Friday, February 4, 2011

Chancing on a Change!

If you ain't living on some deserted island or in deep Amazon, there is a pretty good chance you'd be nodding to the fact that something is brewing in Egypt, or should I say in Arab world, at large. They say it is history in the making or a dictator in the breaking. The experts believe epic events like these don't take place often. Well, the people in the know love to dig past, analyze present and predict future. That's their job. But one intriguing word is doing the rounds – Revolution.

People love revolution. Everyone desires a change even at the price of not knowing what exactly that change is all about. Give them an affable leader and a common enemy and then lo and behold. The emotions will unfold on streets, the very place where we're expected to do the very opposite. Every single time the media flashes pictures of people gathered on a city square, you can feel euphoria, anguish, hope, ecstasy, all served on a single plate. You see a crazy crowd shouting slogans, waving flags, pelting stones, burning vehicles and everything that isn't within the definition of civility. And yes, do note that revolution almost never takes place in rural areas!

The chaos that promptly spills on roads actually begins with a society. We, being the herds that we are, love to let society guide us in spite of knowing perfectly well that human society is a failed experiment. One of the biggest reasons why it flunked lies in our inherent selfishness. Small wonder we ended up here, deservedly though. We belong to the kind that not only hunts on full stomach but also qualmlessly boast about it. We don't have to travel far to know what I'm blabbering about. Just take a look at your place. The place you like to call your home. Make a list of all the stuff lying there that isn't of any use to you but it is still there, nonetheless. It could be anything from the clothes you don't wear anymore to the food that gets wasted every single day. The bottom-line is we are neck deep in materialism. The concept of sharing with the less-privileged never kicks in. After all, we are busy 'getting ahead in life'. This is where society fails abysmally and such imbalanced societies proceed to give birth to so-called revolutions. History reeks of struggles where collective human suffering was the winning difference.

Now, the daunting question is who do we want to change – the society or self? The simpler choice would be changing the society. People have being doing that aeons now – trying to change others. The more difficult task would be changing oneself voluntarily. It's high time we washed off this thick coat of want and get a better sense of other's pain and misfortune.

Coming back to the breakthrough happenings of North Africa, let's hope this time it's a revolution for real, not political checkmate or a religious knockout. Revolutions always leave behind its share of ignominy. In fact, the only revolution that passes off without any controversy is the one our planet takes around the sun.

Let's see.

7 comments:

Jayshree said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Quite interesting read.the point you were trying to keep that before changing others we should change ourselves first is appreciable. I too believe this thing. But I think revolution is something different.And you really need to participate in it because it's not just about you it's about your next gen too.
:)

Shakti_Shetty said...

Touché.

Anonymous said...

i liked this line -political checkmate or religious knockout.
Yes, so impossible to change the world if you will not start it within yourself.Let change start in you..in family...then it would have domino effect to the whole system.
This is such an exceptional write ups...you are so brilliant writer!!You got my precious time always...can we be friends.???am a blogger like you but not as brilliant as you.

Shakti_Shetty said...

Thanks for your time and comment. Do mail me your blog's URL. I'll blogroll you.

Umer said...

I read this post, then another and then another. Man, never thought you write such serious stuff! Great!

And yup, the uprising going on is in a grave danger of falling in the wrong hands - they don lack proper direction and leadership.

Shakti_Shetty said...

Thanks yaar..

Seriously, we can't be toooo positive about the outcome. Lots of political drama will unfold. Let's wait and watch and yes, learn.