Random Thoughts
The Road Taken,
Not Taken or Should Be Taken
Most Indians are the latest economic refugees like the bulk of humanity, in the process of being absorbed into this magnificent, munificent and relatively open land and totally unaware and impervious to the greatest ideological revolution in the history of mankind. I speak of the somewhat hypocritical, but still the greatest revolutionary thought ever propounded by a bunch of elitists, who wrote the Constitution and Bill of Rights. They are the perfect example of Adam Smith's concept of the good that is performed by the invisible hand by ordinary persons, pursuing their self-interest. In all fairness, it helped tremendously, that they were exceptionally educated for their time, in spite of being ladled with the usual weaknesses of all humanity, like greed, a penchant for power and convenient morality.
It is an appalling shame that the commonly prevalent mood amongst immigrants and the majority of natives is that they make no intellectual effort to learn or understand the source, philosophy or history of their good fortune, and are irretrievably sunk in the morass of ignorant indifference or blind and bragging chauvinism. So much for the biblical myth that god created man in his own image and the inability to realize the fundamental fact, that all religion is a myth foisted on and willingly accepted by human beings, because of their ego, frustration with lack of justice and an insatiable desire for immortality. The other accusation, I have against Indians is their total inability to perceive and be proud of, of the glaringly obvious fact that with the blessings of providence, history and the inheritance of philosophy, they have created an open society with the same freedoms as America in the Republic of India without the natural advantages of resources or finance and the added burden of fissiparous minorities with different languages and ethnicities, while still hamstrung by poverty and illiteracy.
The sorry state and example of Pakistan should be a sober reminder of how low we could have sunk and how thankful we should be and count our blessings! This is not some jingoistic bugle call to rally the faithful and should be a cautionary warning to America, the pioneer of democracy, that patriotism can become the last resort of scoundrels.
Having spewed my spiel about democracy and decency let me come to another critical choice facing India. An ancient Gujarati adage says, 'Pahelu sukh te jaate naryaa'. It translates that you have to look after yourself first. If you do not look after yourself, you will cease to exist and can be of no help to others. It is well put by Hillel in similar and better words. It is mandatory that we resist evil with all our might, irrespective of the consequences and Pakistan is an abomination on earth, conceived by the evil, for the evil and of the evil.
In my unfortunate, but temperamental and long-winded ways, some people accuse me and rightfully question my peregrinations and perambulating path, which leads to nowhere. To those I confidently say that life or journey has no purpose and my rebellion, which deserves no blame against this imposed sojourn, is to choose the scenic route, so I can smell the roses and satiate myself with the scenery, while still traversing the imposed road and enjoy my predestined journey to oblivion, while destroying the eyesore of useless malignant weeds which spoil the beauty and
pleasure of my landscape.
11-Aug-2002
More by :
Gaurang Bhatt, MD
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