THE LONG ROAD TO NOWHERE















“Because of indifference,
one dies before one actually dies.”

Elie Wiesel

My last post was about why it is important for us – in times like this – to focus positively on things within our control. Aptly, I called it ‘on what is inside our doors’.

What happens in the outside world – outside our doors – is beyond our control. Yes, we are concerned about them… Like when we see the heart-wrenching images of mass exodus of poor people… walking hundreds of miles toward their villages, holding their little babies and bags, in this scorching heat with no food, water or shelter… no money… no hope. Watching these images makes us numb… even guilty and ashamed when we eat our food and switch on our fans and air-conditioners… Some of us are unable to sleep and even feel uncomfortable when we close our bathroom doors!

Are these not the same people, who till the other day, made our ‘Wheel’ roll?

And, suddenly, the fear has taken them over, and they have thrown themselves out of the windows!








God, please save them!

And, you and I can only pray to God: “God please send your angels on earth, whoever they may be – the Government, NGOs, generous businessmen, any Good Samaritans, any one – and help these innocent souls on the roads” …

You and I can only pray to God asking Him to give light to those who are blinded by racial ignorance and hate…

You and I can only ask God to give light to each and every one of us who is acting with such insensitivity about any person affected by the Virus…








We all reveal our true selves in crisis like this!

There is a selfish side in all of us… A darker side!

So, even though what we see - out on the roads - today, is beyond our control, it can help us look within us and see how we can do away our own inner darkness, and, yes, convert our selfishness into compassion…

And, yes, as a friend of mine just wrote to me, “If you can’t go outside, go inside”!






GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: 1. QUARTS INDIA  2. Unknown source

Videos: 1. CNN-News18  2. Mark Knopfler/Andreea Petcu

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...