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Irony unsurpassed...

"Your identity as i know is like this, Name: Rashid, Religion: Humanity..." . These were the words of 'Indira' a character from the acclaimed Malayalam novelist M.T Vasudevan Nair 's screenplay 'Panchagni'.

So very significant is this one line that comes towards the end of the movie...The world would have been so much better off if everyone recognized every other man around him with such kind of an identity. We are so entwined with all our multiple identities; that of caste, religion, language, race, color, sex, etc .. that we overlook the one common factor that binds us, that of being in the same species!! We are all human beings first... the "greatest" of all of God's creations as we claim to be. We all fail to stay united no matter how many ever lessons life teaches us.

It is at times of natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis,that one forgets the numerous identities he has and rushes forward to extend his helping hand. But why? why the very next moment when there is communal violence, war waged against other countries, racsism at work , so on and so forth..we treat ourselves as beings with assorted identities?

And the ultimate disposal of this intolerance man has towards the other identities of fellow-men is termed as "Terrorism". Eventually, it is not about Jews in Israel, or Orthodox Serbs in Kosovo, or Hindus in Kashmir, Buddhists in Thailand, but about all of us. We create these identities and finally call for a "war against terror". What an ironical situation have we put ourselves in... The answer to this lies within us, within each and everyone of us... it is upto to us to choose the "identity" we want, and stand by it and not change it according to our convenience...

Man will never learn his lessons, no matter how many ever times nature tries to teach him. We prove to be one of the most ignorant of His creations… until we have another species taking over this human race. Or may be the dinosaurs will have to come back from the past…

The one hope that remains is when pioneers like M.T Vasudevan Nair, and many others make their endeavour in creating such thought provoking works that delves deep into such issues... And where there is hope, there is faith... As Paulo Coelho says in his book 'Brida', "Faith is like a dark night alone in the jungle. Every moment of life is an act of faith. That you could choose to fill it with snakes and scorpions or with a strong protective force. That faith cannot be explained. Faith exists cause of one's belief in it..." . With this Faith I remain...

Comments

theNadenker said…
First of all my ackowledgeemnts to the person in this blog, who through this post introduced me to MT Vasudevan Nair. Two days from the point I have read this, I have been researching his works and the messages he seems to convey are brilliant. We have a oft repeated message here in the present post, however how many ever times it is repeated the better it is. I hope everyone reads this and understands the writer's concern.
June 13, 2008 at 8:36 AM
Anup J Nambiar said…
Beautifully put across.

One another thing about identities is that almost all of them are imposed upon us on birth. We have no choice over most of the more significant ones. Another word that strikes me then is 'freedom'-freedom to choose one's identities. Most do not have this freedom. This makes it worse.

Let today's teachers teach the various identities a child can take and let him choose the ones that suit him.
June 13, 2008 at 11:56 PM
A Play Of Words ......... said…
I totally accept your concern on the topic in fact i share the same views. I read across a similar passage in the textbook controversy abt the dad being a muslim and mother being a hindu and when the child is to be admitted to a school they want his identity to be left out and he can choose it later.Imagine this creating atheists among people and the whole sort of issues(i am not sure on the other issues so am not commenting beyond this).Now talking about race when it is proved beyond doubt that the whole human race originated from a single human being in african .....
what race ?????
what colour?????
what religion????
i have written some of these issues in my other posts.......
July 10, 2008 at 1:17 AM
Open Book said…
Hi Gouri,
Thanks for your kind words.
How did you come across my blog?
Nice post btw
September 15, 2008 at 8:48 AM
Anupsar said…
Quite true, wars and terrorism are basic human problems; we have to accept that the roots is in each of us. Basically, it is the various identities that parents,teachers,relatives and society have built on each human beings when added with the greed for power, makes the right ingredient to dislike fellow human beings. Nice reflection indeed.
September 21, 2008 at 9:05 PM
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