With non-participation, comes non-judgement

2008-12-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

Balaram, Krishna's brother had refused to participate in the Mahabharata, the epic war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. The war saw many instances of deviation from the ethical rules of engagement embraced by warriors of that period. Among them, was the notorios slaying of Duryodhan, the heir to the Kaurava dynasty by Bheem, the Pandava who was younger only to Yudhishtir.

"With the luxury of your non-participation, comes the loss of your right to judge."

These profound words were uttered by Krishna to his brother Balaram, when Balaram raised exception to his use of deceit in orchestrating Duryodhan's slaying by Bheem.

As Indians, we all are witness to the alarming incompetence and total apathy of our politicians regularly on display in our great democracy. The recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai have underscored the ineffectiveness of our political system in dealing with crises of any kind, be it one of national security or national pride. We all seethe in fury as think about these sub-humans pretending to be our leaders, yet we fail to realize that these individuals symbolize the degeneration that has engulfed us all, not just the select few ruling this nation.

Today, you and I don't feel enough, or even at all, for that 5 year old boy barely clothed in rags begging at the traffic signal. Do we even think about what he will grow up thinking, when every single day he is being kicked at, spitted on, and constantly subjected to a barrage of expletives? What will this kid's mental makeup be when he's twenty years old? What will his perception of this world be? And then we complain about ruthless twenty year olds walking with AK56s through the city massacaring "innocent" people.

Do we think twice about paying the traffic policeman twenty rupees to avoid getting a ticket? Or think twice about sounding our horn in a residential area that clearly has a no horn sign? Do we even know whether there are any negative points awarded by a traffic violation in India? You and I fuel this underground economy that subsists on bribery at every level.

We have grown up abhorring some of the pretenders being holy men, and have always looked at any self-proclaimed individual with certain skepticism. Yet, when it comes to any "sadhu" or "sadhvi" involved in terrorism, we readily surmise that our establishment is anti-hindu and is involved in appeasement of minorities, never for once realizing that there might be an element of truth and evidence in those allegations.

We claim to be hindus and muslims, yet we have never bothered to know what they stand for, what our holy books proclaim. We sing praises of capitalism and shun socialism, but when was the last time you read about what these philisophies propounded?

You and I don't participate in this society called India. Yet we reserve our right to judge what it has become.

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With non-participation, comes non-judgement