at its proverbial best, we have two great maxims about Nature: “One should have patience like the Earth” (substitute Earth by Nature as Earth depends on Nature to sustain it and to provide for the habitation of Man). This explains how Earth bears the sins of one generation after another, but sometimes the goddess Earth (Bhumi Devi) loses her patience with the sins of men. Earth has in recent times invoked the aid of Nature to strike back – first in Mumbai in 2005, then moving eastward,  in Uttarakhand in 2013, then tracing northward in  Kashmir in 2014  and finally down south in Chennai in 2015. The second maxim states:  “Water forgives three offences” (Man is said to rise three times before drowning).  Three warnings had been sounded in 2005, 2013 and 2014 but Man had failed to heed them and the result has been the mayhem unleashed by torrential rains in Chennai for nearly half the number of days of rain that created Noah’s flood nearly 4350 years back in 2348 BC. According to the Genesis, “it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, and the fountains of the deep were opened up: that is what caused the whole earth to be flooded.” Chennai has now experienced twenty days of heavy rains and if we do not listen to this warning, the catastrophe of the magnitude of Noah’s flood will not be far away. Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkatta will be wiped off the face of earth.

There is a gradual realization that climate change has been responsible for this deluge along with a grudging acceptance of our own irresponsible actions to strike at the roots of Nature.  It is an illusory comfort to say that this is a freakish event and it is not that everyday Chennai gets inundated. It is still a greater comfort to cite the El Nino as the villain- the weather phenomenon that gives rise to warmer oceanic temperatures and results in searingly high temperatures, droughts and intense rainfall. Chennai has had its worst share of El Nino’s havoc. But this cannot be shrugged away as a one-off occurrence. An American Meteorologist has warned that such episodes of intense episodic rainfall are only going to become more frequent.

No cataclysm of nature alone had caused this, but, rather, the tyranny and greed of Man have added to Nature’s fury. Global warming is man-made though there is no conclusive proof to link human activities to the catastrophic El Nino or its opposite La Nina. But that does not alter the reality that there is a perceptible climate change with droughts and floods affecting millions of people in different parts of the world. A scientific understanding about climate change does pigeonhole Man as the architect of these freakish and deadly changes in the climate pattern. There is scientific evidence that less energy is escaping to space. The Earth is warm enough to sustain life and it is because of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases act like a blanket, keeping the Earth warm by preventing some of the sun’s energy being re-radiated into space. The effect is exactly the same as wrapping oneself in a blanket – it reduces heat loss from our body and keeps us warm. CO2 is one of the greenhouse gases and it acts like a blanket; adding more CO2 makes the 'blanket' thicker, and humans are adding more CO2 all the time which explains how less heat is lost  and more energy remains in the atmosphere. CO2 has increased by nearly 50% in the last 150 years and the increase is from burning fossil fuels and emissions from automobiles and industrial units.. Scientific investigation builds up empirical evidence that proves, step by step, that man-made carbon dioxide is causing the Earth to warm up. Even if there is a rebuttal, it does not obviate the truth that CO2 has increased, that the burning of fossils has caused the CO2 increase and this, in turn has given rise to increase in temperature- what is technically defined as global warming.

India along with the BRICK nations is accusing the Western developed nations for causing atmospheric pollution. Though this is the truth, India as a developing nation cannot absolve itself of the sin of burning coal and fossils that is adding to the increase of CO2. The pollution levels in our cities have reached alarming heights with respiratory diseases and lung affliction on the rise. We cannot deny the air pollution caused by our automobiles that includes diesel cars and trucks, two wheelers and three wheelers. We cannot deny industrial and construction linked pollution that has made Indian cities unlivable. We cannot deny becoming a slave to McWorld with profligate consumerism that is driving emissions. There is no logic in finger pointing the developed nations who are no doubt the worst polluters, but simultaneously aspiring to transform India into a developed nation on the Western model. Your development should now be our development cannot be an argument for it implies that till we become developed, we will not stop polluting the atmosphere and we will stop when we join the elite developed nations. China has said that it will bring down carbon emissions by 2030. Then the nations that are in the underdeveloped category today can stake their rightful claim to add to CO2 till such time they are developed…. This is the surest way of hastening the end of the world though there is no sight of a modern Noah to build an arc and start the regeneration of the world. In fact, the Indian govt’s position tha  it needs coal as a cheaper energy source to fuel growth is supported only by 15% ofIndians. In a poll released by New Delhi based MDRA conducted across 12 cities in India, 90% Indians find Climate Change a real threat and 75% want the government to switch to clean energy to fight it.

How to reconcile the two opposite positions-one that advocates  development aided by technology on the one hand and the other seeking a changed lifestyle with emphasis on simple living, unencumbered by technology? The latter will save the planet and preserve it for the future generations while the former will give the present generation qualitative development and higher standards of living along with the risk of higher incidence of respiratory diseases affecting all- both in the present and in the future years.

What is development? Today development is closely intertwined with technology. It is assumed that technology alone can bring about development. But the question is what development does technology bring and what development do humans need? Are the two in sync with each other? There is a variety of developments such as economic development( agricultural economy, industrial economy, post industrial economy, poverty alleviation), Socio- political development(life expectancy, democracy and human rights, sustainable development, quality of life, healthcare ),  Human development (Gender- related issues, education, cognitive development, communication technology) etc. As stated earlier technology has its benign influence on all these developments and has become an indispensable part of human progress. The quality of life today is determined by the technological aids that provide us with maximum comfort and minimum labour. But unfortunately in many ways, technological development has contributed to air pollution in equal measure if not more than the benefits it has conferred on us. The benefits of technology in increasing life expectancy, better healthcare, boosting up agricultural production and education is offset by its adverse impact on environment, ecology, sustainable development and cognitive development which, in turn,  has impaired vital human development. Today in Delhi the car manufacturers are bringing out cars with Euro IV standard. It is stated that even if the entire country adopts Euro V standard, this can bring down Nitrogen Oxide (NO) and air quality index only marginally. The automobile companies say it is impossible to leapfrog to Euro VI by 2017- which means that air quality is unlikely to improve in the next few years. Technology is the modern genie at the service of Man. It also acts as a rebellious jinni to make Man its slave. CO2`and NO(nitrogen Oxide) are  the lethal byproducts of technology causing respiratory diseases and other lung related illness.

But we cannot live without technology-particularly technology that produces power. We need power to run our washing machines and refrigerators. We need power to charge our mobiles. We need power to keep ourselves warm in winter. Winter or summer, freezing cold or burning summer, we cannot live without power. We need power for domestic use as well as industry, but ironically power generation plants emit PM(Particulate Matter) above permissible limits to cause lung diseases. Without power, the poor in winter have to burn coal and fossil to keep themselves warm and this adds to the atmospheric pollution. The rich has the luxury of using energy at will while for the poor, this is unaffordable. India has therefore pitched its claim to continue with the burning of coal as that is the only means available to its millions of poor people.

The solution lies in a change in our lifestyle-especially that of the rich and the aspiring middle class. Apart from Government’s efforts to bring better quality of air, as individuals we have to make large scale changes in our life. We have forgotten that we have legs to walk and hands to work which do not need electrical power, but need will power to physically do those simple tasks that we have relegated to the machines. Do we need a vacuum cleaner when a broom can do that work? Do we need a washing machine or a dish washer when these daily chores can be done by us collectively at home? They are certainly needed in hotels, hospitals and restaurants, but not in our homes. In India we still have the luxury of hiring maids to clean the house who depend on these tasks to earn their livelihood. But physically we are allowing ourselves to atrophy by not working and exercising our limbs. So much power can be saved if we lead a physically active life. There is no need to go to power gyms to do the workout when that time can be used for housework. As for time saving, we should honestly ask ourselves the question as to what do we do with the saved time. Can it be said that our parents and grandparents had a gruelling existence in the absence of all these fancy machines? We do need machines for hard work such as grinding and pounding but we do not need power cutters to chop the vegetables or to make dough for rotis. In India where we have summer for full eight months, do we need micro-ovens to heat our food or electric cookers to keep the food warm? If we make a habit of walking to the shops and markets instead of driving down, we save fuel, and save ourselves from physical atrophy. No one comes to grief by working with hands. An active life is a sound recipe for a healthy body. Many of us belonging to the category of septuagenarians are as strong as age would allow us and we continue with the domestic work and also spend our time writing, reading and watching TV in our spare hours that are plenty available. If we live a simple organized life, enjoy doing work both physically and mentally, we need not have to frequent hospitals with frozen shoulders or other muscular ailments. Power saved by every individual can be utilized in hospitals where life saving machines run on electricity and other public utility places.  Power saved in this way can be used in shelters for the poor to keep them warm. If the urban class- both the affluent and the middleclass consume less power, this can be diverted to thise who can ill afford power to serve their barest necessities. University hostels, school hostels, shops, hotels and public places should be compelled to maintain room temperature at the minimum around 22^oC.Let the government go for green technology from the West and encourage industry to prune its power consumption on the motto of “waste not, want not”. Many years ago, our former Prime Minister had given a 20-point programme for poverty alleviation. The Ministry of environment along with NGT(National Green tribunal) and CSE(Centre for Science and Environment) has to bring a 10-point programme for the citizens to bring in a cleaner environment and reduce carbon emission.

Gandhiji said India has enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed. If we pledge to do our bit everyday in our consumption of power, natural resources in particular water and keep our material needs to the minimum we can galvanize sustainable life both for ourselves and for the future generations. Lavish weddings and parties where a lot of electricity and food gets wasted can be avoided which in no way diminishes gaiety and cheer.  We should curb our irrational instinct for extravagance to moderation in all that we do.These are small measures that in no way impinge on the quality of life. From personal experience I can say that there is no harm if we exercise and expend our physical and mental energies. Adapting Shakespeare’s famous words, we can re-write : The quality of life is not strained; it blesses him who works and him who strives  for it.

The old adage “Many a little makes a mickle” exemplifies the worth of small steps that can help us for a giant leap to a green world. It is good to put into practice John F.Kennedy’s advice to fellow Americans: “Do not ask what others can do; ask yourself what you can do.” It will be largely up to each one of us to pursue greener path to bring sustainable development to our nation.

In just ten lines, Tao Te Ching writes about when to stop:
Your fame or your person

Which is dearer?

Your person or your goods

          Which is worth more?

Gain or loss, which is the

           Greater bane?

…Know contentmet, and you

Will suffer no disgrace;

   Know when to stop, and you

 Will meet with no danger

 

Nature, Our Great Teacher

Nature gives us lessons in myriad ways that are easier to understand, absorb and experience than lessons we learn from the pages of text books. The only difference is there is no compulsion to read and learn from Nature as is the case with books. But our reluctance to read is much the same as our indifference to learn from Nature. Shirdi Sai Baba told his disciples that the Lord exhorts us to “take and take” from His bounty while we, humans always plead with him to “give and give”.  Nature asks us to take and take from her inexhaustible profusion to satisfy our sense of sight, sound, taste, smell and touch and to provide us lessons to last a lifetime. Unless we have the eyes to see and the ears to listen, Nature remains opaque and non-transpicuous.

Nature is an Institute of Design. Some of the trees that stand tall grow proportionately wide are so aesthetically designed that one wonders Nature’s way of developing and exercising  to create a perfect figure that will be the envy of our youth who exercise to get a  six pack abs. While we go for lovely looking pets, there are a number of uncared for stray dogs that carry a beautiful design in their physical architecture. I saw one with sunflower blonde body highlighted by white paws in symmetry as though a painter had measured and painted them. Its ears had a dash of white in the midst of the profuse blonde hair all around. The morning sun was balmy as it plunked itself on the ground totally unaware of its beauty.  Seeing Nature in her best design, I could not help muttering: “hey, here is God’s plenty.” Nature’s creativity is ingenious; we have plenty to learn from Nature. I am reminded of Harold Bloom’s words: “Talent does not originate; genius does”

Winter has set in. When I go for my morning walk to brace up for the day, I see Nature no longer in her resplendent, colourful finery as she stands  denuded of flowers. One of things I always enjoy in spring and summer seasons is sighting the hibiscus flowers. Every morning during these seasons, strolling through the parks, I would look for these lovely red flowers springing amidst green leaves. My heart would leap with excitement on seeing the crimson wonder. Though sounds silly and superstitious, I usually associate the sighting of the hibiscus with a bright and beautiful day ahead. When there is an abundance of these blossoms, there will be a spring in my walk. On the days when I would sight just one or none, I would foolishly feel a trifle cast down. But the moot point with me has been not to miss out on the joy Nature gives as it unfolds flowers of different hues.

But during the early period of winter, as hibiscus and other flowers take their bow, we see only the green foliage. Transposing human  emotions of pride and envy on Nature(since I have no knowledge of plant emotions), it is not far wrong  to assume that in the absence of large quantities of water and sunshine needed for blossoming, the flowers had faded leaving the leaves to suck whatever was left of both. This is the time for the leaves to preen themselves in their ‘green’ glory. It will be at least three months before the hibiscus can claim its rightful place among the leaves. Till then, the leaves feather their own nest pompously showing “how green my valley is”. But as winter advances, with no trace of moisture and sunshine, the leaves lose their green and are seen with a brownish coat of dust. They are no longer the high priest of green beauty but look wan and brittle, and appear jaded like a one day wonder (Ek din ka sultan).  Nature seems to quietly say no one can forever gloat while shining on left over tidbits.

The brown coating has to wait for a wash for the first drops of rain to come along with the sunshine to bring back the crimson red and restore the green armour to the leaves. Nature teaches the wonderful lesson to have humility while in power, to show grace unmixed with arrogance when one comes into good fortune even for a short period. Beauty does not last long, but beauty lends itself for revival at the right and opportune time. Power cannot be a matter of one’s right or a matter of usurpation of others’ legitimacy. Power is the transformation of the Lord’s grace to human efforts at the time deemed right. The flowers have to blossom, the leaves have to shed off their coat of dust while blessing their efforts is the grace of the Lord, evidenced in the precise cyclic movement of the seasons. Man has merely to follow Nature and do his work, leaving the Lord to bless him at the right moment.

Here is a lesson for our politicians and also for all those who have become power mad. Power like beauty cannot be had forever. When in power, be humble, gracious and modest. The design is His; the appropriate time is scheduled by Him and we are the recipients of His grace. But we are not to remain passive, for in our efforts lie the fruition of His will. Nature does her work with clock-like precision. She does not rest for she ceaselessly creates the beauty of spring, the majesty of summer, the after-glow of autumn and the quietude of winter.  Nature has her own language, her own idiom to teach us the great aphorism so often quoted from the Bhagavad GIta about Nishkama Karma:

                     Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma phaleshou kada chana,

                     Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani

You have the right to perform your actions,but you are not entitled to the fruits of the actions.

Do not let the fruit be the purpose of your actions, and therefore you won’t be attached to not doing your duty.

The Coming of the Apocalypse

                                                The Coming of the Apocalypse

The ominous signs of World War III are present as “darkness visible” to use the Miltonic oxymoron. These signs have been flickering since the twin towers in New York were razed to the ground at the turn of the century. The aggravation, worsened by the US military intervention first in Afghanistan and later in Iraq ostensibly to topple Saddam Husssein have  galvanized terrorist groups such as  Al Queda, Taliban ,Boko Haram and presently the ISIS to strike terror at will. These groups have ingeniously turned the table on US and the West by playing the Muslim victim card citing nearly 45,000 Muslims killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their targets are mainly US and Western Europe-France in particular- though the extended lethal effect has been borne by Nigeria, Syria and Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. We in India have had our share though intermittently with Pakistan’s non-State actors making a common cause with the terrorist groups under the banner of Islam, covertly and violently unleashing their hatred for the nation.

The latest press release by the French government warning of a possible chemical and poisonous attack has sent everyone into an alarming tizzy. Belgium has been put on alert, shutting down its metros and postponing football matches. Europe has woken up; so have Russia and US to the escalation of the murderous and destructive threat by ISIS. The West has come together, mobilizing its forces to counter this menace. The two erstwhile superpowers –America and Russia are working out ways to contain ISIS. These two arch egoists have joined hands, sinking their major differences about Syria through a unified Syrian-owned political transition plan to end the civil war in Syria. So far so good, as the ISIS has the deadly arms power, money and willing suicide bombers to wreak havoc on many innocents both in the Arab world who are non IS sympathizers and in Western Europe besides US and its Allies. ISIS that stood for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has shed off the last two letters and now remains as IS with its single objective to establish an Islamic  Caliphate, a state governed in accordance with Islamic law by God’s deputy on Earth,  the Caliph. It seeks a direct confrontation with the US-led coalition, viewing it as a War between Muslims and their enemies described in Islamic apocalyptic prophecies.

The 21^st century has all the signs of a bloody war of the proportion of the two world wars of the previous century. Humanity has not learnt the lessons either from World War I (1914-18) that had caused the death of 17million people nor that of World War II that accounted for the death of six million Jews and millions of people across Europe and Japan. WWI happened due to increased militarism, aggressive imperialism and nationalism among European countries, in particular among Germany, Great Britain and Russia, while WW II witnessed the megalomania and anti Semitism of Hitler  that brought all other European nations together to fight him with the assistance of US. But our present generation has forgotten history- as recent as of the last one hundred years. Mankind has not learnt anything from those two devastating wars and is currently on the path to break into yet another catastrophic war. This is not the time to justify atrocities as vendetta wars, apportioning blame either to the ruthless, fanatic Muslims, or to the stupid war that George Bush had started first to strike at AL Queda in Afghanistan and later at Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

What is the one major lesson of the two World Wars that we ought to have learnt and which we have not? Two wrongs don’t make a right. The genesis of all wars has so far been ego bruise -real or imagined. Prima facie, this conflict seems a religious conflict between Muslims and Christians, between Sunnis and Shi-ites, between Muslims and non-Muslims , but looking at it closer, it is a clash between Western imperialism and the Ottoman imperialism that seeks to establish its hegemony from Portugal to China with a ruthlessness that is unimaginable to any civilized mind. Riding on the banner of Islam, perceiving the dominance and conquest of the imperial West as a threat to its identity and destruction, propagating the victimhood theory of being bombed and looted by the rapacity of the West and justifying the  right to vengeful retribution, the IS has intrusively worked upon the minds of the socially and economically deprived Muslims in the West and allured them to join the fight against Christian and non Muslim nations. It was a clever strategy “to present a binary view of the world as good and evil and show that all that is good is with Islam and all that is evil is with the West”(Adam Deen trying to figure a counter narrative to militant Islam). The sense of victimhood and the call for revenge for a just cause has had a tremendous appeal not only to the socially and economically  deprived sections of the Muslim youth, but also to  the educated groups whose understanding and grasp of the nobility of Quran is poor, if not non-existent. Thus the greed of the Western nations for the oil rich resources of the Arab world combined with the extremist version of Islam which is deviant from its original helped IS to grow thick and fast. Germany among the rest of Europe has understood the devastation of cruelty and hatred perpetrated by Hitler and his Nazi army and has moved away from vendetta politics to develop into a more humane and civilized society.

The question before the world is can aggression end aggression? Can violence end violence? Can brutal war be an answer to the bloody war unleashed by IS?  How to create a counter narrative to the perverted narrative of Islam as spread by the IS? Modern concepts of nationhood, civil rights, liberty, brotherhood and equality that have been the cornerstone of European and Western democracy have to be strengthened to stop the spread of IS caliphate founded upon the megalomania of the self styled Islamic Caliphate whose visceral hatred of non Muslims is similar to the toxic dislike of the Jews by Hitler and the Nazis.

The world has to come together to demonstrate the power of humanity, rationality, liberality and freedom against the inhuman forces that thrive on irrational, illogical and imperious diktats of the IS leaders who betray their ignorance of the peaceful religion Islam by saying killing apostates is Islamic. Many leaders have spoken about drying the funds of IS, bombing the IS holds in Syria and Iraq, but if minds cannot be cleansed and purified, if hearts are not rid of hatred and fanaticism, if attitudes are not changed  to put the past behind and to forge forward, stealthy drones and carpet bombing will only aggravate the hurt and vengeful belief in victimhood. The world should seek the voices of the moderate Muslims like those of the the 1071 Indian Imams and Muftis who had decreed a fatwa against IS for its un-Islamic and inhuman acts. Gandhi said “An eye for an eye makes the world go blind”. How prophetic these words are! Two wrongs don’t make a right. No amount of sabre rattling speeches can match the guns of violence. The voice of sanity alone has the power to drown the voices of hell.  Aakar Patel’s advice to the Hindutva votaries rings true for the entire world. He writes: “…it’s easy to rouse an Indian mob to hatred. To desist, to resist bigotry, even when it is popular is leadership.” The World has to unite to speak their  “mann ki baat”(the Voice of their Conscience) to drown the voices of hatred and inhumanity. The conversation between a father and his son that has gone viral is the answer to the boom-boom of the guns:

The Son said:  “They have guns, they can shoot us because they’re really, really mean, daddy,”. “It’s okay, they might have guns but we have flowers,” his father said.

At the end of the conversation, his young son said he felt reassured by what he’d heard. “The flowers and the candles are here to protect us,” he said.