I almost don't. But I would like to.
So how do we go about doing things that we so conveniently talk about. Talking about things seem so easy and sounds so possible. But when I start to think about how I act, the task seems insurmountable. Why is it so? Is it because that talking is easy and throwing opinions does not require effort. The very process of writing down what I talk about seems like a difficult task.
When I want to put my thoughts into words, there comes the element of corroborating what I say. When we speak to people, there is hardly a need to prove with supporting theories or facts, every statement you make. Many variables eliminate this requirement - body language, tonality of the voice, the influence over the listeners, background of the speaker etc. But when we write and when it is read by someone, we are not present in that place to substantiate what we have written. The person reading frames his/her opinion on what is written and the imagination of the reader cannot be controlled unless what you state is irrefutable and comes with facts that the reader does not have a choice but read and imagine in the same way that it was written. The old adage "It is easier said than done" says it all.
The reason for this post is based on some of the events this week that caught my attention and affected me in some sense - the Israel-Lebanon / Hezbollah (or should I say Islam) war, the death of the current Maori Queen, the indigenous people of Taiwan, who are supposedly part of the Polynesian 'race' and whose language have strong links with the Austronesian language family, trying hard to find an identity for themselves among the majority of Chinese population, the mud spills in Java that is threatening the villages nearby the oil and gas company which had in some sense caused the spills and Naom Chomsky's interview with Merav Yudilovitch voicing the hyprocrisy of the current Middle East war which according to Chomsky is clouding the events that is taking place in Gaza, Palestine.
Everytime I read these news over the Internet, there was a emotional upsurge of feelings in me about many things that is going on in this world and the state of my inability to influence these events for the betterment of the state of the world. And then, I stopped for a moment and thought about it - why am I affected by these unconnected events? In the first place, why am I even thinking about it when I don't have the intention to get off my chair and do something about it? Then I started to realize that this planet has a lot more of such people who feel strongly about many things around them but don't raise a finger to do something about it. I am not representing this behavior here in a negative sense since it is not in my obligation to do something when I haven't caused it. But... and this is a big BUT, I have a choice to do something about it. It is in my hands to exercise that choice and I of course am not going to be condemned to hell if I don't take the choice of doing something about the feelings that I have about events that I consider are detrimental to the human progress.
These series of thoughts in me are in some sense aligned to my previous posts as well. When I ponder over the question of why 'West' is better than the 'East', I am kind of forced to think that the East did not do as much as they talk or think they would like to do. Of course I do not claim here that this the reason and I have solved the centuries old puzzle of why the West colonized the East and not the other way around. There are other factors as well and those factors are all the work done by anthropologists, historians, scientists and archaeologists. But every time I come across their reasons, I am not convinced deep down inside me that those reasons have solved the puzzle. Mostly because the reasons they state are in today's context not relevant anymore but still 'East' is lagging behind the 'West'.
If one under developed country were to come out clean and decide to take the step towards progress, I don't think it can take more than couple of decades or slightly more to become as developed as any other developed country. But no one comes out clean. Then the question is why? And there are many reasons for the 'why' - civil war, religious differences, economic support, literacy, natural resources etc., But above all there is also the variable called 'intention' to take that step. This is definitely lacking. Why? I can't seem to answer that now.
Referring back to my earlier posts of the significance of the Vedas, I find more research done by non-Hindus than by the people who claim that it is holy. If I want to use the Sanskrit slokas on my computer or for publication, I have rely on typography developed by the Germans. I get more English and German researches interpretation of the Vedas that I get from the priests in India. Ok, I do not wish to start a debate here that the people of India are doing less - may be I did not search well, may be the 'priests' are not technology savvy and I don't find their work on the Internet etc. But what I am trying to highlight here is that if the Indian's claim that their culture and heritage are that significant then I should find their works everywhere I look. I do not find an Indian expert in Mayan or Greek or Roman civilization but I do know BBC has a wonderful site for children to learn about Indus Valley civilization. This is something the people who claim it holy can do - it is not hard for a news agency like Doordarshan or The Hindu to come up with a concept whereby the next generation of children learn about their heritage. I don't see an inclination there for sure - or should I say, there is an inclination but no action!
I come back to my same suspicion of whether we are doing justice to the words that we let out of our mouth. It is rather better to stay quite and not do anything rather than raise a tantrum and not do anything.
Take your pick...
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