Dear one and all on planet Earth!

It is a pleasure to greet you on this sacred day that celebrates the symbolic victory of good over evil. I call it symbolic because we are usually accustomed to see the regular triumph of the forces of evil over the invisible presence of the One we call the Almighty. Submerged in despair by the corrupted currents of the world wherein virtue is seen begging forgiveness of vice, we are often in a dilemma to pitch our faith in One who seems to be regularly eluding our pleas and calls for justice. The very fact that all around us we see the unholy but extremely powerful nexus between Lord Mammon and Lord Mafia, with all the instruments of evil at their command and succeeding in their nefarious designs, makes us patiently bear what Hamlet calls “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” in absolute helplessness.

God is and will remain invisible unless the good in each one of us comes out and compels us to stand with the good and the just without fear of any backlash whatsoever. Evil has a ready nexus because it offers lucrative packages of immediate encashment value whereas the good offers nothing lucrative in material terms. Yet, when a rare event that shows the ripple of good and justice triumphant and stirs the waves of amnesia in us, we momentarily start having doubts regarding our own stand and values in life. And when the moment passes away, we return to the imperatives of our day-to-day existence and leave all matters of struggle for justice to the care of a divine deity who is expected to return after a year to destroy a Ravana or Mahishasura.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had warned us that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Let us, therefore, arouse our conscience and look out for an opportunity to be with the right and not with might while there is time so that our singular act can instil faith in anyone who is battling against obnoxious designs of evil forces. Otherwise, if we wait for our turn and only think of action when we ourselves are faced with adversity, we shouldn’t be pained by the indifference of our friends who remain engaged in talking of justice and fair play on Facebook, twitter or Instagram.

Happy Dusshera! Shubho Vijaya Dashami!