For a few more smiles!!

“The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”                                                

– Bill Hicks

Sometimes we find it very difficult to get certain things out of our minds. It is one of those days for me. I was greeted by a very disturbing, yet powerful article in today’s newspaper as soon as I woke up. The story of a 14 year old girl who was attacked by the Taliban simply because she had dreams like everybody else. There is no need for an ethical dilemma here and anybody who claims to be a human being will feel bad for her and I was no different either. While it is indeed a horrible thing to happen considering the age of the little girl, things like this are sadly not something new in this god forsaken world. While I am at it, let me talk about faith as well. History has time and again proved that extremist ideologies have always caused mayhem and have never been helpful in the progress of the society. Faith is an important part of this conflict that has always been there, especially in these parts of the world. Since the time of Alexander the Great and I believe several centuries before that as well, the middle east and the southern Asia have always been battlegrounds that have witnessed bloodshed. Those that still prevail are mild reminders of the past. While the rest of the world (most first world countries) march ahead trying to cope up with the challenges that unfold in the future, it is not just sad but depressing to see sickening incidents like this happen.

Malala Yousufzai was 12 years old when Al-Jazeera (a news network) made a documentary featuring her family and their struggle in the terror struck region of Swat. She is the daughter of a teacher, a man trying hard to bring reason in an otherwise bitter land by providing education to girls, something that is seen as blasphemy by the Taliban. The documentary mainly features her views told in the sweetest way possible through her captivating presence and lovable charm. Watching her innocent little eyes break into tears while telling that she could not become a doctor was very difficult to digest. Two years after that documentary was filmed, she was no more a girl from the neighborhood with a shattered dream. She is one of the brightest faces of the future of Pakistan and its promises. But the same also brought her into the purview of the Taliban who wanted to assassinate her and have even issued statements that they would attack once again if at all she survives now. What is the value of a faith that is threatened/offended by a 14 year old?? My initial reaction was to try and make a life size robotic Hitler and re-write the program by replacing the word “Jew” with the word “Taliban.” But I immediately realized that it was the Jews that ultimately prevailed and that this “ethnic cleansing” is indeed difficult to achieve.

The fact remains that unless political and military action was taken there can never be a hope for peaceful living in the area. But can this evil be entirely wiped out? After all, it might be easy to kill people and burn their houses but it is very difficult to kill an ideology. But fortunately the same can also be applied to the teachings like Love and Peace. That is perhaps the driving force behind the teenage girls who came out to support and fight. The courage that inspiration gives has proved countless times in history that even great empires can be brought down when people stand together for the greater good. Today, Malala fights for her life and there is practically nothing that I can do that will in any way make a difference to the situation.

Then what does all this mean to me?? What difference does this make in my life?? Well, to answer that, I had to do some soul searching. Digging from the past and looking into the future. While it cannot be denied that everybody has his/her own problems, the real question we must ask is here is “How big??” By big, I mean how seriously should we take them. Closing my eyes, I think of a girl lying on a hospital bed thousands of miles away fighting for her life just because she wanted to study. There are thousands like her unable to do simple things that we take for granted each and everyday. I tried to talk myself out of it saying that these things are not new and that they happen all the time even in places near by. But that is not something that gave brought relief. If anything, it made things worse. To be fair, I have also read a book almost an year back on “Honor Killings” brilliantly written by a Jordan based crime reporter. I was deeply moved and was shocked at how cruel and heartless faith can make people. But what happened today was different. I don’t know if it the innocent smile of Malala or that I am a different person right now, but today’s news story is not any other incident of violence.

It is killing me inside how we take so many things for granted while people not far away from us have to fight for basic human needs including the freedom to come out of their houses. While we pretend to hate our jobs and complain about trivial things, they need to struggle for their right survival. I didn’t know what to do and helplessness seemed to take control of me. But then the same little girl reminded me that one needs to brave. While practically nothing much can be done to eradicate the evil completely, I decided to try and find anything that one can learn from the entire scenario while at the same time praying to the same god that she believes in, to keep her alive.

To begin with, we must stop complaining about our lives so much. While it is easy to share a status update about how tomorrow is a “present”, it must not become another famous quote that we can all agree with but will never try to understand and accept. A person who is not at peace with himself can never contribute to the peace around him. I still remember, along with the picture, a lesson from my school days called “In celebration of being alive” that has a subtle, yet prominent message of respecting one’s life and as the title suggests, celebrating it. Don’t take your blessing for granted. It might be people, property, skills or anything else, cherish them and make judicial use of them.

A few days back I was speaking to a friend who was dumped by his girl friend and while listening to his moping for several hours, I realized why I find it difficult to maintain many friends. I don’t really give a shit about their puny little problems that seem pointless to me. Funny enough, a few days later even they realize how silly they’ve been acting and because of the embarrassment that follows their emotional break down, they tend to avoid me. Frankly I’m a lot happier without them. I used to have a friend from school (who ironically happens to be a muslim too) who used to stay in touch during my graduation days. The amount of pessimism that she showed towards herself was unbelievable. I used to wonder how somebody who is able to finish her graduation, has a family that supports her, be so hopelessly sad in her life. Needless to say, I don’t talk to her now. Remember that our strength as individuals also reflect on how easily we are hurt.

Secondly, we must not hate what we do. Especially because most of us are at a point in our lives where we finish our graduation and get into the professional world, realizing that not many of our childhood dreams will never come true. It is dealing with this conflict, that separates ordinary men from great men. It is easy to sit and give lectures about how mature you are and how tough you can be. It is only during a crisis situation, one’s true identity is revealed. Understand your limitations and then take decisions. When you hate the things that you do, remember that there will be millions of people who would do anything to be in your shoes and since you are that lucky one, it is your responsibility not only to perform your duties but to be good at it. Don’t take your work for granted.

But the best thing we can take away from this is the value we must give to the freedom that we have. The freedom that I speak about is not about being able to stay out till midnight or being able to make our own choices. It is the freedom to smile, looking at the night sky without the need to worry. The freedom to sit and read a book without the fear of somebody putting a bullet in your head. This is the same freedom people are still struggling to achieve and people like Malala are willing to make sacrifices for. Share this freedom with the world. Don’t spread unnecessary hatred and disgust. Don’t fight over things so trivial: like a mobile phone’s operating system or a film actor belonging to your caste or a team that is playing against your country’s team. This kind of negativity has dangerous implications when we look at the big picture. If we cannot love and appreciate something, let us try and ignore it or at best develop a healthy sense of humor and learn to laugh at ourselves. Why should we waste time trying to spread hatred?

Thinking about Malala now I can only say this: Love and respect the women in your life. Give them the freedom that they deserve and if you are a girl, remember that women, just like you, perhaps much younger than you, never had and might never have the freedom you enjoy today. So, respect it and make proper use of it; because while we may not deserve most things that come our way, there is no denying that every person in this world including that brave little girl, deserve a few more smiles.

Cheers!!!

P.s. For all the attention seeking morons and gender biased fuckers out there… what can I say?? If you hate girls so much, don’t make snide remarks on social networking sites. Get a dildo and then shut the fuck up!!!