The heat is on!!!
| Date :05-Jun-2019 |
By BIRAJ DIXIT:
Oh, the heat is simply too much to bear! It is not fair that one nation should be bombarded with so much hot matter. Of course, the resilient Indians can bear a lot of heat, but that does not mean their patience should be put to test every now and then. They need respite. They also need cool comforts of easy and happy thoughts. The temperature, of course, is up to its usual summery blitzkrieg and is thinking of nothing while gaining in degrees. But that is the usual hot-as-hell Indian summer for you. It is least likely to change its colour or provide some shade. In fact, it is going to be angrier with us meddling so relentlessly in the affairs of Nature.
I say, with so much sweltering in the atmosphere itself, why should there be any more add-ons! I mean the elections are over. Let us let go of the heat, now. Who, how, why… all questions have been duly answered and done with, aren’t they? Why should we still hold on to the steam? Why should we still emit the barbs and barks? While one is battling the atmospheric heat, to accommodate also the rising temperatures of turbulent human minds is too much to ask, isn’t it? It actually is hard on not-so-smart people when waves of waves of very smart people confront one another on daily basis keeping all means of communication busy to throw diatribes, speaking of doom and prosperity with equal degree of commitment. Despite one’s lack of practical intelligence one knows going overboard in both directions is just being too passionate and not-so-intelligent.
Honestly, I have nothing against people holding strong political beliefs. In fact, I admire them for their courage of conviction. It is indeed courageous to hold on to political convictions while living in a rather fluid, ever-changing society like ours. What I detest is a strongly divided house with little scope and encouragement for those very many shades of grey. There are so many people on the right and so many people on the left that a few like us who are on the left of the right and right of the left do not find ourselves in the centre of anything. We are the relegated-to-the-corner psuedos. Frankly speaking, corners are not at all a bad place if one wants to view things from a distance and indulge in calmer contemplation. You hold the advantage of a clearer view of the larger picture. You gain the luxury of privacy. You earn the opulence of solitude (sometime absolute).
The world of ‘ayes’ and ‘nays’, long disgusted with your fidgety “eh! what?”offers you a chance to get lost. And if, wisdom had ever touched your soul while you were smarting under a world of smart ‘aye’ and ‘nay’ sayers, you would grab the opportunity to be cornered at the first opportune moment. But even from that far a distance it is rather an ugly sight when you see matter heating up and molten matter heating more matter and everything getting consumed in the heat. That unfortunately is the fate of our political debates these days. All that remains is heat and ash. Ash, incidentally, is grey. But you cannot call it the remnant of the grey cell. It is rather the ash of the grey cell.
And honestly, who needs heat when your weather is screaming 47 degrees! Who needs to see ash? So, from my very cornered position, if I may suggest a little cooler issues for public debate like say breaking of the glass ceiling or may be a little less popular ones like environmental degradation and human indulgence – no we should rather stick to ‘environmental degradation’ only, for it is a universal worry and no one would be pushed in the corner but for those hands-on environmentalists. ‘Human indulgence’ would conflict with all of us ‘aye’ sayers who have so many times expressed concerns for environment while still using plastic. Breaking of the glass ceiling too is a less than hot subject we can indulge in a debate about without blowing much heat and ash. It, in fact, offers a better chance to bring to centre-stage all those who have been pushed in the corner for long. We can ask them about their view of the glass ceiling.
Glass, incidentally, is a hard material seemingly easy to break. However, when one finds it in the ceiling it becomes harder to break as one has to climb really high even to think of breaking it. And as has been the experience in most cases the ground below too is as shaky and as breakable as glass. Then one has to ignore completely the many surrounding glass walls and glass eyes. So, whenever we throw such a subject for public debate we can truly pay lip service and then go back to our ways where we do not indulge in anything as atrocious as breaking glasses.
There can be many issues that need our attention and can be dealt with without inflicting any tectonic shifts on anybody’s belief system. There are many burning issues that are sure to spread less heat. For example, the water crisis – it sure is a huge problem threatening entire world’s peace. It is also known to cool tempers and temperatures down and hydrate parched souls. And may be water can bring more fluidity in hardcore beliefs, sparkles in words and softness in language. The talk of water in this sweltering heat that is indeed one happy, easy thought! l