The Great Opinion Makers

This is w.r.t the article by Chetan Bhagat.  Refer

The Great Opinion Wars: Let the best opinion for India win - The ...

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My response(one of the hoi polloi) 

It is ironic that the lead article in an English daily about the Great Opinion Wars is by a writer whose claim to fame rests on those very markers that he scoffs at as belonging to the privileged class. According to the celebrity writer, Chetan Bhagat, this privileged class who in earlier times  had assumed the status of worthy opinion makers has now ceded its primacy to the aspirational class and he reckons the great divide between the two groups as the schism between the left wingers and the  right wingers respectively. The genetic markers of the privileged class ( it is difficult to denote this group as privileged class when the writer claims they have forfeited their privileges) are good fluency in spoken English, good education in liberal colleges, hailing from upper middleclass and brought up in metro cities, having connection with their own elite fraternity and using that connection for furthering their  job status without necessarily having merit.

Chetan’s broadside on the privileged class is puzzling as he writes and speaks only in good and flawless English, has been to the prestigious IIT and IIM, hails from urban middle class liberal society, is married to a Tamilian classmate in IIM  and is a celebrity who is a regular TV interviewee.  From his own classification, Chetan belongs to the privileged class which he mocks  at as the intellectuals who had for many years thrust their opinions on the ‘hoi polloi’ –who by inference lacked intellectualism to form their opinion. Chetan ‘s soft corner for the new aspirational class and his effusive praise for their spirit of  nationalism, for their love of tradition and abhorrence of beef, their hatred for Pakistanis  show that after enjoying the advantages of the privileged class, he has switched over with ease to the other side because according to him , the latter  values merit over privileges though he offers no evidential rationale to substantiate his opinion. So the erstwhile opinion maker who had influenced the less privileged people of his country through  his best- selling novels owes his allegiance  now to the rising aspirational class in an eloquent  language  that it does not possess.  So “heads I win, tails you lose” seems to be Chetan’s dictum.

Again Chetan, the opinion maker in his new avatar makes a sweeping generalization that the privileged class has done a lot of wrongs,   has been disconnected from India( baffling for me, one of the hoi polloi because  who else can the privilege class connect with), has mired India in poverty with its left leaning ideas-( a contradiction to his statement that the new millennium has seen India grow in economic power and aspires for something bigger leading to the rise of the aspirational class-),  bred nepotism and thwarted merit( I assume Chetans rise to celebrity status when he was in the privileged class was not a case of patronage sans merit).

After meandering through the two classes- one now without voice but with eloquence of expression and the other with a newly acquired voice without the felicity of expression- Chetan seems to have realized that he may be guilty of a fourth mistake in his life if he arraigns the privileged class and comes with a wisecrack: “In the Great Indian Opinion Wars, may the best opinion for India win whichever side it comes from”- a concluding statement to keep himself on two states.  His change from the campus novel genr  to the non fictional collection of essays and speeches in “What Young India Wants” is symptomatic of the deep seated urge in him to reject the privileged class in which he was brought up and to re-root himself into the aspirational class which, according to this new entrant into aspirational class, desires merit and only merit, jettisons modernity to embrace tradition and  wears nationalism on its sleeves.

 

How powerful is Force ?

                                                        How powerful is Force ?

 Debates, discussions and arguments with the decibel level reaching high intensity have held centre stage regarding the release of Karan Johar’s film with Pakistani hero in the lead cast. The media divides the guests on their TV shows into ‘for’ and ‘against’ groups with reference to the screening of the film but the mischief loving media obliquely suggests them to be anti- Nationalists and Nationalists. The argumentative Indians who are hauled over the coals for seemingly lacking in patriotism, have turned cautious and affirm that their plea for the release of Karan’s film is a one-off plea and they are one with the Nationalists who demand a complete ban on engaging  or inviting Pakistani artists to act or perform  in India. Karan Johar  passionately affirms that he was and is a nationalist to the core and promises not to engage Pakistani actors in his future ventures and seeks  people’s consent and grace to accept his film that had courted controversy.  But neither the so-called ‘Nationalists’ or the unfairly branded ‘anti-Nationalists’ have asked the question as to the worthwhileness of this puerile debate in the context of the never ending Indo-Pak conflict!  Will banning Pakistan actors, artists and sports persons put a stop to the daily crossing of the LOC by armed forces of both the countries and which daily accounts for the martyrdom of one or two soldiers on either side?  Isn’t it true that such rabid anti-Pakistan rant ( and anti-India rant form the other side) only escalates the tension that may eventually lead  to war for  the fourth time since the  two nations got their independence? The War mongers on both sides are keen on keeping the pot boiling and therefore are whipping up hysteria of hatred with delusions of  persecution , startling insinuations  of paranoia and intolerance that their political and  religious liberty are lost and that use of force is the only answer for protecting their respective freedom. It is easy to excite people into a state of war frenzy without ever making them understand the terrible consequences of war. When both the nations have nuclear strike capability, such irrational hysteria will bring about mutual destruction of an unimaginable scale, so chillingly narrated by Amitav Ghosh in his slender volume Countdown.  According to Ghosh, to the politicians in India and war generals in Pakistan, nuclear bombs are just status-enhancing, "a primal scream for self-assertion" and “ the pursuit of nuclear weapons in the subcontinent is the moral equivalent of civil war: the targets the rulers have in mind for these weapons are, in the end, none other than their own people.” It is a pity that the leaders and army generals on both sides do not recognize the possible devastation that would be one hundred times more than that of Hiroshima.

How many of our leaders have had the time to browse through Amitav’s book?  The world –and in particular the nuclear armed nations like India and Pakistan and North Korea besides the nuclear weapons sharing states (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey )today require well educated, well read philosopher –statesmen to lead their respective nations. The current scenario in India is limited to  electing only demogogues who have the power to articulate  deep seated hatred, fear  and suspicion in the name of nationalist fervor without ever bestowing any rational or intellectual thought on the consequences. On the contrary, the elected members of Pakistan parliament are mere puppets in the hands of the military generals.  How many among our politicians have read great classics that talk about human nature and human experience?  On the Greek classic, the Iliad, Simon Weil raised a fundamental question:“Is force inevitably all-controlling and malevolent? Or can it be tamed? Is it possible to "learn not to admire force, not to hate the enemy…?" She wrote this when France was reeling under the shadow of Nazi and fascist regimes, who lionized military power and deliberately misconstrued  weakness as akin to illness.

Today we have to ask the same question – the question that had been discussed in the Iliad, the question that addressed war’s human dimensions. The war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, between the Greeks and the Trojans, the war of the crusades between Christians and Muslims, the Nazi war against the Jews, the Islamic State war between Sunnis and Shias and the present Indo-Pak conflicts have their genesis in hatred, revenge and anger among the warring groups, incited by  leaders whose myopic vision of battle cry masks their personal ambition to prove their strength and thereof their leadership credentials. You hit, I hit, whose hit is the most fatal is the proud boast of these war thirsty leaders. They are the least concerned about the fatal consequences of war on the masses. Post Uri massacre, we have shrill cries from all those who wear nationalism on their sleeves to the effect that we are enemy nations and people on either side of the border should nurse anger and hostility towards each other. No doubt, India feels justifiably angry over the murderous assault on its soldiers at dead of night and Indian army’s retaliation has signaled a strong and forceful message to Pakistan about encouraging covert terrorist actions. So far, so good. But to keep harping on it and shaming Pakistan in all international forums is like flogging a dead horse- that is seeking a magical cure to an incurable festering wound. LOC conflicts have daily increased the  martyrdom of one or two soldiers, if not more, on either side. I recall Mary Shelley’s address in her first novel, Frankenstein,( published when she was just twenty)-the address by  a father to his son:   “Come, Victor; not brooding thoughts of vengeance against the assassin, but with feelings of peace and gentleness, that will heal, instead of festering, the wounds of our minds.”

The way the media and some of the self proclaimed Nationalists orchestrate their hatred of Pakistani people, seeking a ban on entry of Pakistani artists and sportspersons and similarly Pakistan ‘s retaliatory ban on showing Indian films and Indian TV serials, show that both nations have reached a dialogic cul de sac. Both sides have come to believe that cannons, missiles and bombs including the dreaded N-bombs alone shall speak. The people-to-people  bonding, the sharing of their common culture and civilization, language and food, exchanging of goods and trade, engaging writers, artists, sportspersons, film and TV actors is the only way to promote camaraderie and ensure the survival of the two nations. For this to happen, the leaders on both sides should first focus on strengthening the ties and not on the conflicting issues. Our of Prime Minister did once speak about appealing to the Pakistani people for promotion of ties between the two nations. I wish he had made similar appeal- more so now during the film controversy- to his own people.   Unless people recognize that most issues can be worked out by mutual respect and regard for each other, both nations will militarily, economically and culturally collapse till their very existence will become a question mark. The power of force is exciting, frightening and catastrophic but cannot be sustaining for long without fatal consequences. But the power of peace is gentle, restrained, and enduring. The way to make a success of the diabolical two nation theory left by Britain in 1947  isfor thenations to extend hands of friendship and not use them for wielding  guns. One wishes for a Mahatma, a Martin Luther King, a Mandela in our midst.  But with no such noble and wise personality in sight, let people of both countries rise up  to show that the power of peace is stronger than the power of force.

Prayers to the Goddess of Learning

                                       Prayers to the Goddess of Learning

This year Dussehra has been truly validated by our armed forces with their triumph over the present day Aswathamas - evil incarnate- who had burnt alive eighteen of our soldiers.  The ninth day of Dussehra, a day before the culmination of the festival,  is Durga puja for the Bengalis, marking the triumph of Goddess Durga over a powerful demon(Mahishasura) while for Tamils, it is Saraswati  puja - the day dedicated to the Goddess of Learning, music, art and culture.  Since my childhood, for the last seventy plus years, this day has been the most important day for me , but today I pray fervently and seek Goddess Saraswati’s blessings for more wisdom, intelligence, articulation and above all for greater power to sustain my sanity amidst increasing  crassitude, insensitivity and absurdity that is in evidence all around. Let me not be misunderstood as talking down like a superior, different and a cut above the rest. It is not ‘I’ versus ‘they’ syndrome, where ‘I’ stands for a refined and cultivated mind and ‘they’ for the lack of it. Such deliberate paring will be like the vain boast of the one-eyed man in a land of the blind. My ardent invocation to the Goddess of learning and culture is borne out of the fear that I (which includes a large number of fellow beings who share my values, ideas and feelings) may get sucked into the vulgar whirlpool of crudeness in speech, action and manners that is present everywhere.

The 21^st C India continues to be at the cusp of tradition and modernity (even a century  after the arrival of modernism in the West) as the deep seated love for festivities and deep rooted faith in rituals have an equally matching irresistibility towards all that is glitzy, glittery and showily attractive.   The churning that one notices in our society today is a conscious  attempt to  move away from all that had been traditionally followed, towards a jazzy modern outlook that paradoxically values individualism and extroversion, openness and self- centredness,  temerity and timidity, brashness and anxiety, aloneness and mobbism, conservatism and radicalism. This is reflected in our ambivalence towards festivals, where the enjoyment of food, fun, music and dance associated with the traditional rituals conflicts with ritual-free enjoyment of the same that is associated with modernity.  The result is formal observance of festivals without a genuine participation in them. There is more of form and less of substance in anything that we do or say today. 

This binarism is prevalent in all aspects of life today. It is in evidence in politics, academics, family relationships, music, art, literature and culture and in everyday speech and action. It is difficult to understand if one is genuine or speaks with a forked tongue, if one’s enjoyment is natural or artificial, if one’s excitement is long lasting or for the moment.  This is not to be misconstrued as truth versus falsehood. It is simply the confusion between two attitudes, two standpoints that are different and yet both appealing and tempting.  The situation is what Robert Frost had said about being a single traveler who could not travel on both roads and had to decide between privileging one over the other, though neither of the roads was less travelled by.

In politics, we see the pendulum oscillating from the left to the right where the left group is more towards modernity and the right more in the traditional mould. The eulogizing of all that is traditional from medicine to astronomy, from Vedic mathematics to the modern binary computation, the invoking of Ram Rajya as benign monarchy, the attack on the leftists as destroyers of Hinduism and Indian culture,  and overarching all these, the criticism of the left academics as western oriented who have changed the political, social and historical discourse during the last seven decades- these are  the central concerns of the Rightists. The Leftists, mostly educated abroad have a more liberal and catholic attitude towards life, veering away from what they feel as the accretions on tradition, valuing objectivity more than subjectivity  and wanting to be in sync with modernism. Hence the clash of the two groups is seen as a clash of  two cultures- one that is tradition bound and the other, the break free from bondage to tradition. It is a pity that Right is right and Left is left and the two do not meet. There has been no attempt to bring about a synthesis between tradition and modernism. All that we hear, we read and we discuss are strong, acrimonious words intentionally meant to demean one another. The political slugfest that one watches every evening on primetime channels is verbal cacophony with no language restraint. All this started a year before the 2014 elections and the election speeches were singularly noticeable for their lack of culture, lack of language etiquette, for their breach of the rules of decency and decorum, and for the mocking tenor of argument bereft of any substantive discussion. Ironically, for the first time, instead of our aping the West, the West is aping us as seen in the vulgar debate in the current U.S Presidential elections.  No one realizes that “the aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress" as stated by Joseph Joubert in  Pensées. The TV debates, the Twitter one- liners, the Social Media messages are all characterized by indecorum and impropriety that appeal to the baser and vulgar human instincts.  We see this change on the sports field where players pride themselves in slanging the opponent. The ‘macho’ feeling is applauded as an essential part of the sportsman’s psychology. Cricket,  that was earlier known to be gentleman’s game no longer competes for batting or bowling skills but for sledging skills. The silence on the tennis courts have exploded into loud grunts as players flash their racquets , breezing from one end to the other.

Loud and boisterous behavior in the name of freedom to be what one desires to be, has become the norm and sign of modernity. Hangout at café corners is considered modish; to be dressed in patched up and unwashed denim is a part of the checklist that is in fashion at the present moment. It is unfashionable- deemed priggish-if one is in proper clothes even at an evening concert. I feel ill at ease when I visit a theatre, dressed in a saree in the archaic style of my hair knotted into a bun secured with hairpins and hairnet. The more disheveled one looks, the more s/he is regarded as modern. New genres of music, racy and loud, set to  insistent beat have wider appeal than the measured, classical and traditional music conforming to established form and appealing to cultivated taste. Art, culture, books,- in  keeping with the fast pace of  life- keep us on a high, though for a short period. There is no time to enjoy leisurely and in a sumptuous way. It is instant addiction, instant pleasure, Instant levitation, followed by instant descent to boredom, depression and despair that constitute this quick-fix approach to life today.

I am out of my depth with the new ‘mod’ generation. It is not that I wear tinted glasses that dim my sight of modern outlook and give me colourful, romanticized pictures of the past. I am certainly attracted to the contemporary life of gay abandon.I love the thrill of  its fast pace, its  gaiety and jollity with not a care about the fretful fever and stir of the world.  But the purity and aestheticism of the classical way of living is equally compelling. Both have their pluses and minuses. One cannot be privileged over the other.  Hence my prayers are more pointed now than before when I seek the Goddess’ intervention to give me the wisdom to appreciate  the gay abandon of the modern, tempered by the civilized and refined attributes of tradition that have an enduring value. The conflict and the descent into banality and triteness frighten me and I wish for a juxtaposition of the two attitudes leading to a new synthesis that is spontaneous but measured, aesthetically pleasing but rationally satisfying, incorporating modern morality and ancient ethics. This is my dream, this is my desire and this is my prayer to the great Goddess of learning.

A Requiem for the Lost Humanity .

                                                        

                                                          A Requiem for the Lost Humanity

The Uri revenge is over. A zillion words have been used by writers and commentators, politicians and twitterati extolling the PM for the ‘surgical strikes’ by Indian army on the terrorist camps. The chest thumping that started on the morning after the destruction of seven terrorist camps continues unabated. Even high up officials including the Defence and Home minster have been unsparing in humiliating Pakistan with their acerbic comments. For once even the opposition has lauded the efforts of the army in carrying out precision strikes on terrorists, accounting for the death of 38 of them. The lionizing of NSA for such a daring attack with orchestrated hysteria over the isolation of Pak by other countries is mindlessly provoking the opponent who has been mauled badly both militarily and internationally. It is rather a childish and immature glee we seem to display to humiliate a defeated opponent who has been an unfriendly and hostile neighbor. The high decibel chest thumping has already provoked a wounded Markhor( wild goat- the national animal of Pakistan) and the retaliation has started in Baramullah. All talk about strategic restraint has been given the go-by in the wake of the Indian army’s bungee jump from the helicopter and the precision shooting of the terrorist camps.  Watching those pictures, one had to pinch oneself hard to confirm that this was not a Bollywood/Hollywood flick, not a hollow but a hallowed reality. We salute the Indian soldiers as saluting these brave hearts is the only means of expressing our gratitude and veneration. But to convert the moment of glory to a moment of gloat is to indulge in unbecoming exultation. The MNS wanting to take a leap over others in its display of patriotism has started a hue and cry for deporting Pakistani artists from India as a retributive action sparking  a debate between ‘they’ and ‘we’ as though we are meting out retributive justice to the artists from across the Western border for the gruesome action of the terrorists.

Nothing has changed since the Uri massacre of our eighteen soldiers and before that the killing of nearly eight defence personnel in Pathankot.  If it is not Uri or Pathankot, it is Baramulla as is happening now. If there is anything, it is only an increase in incursions across the LOC with an aim to avenge Indian army’s decimation of seven terrorist camps- a covert acknowledgement of the Pakistan army’s support to them. Otherwise, why should Pakistan escalate the war tempo today and even threaten us with the N-word? Pakistan should have thanked India for killing the terrorists when it keeps claiming that it has been a victim of terrorism.

 Let us face facts. Who benefits by these long drawn skirmishes across the border? How many young lives have been lost and how many more will be added to the list? It does not matter whether those who have lost their lives belong to Pakistan or India, whether they belong to the Jihadi groups or to the armed forces  or other petty division in the name of religion.  We have become hollowmen, “Shape without form, shade without colour,
 paralysed force, gesture without motion”, sightless and soundless, but with empty dried voices shouting  meaningless  jingoistic slogans  with no concern for the hundreds of lives lost. 

I wish we ask ourselves the question, what do we gain by such cries of victory, when our own soldiers have lost their lives?  Will revenge killing put a stop to further massacre? Can a wounded snake be expected to rest quiet without waiting for the appropriate time to fang its teeth? Can deporting a few artists back to Pakistan stifle the war frenzy, whipped by the media and the warmongers?  The Indian army had successfully carried out such surgical strikes silently  in the past  and had taken the wind off the opponents who could not own their defeat. Neitherthe people of  Pakistan nor of  India would like an escalation of war and if that is not  to happen, the armed battle should not be turned into a verbal battle.  The people of Pakistan are just like us who would not like bloodshed, but friendly relationship. Their families will not like to lose their sons just like our famlies. It is a few hard boiled leaders in Pakistan who brain wash their young men (and women) to regard Indians as the destroyers of Pakistan and Islam.  So do some thoughtless persons in India bay for Pakistani blood. Our PM was wise and gracious to appeal to the Pakistani citizens not to fight against us, but to join us in the fight against poverty, but his words were lost in the din created by media and his own partymen asking for a revenge strike. The PM’s statesman-like appeal would have worked wonders if he had reprimanded the media and our irresponsible leaders for making continuous statements about Pakistan’s isolation and humiliation.

After nearly seven decades of vitriolic hatred and acrimony, it is now time to promote a citizen to citizen initiative between the two nations as a counter to the war dialogue that is turning people into frenzied mobs. Sports, culture, trade, artists and writers should take centre stage to stand as a bulwark against violence and inhumanity. Instead of deporting the Pakistan artists, let them  join our artists and raise their voices against  enmity that is not real, but artificially   created by war mongering leaders and generals. The only religion to respect is the religion of Man. If we lose faith in that fundamental religion, all our adherences to the different religions we are born into have no meaning.  Just like the Berliners, let us strive for people to people contact. Since both the nations share some degree of sameness in respect of music, food, dress and language, we can showcase to the world how  to minimize differences and maximize commonalities. Our films are a hit in Pakistan; their TV serials resonate in all Indian homes. Music knows no border and culture transcends all shadow lines erected in our minds. There should be exchange of scholars, writers, intellectuals and academicians for  free flow of thoughts and ideas. Sounds utopian, no doubt. But therein lies hope for our survival. The Bible  says: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Let us hope we recognize our responsibility to be human and in the discharge of that responsibility show restraint even at the hour of glory. Greatness consists not in never falling, but in raising others who have fallen down. That act of generosity, nobility and humilitythrough people's movements is sure to win back for us our lost humanity.

The Uri revenge is over. A zillion words have been used by writers and commentators, politicians and twitterati extolling the PM for the ‘surgical strikes’ by Indian army on the terrorist camps. The chest thumping that started on the morning after the destruction of seven terrorist camps continues unabated. Even high up officials including the Defence and Home minster have been unsparing in humiliating Pakistan with their acerbic comments. For once even the opposition has lauded the efforts of the army in carrying out precision strikes on terrorists, accounting for the death of 38 of them. The lionizing of NSA for such a daring attack with orchestrated hysteria over the isolation of Pak by other countries is mindlessly provoking the opponent who has been mauled badly both militarily and internationally. It is rather a childish and immature glee we seem to display to humiliate a defeated opponent who has been an unfriendly and hostile neighbor. The high decibel chest thumping has already provoked a wounded Markhor( wild goat- the national animal of Pakistan) and the retaliation has started in Baramullah. All talk about strategic restraint has been given the go-by in the wake of the Indian army’s bungee jump from the helicopter and the precision shooting of the terrorist camps.  Watching those pictures, one had to pinch oneself hard to confirm that this was not a Bollywood/Hollywood flick, not a hollow but a hallowed reality. We salute the Indian soldiers as saluting these brave hearts is the only means of expressing our gratitude and veneration. But to convert the moment of glory to a moment of gloat is to indulge in unbecoming exultation. The MNS wanting to take a leap over others in its display of patriotism has started a hue and cry for deporting Pakistani artists from India as a retributive action sparking  a debate between ‘they’ and ‘we’ as though we are meting out retributive justice to the artists from across the Western border for the gruesome action of the terrorists.

Nothing has changed since the Uri massacre of our eighteen soldiers and before that the killing of nearly eight defence personnel in Pathankot.  If it is not Uri or Pathankot, it is Baramulla as is happening now. If there is anything, it is only an increase in incursions across the LOC with an aim to avenge Indian army’s decimation of seven terrorist camps- a covert acknowledgement of the Pakistan army’s support to them. Otherwise, why should Pakistan escalate the war tempo today and even threaten us with the N-word? Pakistan should have thanked India for killing the terrorists when it keeps claiming that it has been a victim of terrorism.

 Let us face facts. Who benefits by these long drawn skirmishes across the border? How many young lives have been lost and how many more will be added to the list? It does not matter whether those who have lost their lives belong to Pakistan or India, whether they belong to the Jihadi groups or to the armed forces  or other petty division in the name of religion.  We have become hollowmen, “Shape without form, shade without colour,
 paralysed force, gesture without motion”, sightless and soundless, but with empty dried voices shouting  meaningless  jingoistic slogans  with no concern for the hundreds of lives lost. 

I wish we ask ourselves the question, what do we gain by such cries of victory, when our own soldiers have lost their lives?  Will revenge killing put a stop to further massacre? Can a wounded snake be expected to rest quiet without waiting for the appropriate time to fang its teeth? Can deporting a few artists back to Pakistan stifle the war frenzy, whipped by the media and the warmongers?  The Indian army had successfully carried out such surgical strikes silently  in the past  and had taken the wind off the opponents who could not own their defeat. Neitherthe people of  Pakistan nor of  India would like an escalation of war and if that is not  to happen, the armed battle should not be turned into a verbal battle.  The people of Pakistan are just like us who would not like bloodshed, but friendly relationship. Their families will not like to lose their sons just like our famlies. It is a few hard boiled leaders in Pakistan who brain wash their young men (and women) to regard Indians as the destroyers of Pakistan and Islam.  So do some thoughtless persons in India bay for Pakistani blood. Our PM was wise and gracious to appeal to the Pakistani citizens not to fight against us, but to join us in the fight against poverty, but his words were lost in the din created by media and his own partymen asking for a revenge strike. The PM’s statesman-like appeal would have worked wonders if he had reprimanded the media and our irresponsible leaders for making continuous statements about Pakistan’s isolation and humiliation.

After nearly seven decades of vitriolic hatred and acrimony, it is now time to promote a citizen to citizen initiative between the two nations as a counter to the war dialogue that is turning people into frenzied mobs. Sports, culture, trade, artists and writers should take centre stage to stand as a bulwark against violence and inhumanity. Instead of deporting the Pakistan artists, let them  join our artists and raise their voices against  enmity that is not real, but artificially   created by war mongering leaders and generals. The only religion to respect is the religion of Man. If we lose faith in that fundamental religion, all our adherences to the different religions we are born into have no meaning.  Just like the Berliners, let us strive for people to people contact. Since both the nations share some degree of sameness in respect of music, food, dress and language, we can showcase to the world how                        to minimize differences and maximize commonalities. Our films are a hit in Pakistan; their TV serials resonate in all Indian homes. Music knows no border and culture transcends all shadow lines erected in our minds. There should be exchange of scholars, writers, intellectuals and academicians for  free flow of thoughts and ideas. Sounds utopian, no doubt. But therein lies hope for our survival. The Bible  says: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Let us hope we recognize our responsibility to be human and in the discharge of that responsibility show restraint even at the hour of glory. Greatness consists not in never falling, but in raising others who have fallen down. That act of generosity, nobility and humility is sure to win back for us our lost humanity.