Saturday 17 September 2011

We are all innocent!

"We are helpless. Nehruvian policies are responsible sir! Had Sardar Patel been the PM, we would have been a developed country by now, much like Singapore. But we are doing our best. It takes time to undo the misdeeds of the last 60 years, get to a clean slate and then show some progress. It is not magic!"
We are not in a position to interview Nehru on what his compulsions were half a century ago. But we have enough and more spokespersons who can read Nehru's mind and speak on his behalf. Talk to them and we are convinced that Nehru himself should be absolved of all blame. The problem was inherited by him.
"India was systematically looted for over three hundred years. The kohinoor diamond.. where do you think it is ?...... In the British Museum! Hence, by the time India became independent, we had to literally start from scratch. It was Panditji's vision that led to the five year plans and the formation of IITs. This IT revolution ... on which you software fellows are riding ....is ultimately Panditji's brainchild! Please give credit where it is due... and don't simply malign our leaders!"
India always seems to have had issues going by the High School History textbooks. As per this history, British inherited an India ravaged by the Mughals. The Mughals made inroads into India because of the divisive nature of India's kings, this fissiparous tendency had its origins in the caste system, the caste system itself is attributed to the Vedas, the Vedas are after all... anaadi (birthless) and authorless! Our investigation clearly hit a dead-end in an effort to find an explanation for the current state of affairs.

Not just India- it is impossible to find a culprit in any field... for any problem. "The buck stops here" is possibly only a paper weight in Obama's office!
"There are so many bugs (defects) in this feature! The project is currently "in red" and management is concerned about the software quality. Why are so many defects showing up just before customer delivery? An urgent post mortem is required!"  the project manager in a top IT firm is indignant.
But the software engineers have a different story. "If we look at these bugs, almost all of them are "baseline" defects. The previous release also had them. It's just that with this new feature, those baseline issues are getting exposed!"
"Baseline" is a peculiar term in software development- a faceless entity on which you can pin all your faults with no questions asked. The previous release had baseline issues, the one before that also had baseline issues and it seems to extend ad infinitum.. even predating the age of computers and software development!

After every major incident in our country, our minister will usually condemn "this most cowardly act" or for a change as "this most dastardly act". A couple of days later, we will hear- "We have some promising leads and we are pursuing them." Soon, a few individuals will be rounded up as "suspects" and paraded (often covered with a hood) in full view of the TV cameras.
Invariably, we've always caught the wrong people!
"They are innocent boys incapable of harming even a fly! We are victimized!" we often hear from their guardians. Sure enough, in some time, when the immensity of the "incident" has been wiped from our memories, these suspects are released. "Our stand is vindicated today! Justice has been delayed, but at least not denied," they announce gleefully, with a victory sign as they emerge from their confines. The perpetrator of the crime is always someone else who is "still at large".

If a suspect initially admits that he is guilty, in some time, he revises the story with the claim that the confession was extracted from him "under duress". No proof is good enough to nail anyone. If there is video footage, it is grainy and hence inconclusive. If the video footage is conclusive, it has been morphed using technology. Otherwise, it is a "sting operation" which cannot be used in a court of law. If the culprit is caught red-handed, the victim has an out-of-court settlement and suggests that the entire episode is "unfortunate" and should be buried. Every suspect is invariably innocent and a victim of a conspiracy hatched by some dark forces or at least a foreign hand. Scams of astronomical proportions abound, but even by mistake, we cannot get to the guilty. The one who is currently booked often reads "spiritual books for solace" in the confines of the cell and looks sick. We feel sorry for him and are relieved when he is finally let out.

We are yet to hear "I am guilty" in an unequivocal, unambiguous voice! I don't think we will ever get to the guilty. No one is guilty. We are all innocent! It is an age of innocence.
At the "Annual Thread Changing Ceremony", (please read my previous post for reference), we chant "Kaamo'kaarsheet, manyura'kaarsheet namo namah" 108 times. The import is, "Lord, I did not commit any sin the entire year! If at all some objectionable acts are ascribed to me, I would say in my defence, that it was the "desire (kaama)" in me or the "anger (manyu)" in me that led me astray. Left to myself, I am as innocent as a lamb! If at all you need to punish, you can go after kaama-devata (desire) and manyuh-devata (anger). But I am truly blameless!"
Thus, Veda itself frees us from all crime and associated guilt.

The truth of the matter is... as the Geeta says... "Nirdosham hi samam brahma". The essential part of each individual, the spirit, "brahma" is "nirdosh".. free from any blame, any defect.. whatsoever.
Whenever someone blames us, we immediately recoil, claim our essential nature and shout aloud- "We are nirdosh, basically divine, intrinsically blameless, truly innocent!"

"Hey, if everyone is innocent, what about these evils all around us?"
"The guilty will answer that question........!"
...
"Hey, how come there is now..total silence!?"

1 comment:

  1. As Shakspeare says in Julius caesar 'the evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones. Nehru is one such person.In the present society the corruption is rampant from top to bottom. Yatha raja thatha praja! Either a silent spectator or participant!Where to start in this entanglement for eradication.Thief himself is running shouting 'chor chor pakkdo'Amma

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