Change Hypocrisy

The questions I aim to put out are something along these lines

•           Are changes from generation to generation destined to happen at this rate?
•           But is the body able to cope with these changes?
•           What is happening to our culture then?
•           Does common sense always prevail these days?
•           Has the virus infected only select individuals?

Have you ever felt that you are increasingly being surrounded by Hypocrites? Perhaps you too are one. Don’t be alarmed cause you aren’t alone, this is the mania gripping all of us. As many of us say- “Easier said than done”.

The most recent example can be when people were baying like hounds when the anti-corruption movement came up. Thousands joined in but how many of them can actually say that they are corruption free. “Ok”, it is nearly impossible to be corrupt free these days because one is forced at some point to not toe the line when they have something to be done (considering all the corruption all over) , but still, how clean those people thronging the protests were themselves? The media too keep bawling about corruption, but it doesn’t mean that they are free of it themselves. We are asking for change without realizing that change needs to come from within first, this is where hypocrisy creeps in.

Forget about these major changes; let us think about those small changes occurring among us from generation to generation. People are becoming a lot more modern, but at what cost? Is the body able to cope to these changes? In general, the answer is a simple “No”. You might wonder “what is this guy talking about?” I am talking about small changes in lifestyles that are happening gradually but perhaps more so over the last one or 2 decades. This is leading to increased amount of stress levels, which is leading to lot more suicides and killings too. People have become very jumpy, and the phrase “on your toes” comes to my mind, but sadly that too has its limits after which we lose balance.

In this manic society, even culture is being sacrificed and lot of common sense too. No one is saying “no”; to adopting western ideas… but to what extent do we adopt them? Let me give you the latest example- Recently after a particular film was released, there was a hue and cry for adopting “Tomatina” festival into our lives, which was ridiculous considering the spiraling prices due to food shortage, increased consumption, etc over here. Luckily people with common sense in that respect decided to quash any such ideas. Our basic inner core varies for people from region to region, and our tendency is astonishingly begun to take in things from other cultures but only keeping the wrong things of our culture in mind. Hence the discrepancy in the so called clones.

Now I too am babbling about things outside my control, but I do realize with change within myself, things will get better. It doesn’t mean that we need to stop our demands, but we need to demand things of which we know we are clear and aware of.

Most of this writing might seem pertinent only to a particular region, but actually it is true all over the world with only the situations and events changing.

Crazed Stranger

We have all heard of small towns having a man commonly termed as a Town drunk (or village drunk in case of a village). Have people ever tried to get into those persons (or similar people) lives and find out what is it that makes them tick the way they do? I have… Just once… After that I decided not to try it again.

I come from a little known town so I wouldn’t want to delve into names. There was one such man abhorred and shunned by all. No one seemed to know who he was, or perhaps no one cared to know.  Most people would look with fear at him, children were pulled away from him whenever they moved close to him, and ladies passed him with fear stricken glances. Very rarely though did he approach people himself, many times he was heard screaming loudly in a voice even he might fail to recognize as his own (due to the lack of use of his voice box).

 I was a curious youngster and whenever I saw him I would pester anyone near to tell me as to whom he was. I would usually get one of 2 responses – either they don’t know or some said that he was thrown out of his house due to his raged drunkenness.

There was a time in my life when I was going through a rough phase, and found a lot of solace in his company as he would generally be quiet when someone around him (irrespective of the contrary accusations). Gradually, I found him as good company and felt an invisible connection form between us two. I used to get some things to eat. After some more time, I began to leave a bit for him on the ground near him before walking off, not looking back as to what he was doing, but was happy to see it gone the next day I would pass by him on my way to work. Finally, one day I drew some courage and asked him about his past life. Not expecting a reply, I wasn’t disappointed in anyway when I didn’t get one. Seeing that he remained a silent spectator, in the coming days I began to pour out my own problems to him, and it gave me a soothing feeling being with one who was ready to listen without saying a word of neither admonition nor argument.

Things went on like this for some time, and then as things got better I became more engrossed in my own personal and professional life and hence didn’t have much time for him. After 2 weeks of not having met him, I made up my mind to go and check as to how he is. I was shocked to see him sprawled on the pavement with a high fever. I immediately got him admitted into the hospital, but it was too late… He soon passed away after telling me the first two coherent lines I had ever heard from him. The doctor did give me a small pad, telling it had been written by that man for me. I was very surprised as I didn’t know that he would be able to write, and curious too as to what he would have written for me.

In it I read things which I will be briefing to you now. He had noticed me for quite a few days and had begun to write this quite early. He had been an educated man with a decent family background from a village about 120kms away. He was a hardworking person and hence had earned quite well. With many in his village and many relatives too being poor, he put in lot of time and money in their lives, caring for them as his own. Sadly for him, he began to realize that there was no return in that love and no appreciation from all those people that he cared so much for. Things started getting worse and worse, and he began to feel depressed. His 2 sons got married and they went away to nearby cities. His crops began to fail and hence he became poor. After a few years his wife passed, leaving him alone. His fellow villagers had no pity on him (despite the help that they had received earlier), and left him as he was, even his sons ignored him as they felt that they had been ignored (but they had been well taken care of with them getting whatever they had wanted) by the father due to his constant thought of others too. Forced to sell his house and farm, he was left with nothing and nowhere to go.

Finally, he trudged all the way to this town 20 years back in shame along with the hope of something better happening. Being hungry and weak, he arrived in the village poor, unshaven and weak to the bones. Hence, right from then on, he was ignored and shunned. With no money for medication and food, his suffering did not ease, with only some people giving left over drinks and food for him to take, hence leaving him if at all drunk. He was forced to scrape for food leftovers from garbage bins.  This continued for long until he met me, and after I was giving food, he began to feel strong.

That’s all was written in the pad of his, but the rest anyone can surmise. Have you wondered what he told me on his death bed was. It was just 2simple lines -

“I am neither a bad nor a mad man …,

I liked people a lot once but got no return”

Personality Crash Simplified

Have you noticed that one becomes much alike to the person they despise? The more they despise the one, the more alike they become. Now what brings about such a change? Can it make one totally different from what they actually were? Is it justified? Some people say that it’s not a change brought in because of the other, but its because that feeling always existed within all people, not just that individual… Could that be true?

Now considering the last point mentioned above, let us approach it from a different perspective, which arguably I stand by. And to those who do not agree with me even partially, I think they are in the wrong.  Now what is so special about what I am going to say? It’s just this, people change as per their surroundings, and such a change can only occur if they have gained knowledge of those surroundings. Humans like all other animals were born with the natural tendency to survive, as they became aware of what went on around them they began to evolve. Slowly, things have become much more globalised with various things and news spreading to all parts of the world. So, all this information gets shoved into individuals at an increasing rate these days due to increased proximity to other individuals and the information spread. What can the person do, with this much information flooding the brain? He begins to choose and make decisions based on what has been fed into him either directly or indirectly. That’s when things go awry.

Gone are those days when people used to live in communities independent of other communities and hence had a fixed style when dealing with situations. How does one then go about dealing with situations when they are aware of often contradictory reactions to that situation? That’s where things perhaps look to get random, but I’m certain that the reaction chosen also depends on the weight of information for each reaction that gets into the head from childhood. To make you understand more better, lets consider an example- if for situation 1, there are two reactions/ solutions Sol A and Sol B… If Sol A has been given lot more importance in some way or another, then the tendency will be to go with reaction Sol A.

What 0makes a person go even perhaps to the wrong path, once again it’s the question of survival and information fed in. Therefore, a poor person with no food to eat will automatically tend to try to pinch some food if he has seen another individual do the same or is in dire need of it. Slowly, he becomes aware of the chances of getting away with it if he got away with it the first time, and gradually he becomes bold and even goes on a robbing spree (for things which are not required for actual survival), once again here to information is being fed into him (by his own mind) that he can rob and get away with it.

Coming back to my very first point, what actually makes a person become so alike the person he despises? The answer has already been clearly indicated above… Are you still wondering where the answer is? Let me explain that to you; when Person A despises Person B, then Person A naturally tends to think a lot about Person B. What does he think? He thinks about Person B’s actions over all time he has known him. What happens then? Unconsciously, person A is molding his thought process along the lines of that of Person B. Therefore, the two slowly start becoming alike in actions and then we see the likeness being directly dependent on the amount of thought pertinent to Person B (due to the increased importance).

For those of you wondering, “is there a possible solution?” Yes there surely is. We need to give less thought to the person or thing that might push you to become something you weren’t earlier.