Our great
ancient india has in its ambit a good story regarding its centuries old
glorious poet kalidasa .the author of meghdoot and malvikagnamitra was not so
bright from childhood and was married to a girl more intelligent than him in
all the virtues of knowledge .being neglected at home one day at hands of his
wife,kalidasa had not gone into vanaprastha or forest wandering phase of
life,but instead tried hard to improve his intellectual knowledge.end result
was that glory of ancient india is studded with jewels of his writings.isnt it
the hope and determination to fight back that was shown by kalidasa?
World
of today is in an eternal gloom.somewhere in the Iraq,innocent people are
killed,in communist countries ,liberty of people is captured in lieu of state
security,in poor countries ,children dying of hunger inspite of overflowing
food stocks.all this is making impressions in minds of some that whether it’s
the only fate of humanity or is there something yet more to be seen?hope and
determination of human mind is needed in today’s world more than ever.
Guru rabindranath tagore in these famous lines is pointing to the fact
that even one major failure results in so much disdaine in our minds that we
are not able to look to bright side or opportunities better than that
offered.gurudev was himself a famous humanist of 20th century and so
his words must have deep and wide meaning for humanity as a whole.
Currently in various parts of world ,there is lot of anarchy as well as
ingression of lots of vices in mankind.whether it be Ukraine or Syria or Iraq
or knife massacres of china or threats of terrorism ,climate change ,poverty
,joblessness and much more ,yet these lines of great humanist are pointing to
available solutions and opportunities if and if only hope and positive attitude
dnt die from our minds.
First of all in the political scenario all
over world ,there is rise of power hungry political class with frequent
unstabilities in political governance as well as corruption gaining ground all
over world .not only this,some countries are showing trend of reversing back
from democracy to dictatorship for example the case of Egypt where the
democratically elected government was toppled in 2013 by military dictatorship
or the Thailand ,where army took control over democracy and its institutions.
But
there is a hope and it comes from rising
middle class especially youth who is quite apprehensive and aspirational,rising
tide of democracy which is getting its fuel from increasing connectivity of
today’s world via internet.result is demonstrations like arab spring which
jottled middle east or standing man protests of turkey which made the government
of the day to look to following words of Abraham Lincoln –govt is of the people
,ffor the people,by the people
Then comes arena of social sphere in the world as a whole .degrading
conditions of women in many ways whether it be by domestic violence or by way
of Islamic state soldiers selling yajidi girls as sex slaves ,is a matter of
serios concern .neglect of childhood is another problem in social sphere and its
quite acute in rich countries because parents are finding less and less time
for their children.not only this,social discrimination between haves and have
nots of society if hallmark of many societies especially poor ones
But
there arrives a hope whenever a woman
comes out of home and starts working .if this time is marked by the increasing
atrocities against women ,then this is also the time when many of the leaders
of today whether be president of brazil or head of international monetary fund
or some multinational companies like pepsico are women.isnt it an irony of this
time?democracy with its inherent concept of one person one vote and one vote
one value is resulting in mainstreaming many of those marginalized and
discriminated till now.vibrant civil society is a catalyst in all this positive
change
Thirdly comes the issue of international relations where the words of
gurudev hold relevance.international relations of today are marked by increased
animosities between nations in various fields like border disputes between
india china or disputes over Falkland island between united kingdom and
argentina .covert support by countries in fuelling disturbances is the rule now
a days rather than exception for example iran had pointed to a computer virus
that was being used by usa for stealing important nuclear data from
iran.weakness of international inst. To uphold the peace is also a main concern
of today like nato attacks in middle east inspite of non allowance from un
But a burning desire of peace is still there.rise of multipolar world on
basis of equality bw nations as well as basic understanding among people around
world that’war don’t determine who is right but who is left’ is certainly a
good step in right direction.political systems all over the world are now
maturing with single focus in their mind of welfare of people and communities.
Fourthly it’s the economic sphere which is reflecting the essence of
words of gurudev tagore .there is a global crisis of 2008 which happened
following fall of lehmann brothers,euro crisis with all its effects echoed in
all over the world .not only this,high instability of currencies in third world
countries like turkey south Africa india brazil is making the financial scene
more volatile than ever ,inequality in economic terms is so much that in a
recent study it was shown that 10% of people around globe hold more than 40% of
total money worldwide
But stars are
scintillating even in this field when the governors of central banks come
together and discuss these issues with positive attitude that their fate and
destinies are interlinked to each other.opening of trade barriers is infusing a
new life in commerce and fortunes of people and leading to virtual borderless
world as pointed out by former chines prez”b of business is more important than
b of border”.youth of today is becoming more and more financial literate which
will emerge as a treasure for our common future.
Then comes the field of environment and ecology in which the sun is
setting consistently though not as rapidly as thought for.forests are
increasingly been cleared like what happening to lungs of world that is
pristine amazon forests ,increasing number of animals are becoming critical
endangered or extinct as pointed out by iucn,temperature is on rise specially
after industrial revolution and its associated changes like rise in water
levels etc.
But there is also a positive side in this field.recently as pointed out
by scientists that ozone layer is recovering fast and ozone hole
disappearing.this is all because of efforts of people all over the world in
sync with montreal protocol of 1987.world leaders are increasingly becoming
sensitive to the plight of those affected by climate change.unfcc ,global climate
fund are all positive results of that.moreover,rise of vocal civil society in
promotion of environment related issues is a heartwarming trend for example
greenpeace society mission against unsustainable oil welling in Russia and in
Scandinavian countries .
Lastly there is the philosophical field which can be an apt example
displaying the deterministic attitude of Bengali poet.there is rise of
materialism in society.there is commodification of each and every thing whether
it be the time or human being itself.some countries have even legalized such
commodification for example child labour is now legal in some latin American
countries .world of today is now structured in such a mould that greed of
personal profit over opportunity of social benefit is not only accepted but
appreciated .result is the fall of morality and values to its lowest ebb in
this world.
However there is glittering hope even in such an environment and as per
this hope ,ethics and morality in today’s world is not an option in itself but
need in this highly interlinked society.people are warming up to their fellow
beings irrespective of border ,class ,race,sex.isnt it evident by the fact that
the oldest democracy of world thts usa has given its position of head of state
to a person from that race which had been neglected and oppressed till now?
All this discussion is clearly an adaptation of the lines of gurudev in
this modern world .the idea of hope and never fall back attitude that was given
by this intellectual still holds relevance in all the subjects of human
life.hope for a better time and fight for a generous world was and is and will
always be a lighthouse for humanity as a whole.this was also echoed by mahatma
Gandhi,who was contemporary of guru tagore,when he said”in all through history
the ways of love and truth have always won.there has been tyrants and murderes and
sometimes they seem invincible but in the end they always fall.think of it
always” its hopeful that in future ,when the sun of opportunity will set for
mankind,it will instead of sobbing under the veil of darkness ,enjoy the beauty
of stars and will gear up for sunrise.
