THE WORLD NEEDS A HEALING TOUCH. NOT MORE OF BURNING DOWN
















“The kind of lies that someone tells us gives us an idea
of how stupid, knowledgeable, intelligent, or ignorant they are …
or they think we are.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

I was talking to a friend of mine, this morning. The friend is no highly qualified; but, I consider him as one of the most cultured and ‘highly educated’ individuals in life…

Well, that’s my assessment…

As we were talking, I showed him some of the messages I was receive on social media. It was early morning… and, some of so-called ‘highly qualified’ individuals I was acquainted with had started sharing/forwarding posts which were extremely toxic, divisive and cheap. Most of these posts related to their affiliation with one particular religion or political ideology. They had a rigid stand and, viewed from that mirror, everything else and everyone else who opposed that stand was their enemy… It could be you and me. If we did not agree with what they thought was ‘right’, then, we were their enemies!

The day had just started… Imagine how some of us choose to go about our day!

Technology and social media, which were intended to be a great ‘learning tool’ -  something to enhance the quality of our lives… bring us together, make us better human beings - yes, this very tool is being misused for cheap thrills and to promote one’s own divisive agenda. While discussing this with my friend , this morning, he said this: “ It has become easy for us to identify who one is and what he stands for, just by going through a couple of posts he relentlessly shares and a couple of comments he incessantly leaves. The way he argues, reveals his mind. The choice, therefore, is not his… We have to decide if we need such individuals in our consciousness.”

Education is not piling up of one degree upon another. The doctorates don’t make fine citizens… A very progressive outlook – fired by compassion, tolerance, forbearance and brotherhood – does. We really do not need more information… We have it enough. We need more supple, more unifying mindsets… The world needs a healing touch. Not more of burning down!

Every time, therefore, we share a post or leave a comment on any public platform, let’s remember this: We reveal who we truly are within!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Jayashree Bhat

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