Day 143

 What is the meaning of life-1

Plight of Kashmiri Pandits-

I happen to see the September, 2020 issue of Naad, a monthly published by the All India Kashmiri Samaj, New Delhi. It was a special issue on Kashmiri Pandit Martyrs’ Day (Kashmir Pandit Ka Balidan Divas) 14^thSeptember.

I could read only the editorial and was not able to proceed further( which has some 70 pages more) due the gory details of 1989-90 massacre of innocent Hindus in Independent India.

I had in my young days seen many Indian and foreign films (also read many English novels) in which violence, rape, genocide, war crimes, unbelievable horrors/insanity/sadism, etc.…  were depicted in gory details thanks to the mercies of the censor boards.

·    One movie that I saw some 30 years back is Mausam. the molestation of the heroine shown in the movie so graphically still abhors my mind…

·       But then during youth you see/read many things, which at old age one may detest to see or even ashamed to recall…

·       Any person having children, especially   daughters, will shudder to see even on reel… Draupadi vastraharan, kidnapping of Sita or like the scene in Mausam and umpteen number of movies (or read about NIRBHAYA’s ordeals), where the directors go extra-length into minute details and maximum permitted levels to titillate the front male benchers and others….

·        Definitely such picturization also lead to events like Nirbhaya and many other women related crimes over the decades- though society refuses to acknowledge it in open.

• Why I mention this is despite such an exposure to violence in reel and real life (through paper/TV/ media) for a prolonged period, I was not able to proceed with reading the said Naad magazine issue… going by the sheer barbarism/ inhumanities cited in the editorial. May be my old age could be a contributing factor.
• What will be the reality when specific cases are covered…? That thought itself benumbed me and sort of intellectually paralyzed….

That is one sad episode from Independent India. It is now futile to revisit the partition days and the violence that followed after and before the D-day.

Man’s Search for Meaning is a book by Frankl Victor that gives sordid experiences faced by prisoners in the Gestapo camps in Germany during the latter part of WW 2…….

·       A book that all should read… the author cites the human indignities put on the living and people prior to their death…

·        To what extent human beings can sink…. there is no limit at all….

 Bhasmasur in the Puranas used to touch people and turn them in to ashes for sheer joy, pleasure… so there is nothing new in seeing NEW BHASMASURS….

So, nothing should normally surprise or shock anyone who has read history or seen Indian or other movies…. in the last 4 decades…. YET THE Naad Cover story … is blood curdling....

I had once met an MBA youth from Kashmir, who was employed in a bank. While conversing he stated that his family had to run with their lives, leaving behind everything during 1989 period… and many of their neighbors could not do that even!!!

·       Nothing seems to shock a Hindu mind today, so it appears. Whether it is partition pangs or the plight of Kashmiris or numerous riots witnessed across the country, religious intolerances/discrimination etc., the apathy among the majority Hindus is deafening.

·  They are probably thinking that the “BELL ONLY TOLL FOR OTHERS”, unfortunately!

In passing I cannot help referring to one of the modern day Bhasmasurs….

·       Idi Amin was a Ugandan military officer who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He is considered as one of the most brutal despots in world history.

·       Amin's rule was characterized by rampant human rights abuses, including political repression, ethnic persecution and extrajudicial killings, as well as nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. International observers and human rights groups estimate that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were killed under his regime.

·       During his time Asians were persecuted and driven out of that country…(wiki)

SO, THE QUESTION COMES TO HAUNT. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? IS THERE ANY MEANING AT ALL? LET US REFLECT…. AGAIN, AND AGAIN…PUNA. PUNAH.

We can pray for Sad Buddhi for all and God’s grace TO escape from natural and more so man made calamities. 

• If one is able to complete the life’s sojourn without such shocks…. That will be the greatest blessings…. 
• May God provides that SUKRUTAM to one and all.

Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu.

Be happy. Be safe.

ॐ 

 830 AM