May 14, 2008

Blasts in Jaipur - How long do we need to bleed?

It's the same scenario all over again. Broken vehicles and severed body parts. Multiple blasts engineered with a cold precision. Tears of the kith and kin. Solemn condemnation by political leaders. Appeals to maintain peace and calm. Empty promises by the government to bring the terrorists to the book.

This is like a nightmare that repeats ad nauseam. And there seems to be no way out. That's exactly the goal of terrorists - to numb a nation to inaction. And, in case of India, they seem to be winning handsomely.

A deep malaise affects our nation. We might be well on the way to becoming the eighth most prosperous nation in a few years, but it would be an empty victory, because we have lost our souls already.

The spirituality that was India's forte seems to be eroding rapidly. By spirituality, I don't mean mindless rituals or buying the forgiveness of God by making a few timely donations or performing festivals with pomp and splendor.

Our spirituality has always been our ethos, our core values. The discretion to know there are things more important than wealth or material well-being. The calm courage to face bitter truths and administer equally bitter solutions.

Our spirituality was never about meaningless offerings of peace and cowardly surrender to those who are hurting us. On the other hand, our spirituality was always about wise men providing guidance to able warriors on how to protect our Sanatana Dharma. It was about Krishna goading Arjuna to his line of duty, of convincing him why sometimes war needs to be made to secure peace.

Unfortunately, there is neither a Krishna nor an Arjuna around today. There are only Sakunis in the form of our vile politicians who would not mind doing anything for the sake of a few votes. We have leaders fighting for their castes, their religions, their languages. We don't have statesmen.

It doesn't matter which organization is behind these blasts. They are all jihadis and they are hell bent on either destroying us or make us join them out of fear. They don't really care about the physical reality as we know it, and they plan to celebrate their victories in a fictitious heaven. They are stupid but they are single-mindedly destructive and that's a very dangerous combination indeed.

Let's get our priorities straight. Peace first before anything else. Even Krishna Deva Raya, one of the greatest emperors the world has ever seen, secured his borders first, and vanquished his enemies before he turned to writing poetry.

In due time, we can all go back to our entertainment, our money matters and other material pursuits.

But right now, it's time to take the bull by its horns.

- Murali Chari

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