The World is Round
Recently I was invited
to speak at a conference. Such invitations for the retired people act as
occasional oasis in the desert period before the onset of total dotage. In the seminars and conferences where topics
relate to ushering in a new world of peace, harmony, love, compassion etc – to all
old world values, in short a utopian
world, most of the invitees are grey haired persons, walking gingerly with
strained and pained looks, waiting to flash a flicker of smile to dispel any perception of their sad looks
as an index of their disapproval of the new era that seems to have neither the
understanding nor the need to have such a utopian old world. The only young people around in such
conferences are those who look after the arrangements of the conference hall,
hand over the bouquets and seminar bags to the invitees, cater to tea and
biscuits and lunch for all those present
and usher them in and out of the hall. They do not have the least interest in
the proceedings because they are far removed from that old world being
recreated by the octo- and septuagenarians besides a few comparatively younger
sexagenarians who walk with bolder strides as though they are still in their
youth. So basically all these conferences with awesome intellectual captions
and headings turn out to be geriatric conferences for the old, by the old and
of the old. All the senior participants in attendance are well acquainted with
each other for many decades and in every such gathering, they greet each other
heartily with great enthusiasm as though
they are meeting after a long, long time. It is like the three Service Chiefs
getting introduced to the President on the Republic Day by the Defence Minister
as though the President had not known them before.
I had accepted the
invitation with alacrity beyond the common impulse of an elderly person to stay
at home. Such invitations make me feel wanted and give me the status of an
elderly stateswoman recognized for my formidable qualities of head and heart,
for wisdom and humaneness (though in my earlier years I had not received any
special attention for these qualities). I reckoned that this must be true of
all my fellow seminarists assembled in the hall. All of us were waiting for our
turn to display those qualities that had got us the invitation. None of us was
listening to the other speakers as we were all rehearsing our own words of
wisdom. We knew in advance that every speech will attract a round of applause
and generous tribute from the chair person- who in turn would receive similar
acclaim from each one of us.
It is my custom to mail
my speech to my siblings and a few select friends- again in expectation of
generous praise from them which out of
courtesy they would lavish on me) for my felicity of expression and for
the profound content of my address. This
time around, I sent the speech with the heading “Ripeness is all: Wisdom of the
Ages”. The seminar was on “Socio-Religious Scenario, Transformation
and Responsibility” – to discuss
how to change the existing social and religious order that is fore grounded on
conflict among nations, religions and people resulting in mindless violence and
genocide in different parts of the world. My approach was what I termed ‘the
past forward approach’ – to let bygones be a thing of the past and a move
forward to usher in a new order of peace and friendship. To achieve this
transformation, the youth must be initiated into study of the great classics that
liberates their minds , clears them of past prejudices, helps them to discriminate between right and wrong and serves
as a truly humanizing culture. The youth should recognize the importance of
cultivating humanity, forgetting the bitterness of the past and forging forward
with ripeness and maturity to a better world order.
These were grand words offering a utopian
solution, but difficult of practical implementation in an age known for its
information overload and delimitation of knowledge. The deafening silence that
ensued after I delivered my speech was proof of my empty rhetoric. My brother sent
me a flattering mail with a caveat “pontificatory…pontification has only a few admirers
for adoption and adaptation. This is no criticism of your piece but a reality
worth noting. The strong emphasis you have given on Indo-Pak bonding will fall
on deaf years both in our neighbouring country and our own”.
How true was his
response! For the first time I realized I was living in the past where liberal
ideology, golden values of peace and compassion knitting humanity, openness to
change with no carryover baggage were instilled in us in our schools and
colleges. Extremism was frowned upon and accommodating varied and differing
ideas and ideologies were at the core of our study. Education thus was almost a
melting pot in which many ideas were intellectually assimilated. Education today
is no longer an amalgamation of diversity that enriches the intellectual environment
by bringing together individuals with different ideas and ideologies, enabling institutions
to offer the youth a broadening and deepening of knowledge. No doubt, the truth that hit me was
shocking and even devastating to my ego and pride in my intellectualism. For
the first time I wondered if I was not letting go of the past with its inhered faith
in liberalism, pluralism, humanitarianism and free thinking. Alan Paton in a lecture at Yale University had
stated: "By liberalism I don't mean the creed of any party
or any century. I mean a generosity of spirit,
a tolerance of others, an attempt to comprehend otherness,
a commitment to the rule of law, a high
ideal of the worth
and dignity of man,
a repugnance for authoritarianism
and a love of freedom"
Even while we were slowly moving towards scientism,
materialism and utilitarianism, we were brought up on the great tradition of
the classics with its emphasis on virtue, wisdom, honour, and, above all, the
truth, connecting education to the search and establishment of the truth of
good and evil. The quest of the
classical tradition for the virtues and above all, for the truth was the
cornerstone of our education.
The question that haunts me today is should I
or should I not continue with my advocacy of old tradition. Is there any value
in offering something I consider valuable to a new generation which does not value
it? Should I now withdraw (what a wise rule our ancients had followed of
vanaprastha , the third and final
stage of life in the
Vedic ashram system,
when a person gradually
sithdraws from the world )from participation in seminars, speaking and writing on old
world values? What do I now do- simply
see the world moving and changing at lightning speed and not try to make it reverse its turn?
Ripeness is all. Shakespeare’s line echoed in my mind. Life has to
change. The Law of the universe shows that life is forever moving on a curve, a
trajectory and the cyclical move will see the world back to the starting point.
It is foolish on the part of old timers like me to harp on the past when that
past would automatically revert to becoming the present. I had been on a
protest move for the last couple of years as the trend has been towards the
right, leaving the left in tatters. I could do nothing to halt it because many
wiser and greater intellectuals had failed in their attempt. I see the right in
ascendancy all over the world- in US, in
Europe, in Britain and in India. The fear of the right is because it throws up cult leaders who are intolerant of
any kind of opposition. Hitler exemplifies this tendency. But if the will of
the people is to be so, it has to be so. Que Sera Sera (Whatever will be, will be) . No point in the
slow demise of liberals like me. Liberals unfortunately have come to be equated
with elites and elites unfortunately have become suspect and not classified as
Rawls did as superior intellects who could use their intelligence in favour of
the disadvantaged.
Change is to be accepted. No need
to be despondent. Move on, I said to myself , move on with the world that can move only in a
cyclical orbit.
No comments:
Post a Comment