MAN IS NOT OUR ENEMY... MIND IS











Pic.: Mini Milind


“People say that walking on water is a miracle;
but to me, walking on earth  peacefully is a real miracle.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh 

My wife is associated with a company which promotes one of the finest sets of educational books. As a regular feature, the company holds an annual international-conference for its folk in some of the exciting places on globe…

Well, this time (next week) it will be in Ho Chi Minn City of Vietnam.

“Vietnam?” I asked my wife, this morning, “It was totally destroyed during the Vietnam War.”

It was evident from my question, how much informed I was about the post-war Vietnam… The War had lasted twenty years (1955-1975). Since then, it is forty years now… There is peace… The lush-countryside peace is back there… Ho Chi Minn City, commonly known as Saigon, is a city in southern Vietnam. It is famous for playing a pivotal role in the Vietnam War. My wife told me that one of the top tourist attractions in this city would be the war memorial called ‘Cu Chi Tunnels’.

I was a school-going boy in my village, Mangalore, during the thick of Vietnam War. My dad, though did not have a decent education, was extremely aware of the domestic and international political scenario. I remember his animated description of Vietnam War… Why the war was happening… Who was supporting South and who supporting North… How American planes bombed and what a mess it was…

And, after twenty long-years, Americans had to go back, their crests fallen… Eventually, the guns went silent… Bombs stopped falling in the fields… People came out of their hiding – the tunnels… and, rice grew in the paddy fields, the birds flew in the peaceful skies… the streams started singing, all over again…

What did the war destroy?

There lived in Vietnam a Buddhist monk named - Thich Nhat Hanh. He opposed war through propagating peace for which he was exiled from his country. Incidentally, today, I came across a beautiful video about his life. It is from the film – ‘The Power of Forgiveness’.  I was startled when I heard him say, “Our thinking was: Man is not our enemy; our enemy is our misunderstanding, discrimination, violence, hate and anger.”

However horrific the War seems to be, trust me, the Peace is just a heartbeat away! Yes, like Shelley had metaphorically asked in his poem: “If Winter comes, can Spring be far away?”

So, it is befitting that the folk from my wife’s company will be visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam, next week. After all, there cannot be a more life-transforming education than going near a war-memorial… If not for any other lesson, but for this one:

“Man is not our enemy… Mind is!”


GERALD D’CUNHA



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...