Feel Something....

Feel Something....

I was in Washington DC when 9/11 happened...they say that there are some incidences in your life where you will remember exactly where you were and what you were doing at that moment.....

For someone from India who has seen the country go through terrorism attacks all his life, 9/11 was still a watershed moment because it had hit the shores of a supposedly safe country for the very first time and at a shocking scale...

I remember going out on the streets that night and was very curious to see how the average American would feel and react. Talking to my American colleagues as well as some people on the streets and restaurants, I observed that they displayed all the natural emotions of outrage and shock...but I also saw something more...there was a visible feeling of hurt, pride and belief on their face and in their voice....'hurt' to see all the things their fellow citizens were going through, 'pride' in the way the country was coming together and was working together and 'belief' that they stand for something greater and will get out of this stronger.....

I am not here to comment on or agree / disagree with their beliefs about right and wrong. All I took away was that they felt something intense ... something beyond complaints, something beyond blaming the government, something beyond saying this had to happen because I don't agree with the politicians running the country........

I am writing this when India is going through one of the most saddening terrorism episode in recent history...India has been through many of such incidents in the past 20 years and this is one more... With each incident I have seen the common man get more and more disgusted about the government, more pessimistic and disenchanted and more to the point where the first reflex is that 'as long as it did not affect me...'

While there is no doubt that there is a severe lack of political will or the proof that any of these incidents are making our resolve stronger to fight and resolve this...I see something more than that. I think we have moved beyond 'Feeling anything', beyond disgust and pessimism...and even beyond the feeling of a shock.

Often we hear that the only way for change to happen is for the common man to do something...influence the process, influence the actions of the government, influence the direction….This in theory seems a good fit for a democratic country where we are the all powerful..we vote the people who make the decisions so we can always vote them out...

And there lies one more way the common man gets more pessimistic...What's the point of my vote? everyone is corrupt, votes are rigged and I am one in a billion.. So if that’s true, what should the common man do?

I say that at this point ‘doing’ is a little ways out, lets start with ‘feeling’. The process of doing anything small or big starts with feeling something about the country. Again I am separating country from the people who are running the country. I feel so saddened that most Indians I meet are at the point where the feeling itself is absent….

Now what is this 'Feeling' mean?

It means the sense of belonging and pride which is beyond the present and what's happening at this point. The sense that while living a normal life this feeling will be the compass for me to think in the right direction about my country and in whatever small way, my actions will be influenced by this feeling.

This feeling can do wonderful things without one realizing it. It may translate into helping a person on the road and increasing his confidence in the society, it may translate by you becoming an example for your neighbors by raising awareness of something as simple as keeping your neighborhood clean and instilling the pride that I am helping in a small way keep my country clean, It may mean following traffic rules and raising awareness about it and in-turn improving the day to day life of your fellow citizens or It may translate into you donating money for a good cause, donating small amount of time for some social cause or It can be even as simple as you thinking that voting is actually good and that you as one vote make up a billion and collectively they are indeed powerful...

I think this simple act of feeling something also then translates in the feeling of true sadness about what's happening in your country and the resolve that you can maybe do something too in your small way. It does not need to be radical at all nor does it need to change your day to day life. I have seen it in action with how common people respond to national tragedies such as a flood in a part of India you are far away from or a 'Kargil', where your fellow brothers and sisters lay down their lives for you. Some people respond by doing what they can to help, may it be in the form of money or their blood, while many are just relieved that 'as long as it does not affect me' ....

I do agree that such a change is not easy as this has happened over years and years. I am sure our natural instincts are usually to feel a sense of belonging and pride towards where you are born and where you belong. It takes years for that to translate into disgust and pessimism. This happens when we don't have any role models anymore or we don't see any of our public figures whom we have entrusted our future to do anything productive or even show a sense of pride for the country they are running...

I do agree that this, over years, can take a toll on the most optimistic of an individual. But I think unless you can separate the country and the people who are running the country at that point, you will not get this compass of direction. I do believe that we are all yearning to have that 'Feeling' within ourselves and know that it helps enrich our lives and gives us a sense of belonging and purpose. I think it’s not prudent to wait for someone else to create that Feeling for us and then we tag on to it....

I think the 'They' in this case are very elusive and hard to come by and if you wait for it , it will leave you rudderless. If you look deeper and reach out, you will realize that the feeling is indeed very natural to us, its just been suppressed over the years...we all know inherently that our country is much more..it has many many things to be proud of even in these times. It has proven its resilience and proven a very rare model of steadfast harmony considering the complexities and collective sustenance over thousands of years. That we have been lucky enough to be born in a country with deep roots and a rich heritage (though i think this word has become clichéd... )....and that without us consciously realizing, our country and our society has given us strong anchors to use all our life regardless of where you are…

I would encourage all of us to introspect if that 'Feeling' is still with us......if not; work on questioning why not and getting it back...I think 'that feeling' multiplied by a billion, will be the easier solution for the long term rather than expecting some politicians to create miracles. It will also surely give you a sense of satisfaction as 'That Feeling' will translate into 'Doing' and maybe the next generation will see many many role models everywhere and not have to look for them only in the people in power and then get disappointed.....

And of course, also remember, with those 'billion feelings' we are also increasing our odds of getting some of those miracle politicians elected and actually doing something for the good....

Abhijit

27th Nov 2008