Image from here |
When French philosopher and
Nobel Laureate, Jean-Paul Sartre, wrote that hell is other people,
he didn’t mean that Hell had become full and the devils had started spilling
out on to the earth. He meant we are the devils. We are the devils to one
another.
“When there’s
no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth,” says a character in a
Hollywood movie (if I remember correctly). This is the theme for this week’s Indispire. Is Hell really overflowing?
This is a question that struck me recently when I read about how my compatriots
behave these days towards fellow human beings in the name of weird ideology
(which is in practice a ploy for grabbing whatever wealth is left with the
minority communities and Dalits). But I know that it’s not the ghosts of the
dead that walk around here now raping and killing little children, assaulting
people in the name of non-existent spirits, spending enormous amounts on concrete
structures some of which will do no good to anyone eventually, pushing millions
of people into starvation, throwing many of them out from their homes…
There’s this
man, for example, who lives in a 27-storey-palace but is discontented. For his
sake, the impoverished millions of Indians will keep paying higher prices for
petroleum products day after day. He sits in the 27th storey and
dreams of the 28th. Not really. I’m speaking metaphorically. He
doesn’t have to dream. He can materialise any dream instantly because the
powers are with him. He is the power. It is for a few individuals like
him that the country formulates policies nowadays. Look at who has been given
charge of the cooperative banks in the country now. It’s nothing short of
handing over the keys of the banks to the expert in heist.
They stole
everything from the citizens. They stole jobs, lands, businesses, cattle, poets,
rebels, dreamers and our dreams, sweat and blood. What is left anymore to suck?
Metaphorically we have become a nation of vampires and their victims.
wow sir..it is by far the only writing that sparked a fire in me😁..thank you for this
ReplyDeleteI wish to light gentle diyas, not fire. But unfortunately my government sets fire to my neurons.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteEven demons require a leader - his name is Satan... and yes, it boils the blood of those of us who would wish them chased back into their little canyons... (as the Universal Me cries out that all have their place, the little human I am cannot abide how such as the 27th floor bloke gets away with it...) YAM xx
That bloke not only gets away with it but he is the king of India. The government is at his beck and call. All the bravado displayed by the Duo is only for the naive...
DeleteThe process of wringing us dry is continuing. Wonder for how long though.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope it won't go beyond 2024. No guarantee about that given the popularity enjoyed by the Duo. India won't be the old India anymore, that's sure.
DeleteThat man has thrived under all governments.
ReplyDeleteYes, he's a chameleon. Party colors don't matter to him.
Delete