Skip to main content

Heart that beats but doesn't feel.



In morning I got up to write on the women lives and all that happened in the class room discussion on misogyny, however while I was scribbling in my dairy I felt that I am so shallow and fake. My pen stopped then and there. Creator beacons me “Niharika, you always write about lives of woman ,you always tell society how shallow its principals are, the society needs to be awaken from slumber, you are always angry at the people of the world. But, what about your growth? Your development? Would you not like to write about how shallow you are and are you not angry on yourself about the fact?”
This was my moment. I need to transform myself first then only I can ask people to reform. Years ago, someone said to me “You can understand toughest English vucab. But what’s the benefit if you can’t understand a person”. Though that time I did not understand that person or what he meant. I understood it today, to be more precise morning of 25 March 2015, 6:30 am.
So how this realization happened, I used to crack jokes, make fun of one our classmates. But when I came to know of her history and life, I wanted to slap myself. Though I claim that I understand the grief of humanity, I understand humanity (thanks intellectual arrogance, self obsession), But it’s hard for me understand the person next to me, who stays with me throughout the day. All of us wear a mask of serving the society; we believe that world is that bad place. But only this morning I realized I need to serve myself with lots empathy ,I need to realize my faults ,accept that I need lesson.
So despite the fact that I am pursuing post graduation, I have read books, I have attended seminars, workshops, still I cannot understand person.  Creator said it loud “Wow! Miss Niharika .This is what happens when you become self obsessed .When you see no one except yourself. Today please say satires in your name instead of hymning paeans. Please write to enlighten the darkness within yourself, instead of marching ahead with lamps to enlighten the society”
It’s all easy to give our expert comments about someone, give judgments, laugh on others, misunderstand others because we think we are supreme creatures, we know it all, we have seen the world. We are well read, well educated. We have read it all from NCERT, to penguin India, Harper Collins, vintage publications etc .But we will never read person next to us, we will never understand what he feels, whether he is hurt or not. We will never try to know his history. His life .his dilemmas, we will just enforce our shallow knowledge which is rented from some big author or heavy book.
It’s very easy to feel sad about the strangers in the news stories, empathize with them, cry for them, but how difficult it is to feel about, empathize with or cry for the person next to you. We look for things outside; especially I look for things outside: stories from the world but I never tried knowing people who were or are closer to me. I never sat them to listen to their stories, to understand them. I feel proud that I have made people around me feminist, but did I myself become ‘human’ in first place. I am angry at myself. I am embarrassed, I am shocked. I plan to travel every remotest parts of the world and know its people. Why did I never think of revisiting the remotest corner of my heart that is dead for a long time?
Thank you ‘someone’ for beaconing me .For stopping me from becoming like scientist who went on moon, but doesn’t know how to live on earth. For stopping me from becoming development student who works to make society better, but never makes an effort to make herself better .For saving me from becoming superficial writer who writes about lives of others through her eyes only nut never tries to see people from their eyes.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Death of reason and logic:Age of Post-Truth

"We, as a free people", wrote late Serbain American playwright Steve Teisch "have freely decided that we want to live in some post-truth world" in an essay in the Nation magazine in 1992. The essay was in the context of the Iran -Contra scandal and the Persian Gulf War. The author would not have even the faintest idea that almost twenty-five years later Oxford dictionary, on November 12, 2016 will make ‘post-truth' the word of the year. 'Post' here doesn't mean ‘after' but suggests to the time when truth becomes insignificant and irrelevant. Thanks to Brexit and the results of US Presidential elections –this failed media prophets and others in the field of psephology. However, had Oxford University paid heed to the India around and from 2014, the word Post-truth would have found its place a few years ago only! In 2014, Media machinery projected a man who hitherto was nowhere in the picture, as the "leader", the country needed on it...

Why history lessons were boring in schools?

We were not taught (told) history as it was. History lessons dealt with dates and events only, history was always about kings,wars,victories and so called larger than life things. We were just told who ruled us,for how long.We never came to know about common man's life,may be it was not worth writing or documenting(it is still not worth it,only politicians make news). History books never had chapters of North East India and its contrib ution to Indian freedom struggle.Conflict regions' making and history was never made available rather they were just called resource abundant regions. Rise of right wing (radicalisation)doesn't find mention either. History books have been agents of lies and deception. History writing is often used as tool by state to deceive it's citizens,so that the truth and facts never come out. Whether it's America,India or Pakistan,their school history lessons are self congratulatory. Currently state is busy in bringing 'In...

Nightingale got no prize at the poultry show

Einstien,Twain,Edison were born out of class, before the text proceeds , I would like to say here 'class' doesn’t mean the structure with four walls, one door, two windows, one teacher, books and the pack of chained students. Here class is the niche of brilliance, freedom, discovery, imagination and invention. I wish to have education system that forges humans with brain and not machines with grades. As a student .I always wondered, how one can go about saying two plus two equals to four? Without anyone questioning why? Just because our course book said so. Why in history "dates and events” were asked? When no one taught us the resemblance to the days which we live in. Why for learning anything new, we need old books instead of new ideas? Why make notes in class, when the brain is blank and ink in copy left no hammer on thinking? Why teachers ask us to learn by heart, while it is the mind that is required to do so.? Even Winston Churchill had a dig at his tea...