Skip to main content

Civilized?

One of our former Chief Ministers stayed at a village home as part of his 'Grama Vastavya' programme. The local leaders had urgently constructed a toilet room at the house before his stay. Now, after he stayed there for a night and left, the residents have removed the toilet and converted it into a pooja room. They say they don't need a toilet inside their house and they are used to using open area. Anyway, they are right in a way. It is part of their lifestyle and having a toilet inside their house is against their beliefs. 
Why should we consider what is followed by us (majority) to be true and universally applicable? Why is it considered that we are civilized and those who do not follow our culture is uncivilized and pagans? They may be more civilized than us for all we know. And what is civilization? Is it wearing trendy clothes, high heels, sophisticated talk, leaving the food in the plate even when we are hungry, drinking alcohol just because it is protocol....? I think those living in villages and the poor in the cities are more civilized than us. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Caterpillar or butterfly?

'Caught in a strange land in a net with other butterflies, I'm a caterpillar yet undecided to remain a caterpillar and perish or turn into a beautiful butterfly and live a life full of joy.' Readers don't laugh. But I came up with this one night recently when I was travelling in a train. I tossed and turned, not being able to sleep, upset over unexplainable things and frustrated over events not in my control. Then it occurred to me that our life and its usefulness depends on our decisions -- whether to remain a crawling caterpillar whose existence otherwise is either ignored by all and sundry or who is cursed for just being there and thrown out with a stick, or to develop wings of life and metamorphose into a beautiful butterfly whom everybody adores for its beauty and colour, for its flitting liveliness, for its service to the flower's pollination... I thought that I should be a butterfly, of service to others, but then again I thought, anyway, who really cares? 
8 comments
Read more

A listener

I have always been a listener. And we can listen only when we are silent. Since childhood, silence was my way of life. It is the only way one can understand the psyche of others.  I also listened to myself. It encouraged me to think. And when I began thinking, this world began to reveal itself. And when I started understanding people, I also realised the only way forward is to again remain silent. Silence in either way keeps me calm, peaceful. I feel like a detached onlooker. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Two separate questions

Guess I am out of touch with everything right now, so no blog entry for many days. From many days, a question is bothering me. I haven't found a satisfactory answer yet. So I'll write it down here. Maybe anybody who reads this may know the answer. "Just because we are journalists, writers, opinion creators and thinkers, do we have the right to judge others? Either personally or professionally?" I think we don't have the right to judge a person, even if we are right. But as writers, we would have to judge others whether we like it or not. And it's very difficult forcing people to think, but that's what we are doing or pretending to be doing right? Another question: "How come life is so simple if you just let it live by itself without bothering much and so complicated if you try to manipulate it or even understand it?" Blessed are the ignorant. We who can understand everything, try not to let anything go by without understanding and thus miss the b...
4 comments
Read more