DISCRIMINATION IS A DISEASE OF OUR SOUL














At the end of the game, the king and the pawn
go back in the same box.”
-       Italian Proverb


How do the thoughts of discrimination creep into our hearts? I mean – all sorts of discrimination… be it based on our religions, castes, class, colour, language, customs, eating and dressing habits, country, gender, abilities, localities we live in and so on…


Funny and stupid it looks to me!


I am a Christian. A Catholic. A ‘Roman Catholic’ to be precise! I, sometimes, wonder: What difference does it make to me as a human being? Roman or Syrian… Catholic or Protestant… Christian or a non-Christian… Yes, which one of these makes me a finer human being?


Funny and stupid, indeed!


Whatever religion I have embraced, I have embraced it from my birth. In fact, I did not become a Christian with my eyes open… My parents baptized me as one when my eyes were closed. So, it is my religion that has embraced me and not the other way around… Just the way I was born and raised in India and, thereby, an Indian, I was born and raised as a Christian – a ‘Roman Catholic’ – and, thereby, one.


Now, that my eyes are open. How do I feel now about being ‘categorized’ as a Roman Catholic, an Indian, a South Indian, a Mangalorean, a Mumbaikar, a Chemburkar and so on?


Funny and stupid it looks to me, honestly!


If the thought of belonging to a particular religion, place etc. makes me feel superior to others, that feeling is very, very dangerous, divisive and destructive. That feeling makes me a lesser human being… In fact, in my view, that’s exactly the opposite of the essence of religion.


As long as I have the traces of discrimination in my soul – and I do have many of them… of one kind or the other – my soul needs to be refined!


I honestly feel, that the only purpose of our religion is to help us recognize the seeds of discrimination in our hearts and free ourselves from them…


The rest, that we do in the name of our religion, country, caste, class, colour, language, abilities etc.… yes, it’s sheer stupidity. Madness!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Rekha Shrikar Shenoy



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...