Time to Learn; Unlearn and Relearn.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda

“Sometimes good choices are really bad ones, wrapped up in so much fear you can’t even see straight.” 

― Deb Caletti, The Secret Life of Prince Charming

At times, there is that momentary overwhelming feeling that everything around you is getting bigger and bigger and like Alice in Wonderland, there is nothing to do but drown in a pool of tears. The current scenario around the world raises some serious doubts about humanity and chances of our survival. So much doubt, fear, hopelessness, distrust, irreverence, and disgust piling up that I wonder at the size of the iceberg below! Although I do play the devil’s advocate, I am an eternal optimist. I sincerely believe that hope is the only thing that can get us through.    

Racism, prejudice, and bigotry exists in all forms everywhere.  I know we are knee deep in shit, but it will help us greatly if we can look at the stars and smile. Lot of people are sharpening their knives, ready to rise, rebel, and shout for what they believe in. And others fight prejudices wherever they see them in person. Although they don’t feel obliged to speak out online publicly, if they can help, they prefer to approach the individual personally. 

Some people around are quick to hurl abuses at the Chinese, coming out with strong convictions of conspiracy theories, of manufactured viruses, and the bullying at the borders (LAC in Ladakh, India). I believe it is important to be conscious of the language and speech we use in such circumstances.  The Chinese and the Chinese Govt are two different entities.  The actions of certain individuals, or groups, or governments cannot be used to stereotype an entire population of unique individuals. Government changes, people can change, boundaries can change, but is it worth losing our humanity over it? Economic decisions and overtures can also happen without the accompaniment of hate spewing posts and vitriol! Our armies and police and other defence agencies are there to take care of military aggressions and issues of law and order. Do we need to hurl stones at each other on top of that? What is our duty as citizens and human beings? Can’t we support our govt, armies, and police and at the same time be decent human beings to others on a personal level. Rhetoric of war is needed for the soldiers to motivate themselves and do their duty. Do we need it in our daily lives to kill time?

…

I believe reading, travelling, experiencing different cultures broadens our views and I don’t mean, just going places and looking at things as a tourist, disconnected from the surroundings loaded with superficial information about a place and the culture around. It requires empathy, that openness to accept what others are feeling and going through. I am not suggesting that we can all empathise and change the world today. It is easier said than done. What I am hoping for is that we take the first step to understand another human being, their opinions, and viewpoints and just accept that they have the right to feel so. No mocking, no jeering, no judgment, just plain old acceptance!

“never trust anyone

who says 

they do not see color. 

this means

to them,

you are invisible.”

― Nayyirah Waheed

 

Acceptance of all things; not just the obvious differences, but also something seemingly trivial, especially food choices, clothing, fashion, accent, mannerisms, etc.  At the same time, it is absolutely imperative to have a decent amount of self-esteem to begin with. A confident person would always be in a better position to respect and accommodate differences. A person who carries insecurities around in a rucksack will most likely paint everything around in a negative hue!

Covid 19 has confined us all in our ‘safe’ boxes. But I believe it is a chance to read, learn, and watch also. Perhaps learn a new language (it is easier now with so many apps like Lingodeer, memrise, etc). Check out different literatures, listen to songs in different languages, watch drama, documentaries, movies from around the world. Make online friends (following all rules of online safety) and discuss issues. Lot of stuff online is biased and hence it is important to read all possible perspectives to be somewhat informed about issues.  Even our search engines cannot be trusted. The information fed to you is deliberately skewed in the favour of the privileged few. A conscious effort to ignore the first prompts of the search engines has to be made in order to skim even the surface of pertinent issues. Basically, refrain from jumping onto the bandwagon of abuse and attack and have the diligence to patiently know more about things, issues, and people before uttering a single word or taking action.

#No Racism 

#No to Racist Stereotypes 

#No to Algorithms of Oppression ( search engines)

#Respect, acceptance and not just tolerance!