Too late to apologise

Swine flu.. a new type of flu said to be more dangerous than bird flu.

Isn't it hilarious ( or sad?) that whenever humans conquer one trouble, nature throws another one. It feels like a game between humans and nature, rather "nature khila raha hai insaan ko"... kinda when you play with a kid, when the child clears one hurdle, you set a level slightly tougher for him. Sometimes you let the child win, but you always know that the plot and rules are yours and whether the child will win or lose depends on whether you want him to win or lose. You conquered cholera, I'll give you different forms of cancer... Ok.. You have cure for TB... here play with AIDS.. ok what about this and that flu or hey have fun with lifestyle diseases and pollution related ones. You should never feel bored... I'll be there for you :)

We have reduced our immune system to a level that a person sneezing in Mexico scares us out. Some wise man once said "The fear of life is the favorite disease of the 20th century." ( William Lyon Phelps.. whoever he is :)). Was certainly wise to notice that. We are so scared of everything and everyone that we live half lives. But thats another story.

At the same time, those bloody virus have had ages of mutation to fight against all our antibiotics. They are spineless... literally and figuratively. I wonder that in the long run these brainless characters are going to win against man, who sits at the top of pyramid.

We forget that when the end comes, its going to be the end of humans not the end of nature or earth. It may be a temporary pause for nature, not the end. We will ruin everything and then die ourselves. And then from a tiny sprout somewhere, a tree will grow... somewhere a lost bird will sing again. But there wont be any human being ruining that.

The nature just watches man play with everything... his immune system, other species, his environment. Probably thinking how long it should let the kid play and then pack up the game.

And it really doesn't matter at all

Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a God.

Another blast in Delhi, one killed, 18 injured.... and many more to follow. My reaction, I just call up those I care for in Delhi , tell them about the blasts, ask them to stay in and watch the news. I wish that people who I know and I can't connect to are safe. I am not bothered too much about all those I don't know.

Its not that I am unsympathetic towards the blast victims. I am sure if I see someone or hear about someone I am going to feel sad. But other than that its just numbers. And numbers baffle me. X number of blasts in one Indian city. Y number of such cities. Z number of casualties in each of the blasts. After some time, its going to fade from my memory, precedence taken by some piece of crap. May be new MTV Roadies or may be office work or may be some good shopping offer. Yeah life moves on... It always does.

Have we accepted terror, violence ,death and injury as a part of life. Do we now think that insanity and irrationality will always be there. We just hope, wish or rather BELIEVE that its not gonna happen to us. That my near ones and I are always going to be lucky enough never to get caught in the chaos. And rest is all fine. Its fine as long as its not happening to you. Is it indifference, callousness, helplessness or inhumanity. I have seen some animal species gather and fight against a more powerful enemy to save each other. Yeah we ain't animals any more.

Its not that i can do anything about it. Its not that I can do anything about anything in general. I can just wish, hope and do the utterly trivial things. Things that are good, but of such small size that they do not matter. Its like clearing the way for an ant to carry sugar in the midst of riots or an approaching cyclone. Does saving power mean anything when we can't save lives. What difference does it make if city streets are clean or not, when the minds are not? But then... keep up the good work ;)

Its not so bad

I attended AID delhi meeting recently. If I think why I went there, probably the reason closest would be curiosity " I have never attended AID meeting" and just wanted to see what they do (if they happen to do anything!!!). I also wanted to see the faces behind all those mails coming in my mailbox. "Yeh kis type ke logon main itna time aur patience hota hai ki woh itna kaam bhi karein and usko website pe upload bhi karein... and earn their livelihood as well !!!" Well, so my primary reasons for being there were fulfilled :)

But the meeting did have side effects as well. I was surprised to see so many people from Gurgaon, Delhi and Noida, meeting at IITD at 10 (or nearly so) on a Sunday morning !!! There must be something behind this and the reason was self-evident in just a few moments... passion..All individuals passionately believing in and working for their cause, inspite of the difficulties that they faced. No project was easy, no location conventional and nobody thriving on external support. Yet... they made that happen... somehow.

The dedication that they had was amazing. Its not easy teaching slum kids, convincing their parents or working for women empowerment in a society that had difficulty relating the word women with power. All of them can have an easier life; a life oblivious to suffering of others. But they chose the road less travelled, the harder way and that made the difference. Certainly, there is a difference between a life without a purpose and a life dedicated to a cause and that I could notice there.

I liked the word "Gyanodaya" a lot. Probably the first step of gyanodaya is within you. Unless there is gyan or knowledge within, you can't enlighten others. I returned inspired for sure from there. If there are people like them working for India's development, probably the situation is not as gloomy as I thought it is. One positive change that it had on me is that my faith in humans as a race is restored. Thanks for that!!!!