Deception...

The Idea of Non-voilence - A Memoir

Somehow I subconsciously accepted Violence as the symbol of strength and Non-violence as a sign of weakness. As a result, the ‘Tit for Tat’ approach seemed to be the only smart decision and Forgiveness sounded good only in spiritual anecdotes. However, our violent nature never comes into the limelight. We fight with a fellow commuter while traveling to office, because we think he pushed us. We fight with our family or relatives because we think they are exploiting us. We fight with our spouse thinking our partner is being unfair to us. We fight a lot, but our fights get overlooked. It is not highlighted like wars between nations. So we think we are normal people and there is nothing wrong with us. We don’t even realize how violent we have become.

“If a person is intending to kill me, I can't just say, please be my guest." I will have to fight for my life. I wish every one of my sisters to slap in the face of the rogue who is teasing her.. how good that site will be. At some level aggression has knitted itself as a way of life. Is a favorite TV show, favorite attire or any other belonging, a worthy cause to fight with a sibling? Is getting little pushed over or stepped over, a worthy a cause to get into fist-fight with an absolute stranger? Is Wealth or Land, a worthy cause to cut through the bloodline of our ancestors? Is Politics, a worthy cause to pull out a partition and divide a nation? Is Race, a worthy cause to burn human beings alive?

Some may say yes and be proud about it. There is absolutely no way to prove them wrong. Today, we fight for Education. Education is supposed to help us become more mature. Ironically, we have ended up fighting for seat reservations. Today we fight over Religion, which was devised to help humanity transcend the normal being. Instead of transcending to higher level, we have stooped further low and have humiliated humanity by our act. Today, we fight for Love, which just reveals the height of human ignorance. Love the most divine feeling, the essence of peace being the sole cause of hatred and triggering violence. Non-violence is not an individual concept but it is a phenomenon concerned with the whole group. With the present situation wherein large families have become small families and small families becoming minor families and when people are forgetting collective nouns like 'us' 'them ' 'we' ,how can one expect that non-violence will succeed.