We live at a time when things happening around make us morose. One opens the newspaper only to find a nation plagued by controversies galore. Not that I mind controversies; but they should be of a stature that can enlighten and not the petty abominable things that are actually happening. The sports page offers more solace and so I turn to that first!
The other day I was thinking what has become of us - tolerance is a word that has become taboo. Nobody can tolerate anything. We cannot stand the sight of something that is against our ingrained sense - never! How did we become so apathetic? For anything and everything we drag religion into the crux of the discussions and that takes all respect and civility out of the window. We somehow want our religion or our caste to come out trumps! Everybody else is inferior! A sigh is all I can muster at the end of my rumination which was disturbed by a very pleasant sight and so refreshing.
I was commuting to office and was in an area where a lot of construction was happening. As I neared one construction site, I could make out some decorations on an unfinished floor of an apartment or hotel. There were balloons of all colors and party ribbons. With a little effort, I could also make out that music was being played, for some workers in the site were dancing to a tune. The construction workers were dressed colorfully and were truly in a celebratory mood. I'm not sure if it was a birthday, or someone getting engaged, or someone leaving for better pastures. Whatever it was they were celebrating, it was amazingly honest and a delectable sight for the eyes. I was suddenly in high spirits - this site was a mini India with workers from different states and ethnicity coming together and celebrating. This was not a group that would be bothered by the pandemonium of the controversies; they were making merry! I realized there is hope after all.
By nightfall, as I commuted back home, I made it a point to check the construction site again and apparently all had dispersed. But there were the remnants of the celebration - some of the balloons had burst and pieces were strewn to the ground, some of the ribbons had snapped from the walls. Yet, like the part of the ribbons that had not come apart, hope lingered in my mind.
2 comments:
Hope is always around us. Perhaps we don't look for it often because the papers and the news seem to focus more prominently on the hopelessness of situations, and we transfer that attitude into our lives itself. We give up on things that we find seemingly hopeless without giving a chance to see if there is hope for change or for that situation to redeem. I'm glad that your trip brought some colorful hope, and may such diverse unity continue to be found in our nation.
'Mini India' seldom cares beef ban(?), 2G,Vyapam beyond a point and lives in 'present'. They are thin and less egoistic and do not get loaded as the rest. They give us the message that life is simple.
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