Intolerance

Navratri has come around again. But this time along with the 10 pm deadline, some other notices have also come which definitely took me by surprise. You must have all guessed it by now, what am I talking about. Well I am talking about the so called ban put up by certain organizations which debar 'Muslim' youth to take part in Navratri Festivals. Some political organizations have also aired their views on this sensitive topic. Now being a person who has been born and brought up in Mumbai for a major part of his life, this notice comes as a dagger straight in the stomach. I don't know how far this simile is effective in conveying my feelings, but I guess you all got the point. Normally I am a very cool headed person, but whenever and wherever I get to read such type of notices then I get irritated to no end.

My point in writing this article is not to fight with these particular organizations, but something much more important. Nowadays I observe various things ranging from petty issues to sensitive issues taking a 'religious' connotation. These things in the recent past have seen an alarming increase. For example, just a few months back, I read an article on how the builders were giving preference to selling their flats to the persons of same religion. On asking them as to why did they do such practice. They simply said that it is for the society's sake only as we do not want a trouble when a riot erupts or any other similar incident occurs.

When I pondered over the notice, I was forced to think from my point of view (which was opposite to that of the builders) as well as from the builders point of view. And I came to a conclusion, which even took me by surprise and this was when I realized, that there is an element of truth in both the cases. Being a staunch supporter of democracy and freedom,I started to introspect as to why this sudden change had happened to us in general and also why was this occurring.

On introspection and certain observations I have found out that this phenomenon is not only restricted to our homeland alone but this epidemic of 'intolerance' has already spread far and wide across the world. What we see is a proof of this fact. Everywhere there is war, majority on religious lines. Where there is attack there is retaliation. I just wonder how long will it continue. Now these are no longer political problems but social as well, this epidemic has trickled down right to the common man like me.

The whole world is getting separated into 'ghettos'. ‘Ghetto’ means a set of people living together sharing similar beliefs, customs and traditions. Looking at the scenario of the world right now, I definitely don't blame them for living them with like minded people for experiencing a sense of security. But as we all know, ghettoisation is an example of a recessive society not a progressive one. It segregates people on certain lines with a certain sense of contempt and disregard for those people who do not come under their boundary. We see this happening in rural India on a regular basis but nowadays also in Big cities. I will not think twice to generalize that this phenomenon applies to other countries as well.

But what do we get then? If ghettoisation could have solved our problems then we would have long solved all our problems. But they in fact accentuate the problem even further. One spark and the different people living in the 'ghettos', come to fists and blows, blood flows down the drain and people loose their lives unnecessarily. Time tested method says that in order to curb riots and other adverse phenomenon, we must live with people who share beliefs which are different than ours. Only then can we understand their culture and only then can we dream of peace. Studies have also shown that the communities which were not affected during riots are usually the one's which have strong economic ties between persons of different caste or religion. And in my humble opinion, business is only possible when there is trust. And trust is not possible without understanding.

One more thing that is missing in today's world is the nine letter word 'Tolerance'. I just wish I can recollect the author's name who wrote an essay on 'Tolerance' quite a long time back. This essay is (or was) in the school textbook curriculum of the Gujarat State Board, which ironically was the place where the major flare up occurred in recent past. That incident was the death of democracy for me........

The author stated some very simple lines which still reverberate whenever I hear such atrocious statements (i.e the navratri type bans). He argued that 'love' was a word which was used too often in our attempts to arrive at peace. It was too personal an emotion to feel. It can be experienced by two people or maximum a few people. But in order to achieve world peace love is not a practical proposition, but tolerance is. He simply put it this way 'You cannot love the people you hate, you can only tolerate them'. This line is the crux of the matter. Such a simple sentence with such lasting consequences can hardly be illustrated anywhere else. We have got to learn to tolerate people. Intolerance is the root of all hate. We are impatient with the people whom we do not share our beliefs with. We try to impose our beliefs upon them. But we cannot win them over by love. If you are successful then you are one lucky person. But to the world in general my advice is that you start tolerating them. That is more than half of the battle won.

This applies to the common man, terrorists and politicians alike in my opinion.

There is so much in the world to do. Travel, learn a language, read books, do math, whatever !!Some of the best natural beauty I have come across in a T.V. documentary comes from a place whose name is synonymous with terrorism, i.e Afghanistan. Why don't people sit in the serene beauty and introspect is something that I fail to fathom. My article is just an attempt to make people realize that in order to achieve something big, we have to start small. So instead of achieving world peace, we must try to be at peace with ourselves and with the people who surround us.

Just to prevent any ambiguity I will state that this message is not aimed at any particular community or religion but to each one of you who is reading this. Be at peace first with your neighbor's, the world too will follow suit

On this note I will sign off and I sincerely hope that you have a beautiful Navratri and Durga Puja.

Debayan.