BLAME... OUR DEFAULT SETTING



















“Many think that assigning blame settles matters.”

Mason Cooley

As a human race, we have been preloaded with this one unique trait: We all want, desperately, someone to place our blame on! I mean, the moment we face a problem, we instantaneously look for someone who is responsible for that problem… and, once we find one - there we go after him/her/them – all hammer and tongs!

Whether we accept it or not, we strangely believe, that when we find who is responsible for our problems, our problems go…

Like this Corona! Who is responsible for it, by the way? China… Muslims… Meat-eaters… Fake News, Godi Media… Presstitutes… Government… Opposition… Foreign nationals… Migrating labourers…  Nehru… Gandhi Family… Vadras… Dharavi… Yogi… Modi… Trump… Doctors, Nurses, Delivery Boys… Currency Notes ... Who?

Just imagine this: how relieved the mind feels the moment we place the blame on one of these… and, vehemently remain convinced about it… Yes, when we conclude, saying, “It came from ‘there’… and, he/she/it/they is/are responsible!”

With that, mysteriously, Corona goes… That’s what we think!

The default setting… We all are preloaded with this programme! This is human race… The Master-blaster in the Blame Game!


When the Lockdown was announced, my wife and I moved in to stay with her parents, who are elderly and sick. It seems, we also brought along, here, the problems we had in our own building … “Someone is pouring buckets of water,” an annoyed resident posted on the WhatsApp group, mentioning the side from which water was gushing down… “Immediately, the flat-owners from the particular side went on a defensive mode – “Not from our flat”… “It’s from above 10th floor” … “It’s from above 11th “… “Above 12th” … 13th, 14th 15th and, finally 16th! Yes, 16th was the last floor, and when they said, “It’s from above” … It meant, that it’s from the terrace… So, the Society was responsible! Meanwhile, almost a week passed by passing the buck… Now, due to lockdown, the Society’s plumber was unable to come to fix the problem… So, we all blamed Corona or whoever, we thought was responsible for Corona – China, Tablighi Jamaat or Tabela, whoever…

Blaming doesn’t solve the problem… We all know that. But, then, who wants a solution, anyway?

We are a human race… and, we are unique… We come here, preloaded with this programme – with a default setting!

Meanwhile, let’s join these kids and enjoy – Corona or no Corona!






GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Sabastian Voortman

Video: Masaka Kids Africana

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...