Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
These are extraordinary times, in which, simple things have lost all appeal. It is the broken, the twisted, the fashionable, the attractive, and the glittering that arrests the eye. In fact, the focus has shifted from ‘being’ to ‘appearing’ and in appearing, it is the eye, not the mind, that is the point at the centre. Things ‘are’ what they look, although what they look, may be all hook and crook.
There were times when we were concerned with our ‘being’. The most durable features of the civilization that has gone by were: family, home, kids, love, affection, sincerity, loyalty, goodness, kindness, helping one another, and a persistent faith in God. God was an objective reality to which every man addressed himself. If things went wrong, it was the will of gods. And if all worked well, it was the kill of man. Gods in fact were always at the receiving end.
With regard to man, we are pretty sure that he is very calculated, and acts after due deliberations. Just think of setting up a new factory. How many discussions go into it. But, after all, how many industries are really giving profits? Is it God’s handiwork? On their part, Gods are perfection-stricken and don’t want to be blamed for any lapse in relation to men. If God made a perfect world, which has been still working to order, how can He fumble in dealing with his men?
Dealing with animals who make no such demands is comparatively easy, but men, because they carry a mind which is scheming and a heart which is dreaming, gods find it difficult to handle. For example: what is to be given to man? The Giving Counter provides complete information, forms are filled and the needs of men, clearly spelt out. Do they disburse curses also? But going by the great amount of curses that we find afflicting our society, it seems instead of boons, Gods disburse curses more generously.
With Gods, it is not only the game of Giving, but of Denying and Withholding also. Gods are not so concerned while giving, as they are while withholding boons. They don’t want to be accused of mal- distribution of assets. While denying something to men, they are most careful. Men have no constraint in asking for this this this and that. But, it is Gods who have to stop and ponder at every step, and ensure that the distribution of good and evil is justified, and justifiable too. It is only some idle scholars and poets who think that “As flies to wanton boys are we to gods/They kill us for their sport’. It is too subjective a view of godly work. In desperation only, men make such accusations which cannot be sustained. Gods are very careful of their creation. Always loving. How can gods create difficulties for their own creation in a world which they want to run smoothly? Yes, sometimes, because the minds of men do run amuck, they have to be strict too.
While negotiating these centuries, we have seen the civilization moving faster, but in its stride, forgetting the grace of movement. In fact, we have taken the future for granted. We think that future means success and success means wealth and power. These are the major determinants of modern elitist living. This is a coarse life-style, in which the finesse of living, the aesthetics, the grace, the beauty, and the essence of life are entirely missing.
Now, elders have been replaced by Google. Google anything you don’t know. And then, we have acquired an insensitivity which has marks us away from the men that we used to be. We now look for catching the attention of the viewers. All readers are looked upon as viewers first. So, the caption and cover of a book has to be very alluring. ‘The Broken Nerves’. Such a title will definitely force the eyes to look within the pages. And once caught, the author has always laid a booby trap. You cannot run away. ‘Shattered Lives’ is the title of a short story book. ‘Murder’ is the name of three films. ‘The Story of a Night’, ‘Nun’, ‘Ominous Voices’ ‘Blood’ ‘Horror at Midnight’, ‘Killer Beauty’, ‘A Night at an Inn’ – killer, wrecker, terminator, breaker, Grave-digger, Fixerrr- these words are now the tea of our cup, or the soup in our bowl. Are we crazy? Or the writers are fools? Or the film makers think we have lost our wits? Which they do, if they find them still in existence.
Every novel, every film, every story is telling the story of a man and a woman, a broken family, a love affair gone sour, crime thrillers, murders, spies, CBI, RAW, – and have you see how ‘beautifully’ they kill, they carry saws, and killing machines, and cut the people into pieces, and store them in fridges for months together. These are the scenes we love. We don’t see a film which does not carry a murder, a rape, and a bloody battle for justice which, in real life, eludes us.
These are the words we look for. And this is our world. The world of the nightmare. We are a race who have moved into the quick sands of time, and going down. If this is civilization, if this is progress, if this is advancement, where further are we destined to go, if not to hell?
Author: Dr Jernail Singh Anand, President of the International Academy of Ethics, is author of 161 books in English poetry, fiction, non-fiction, philosophy and spirituality. He was awarded Charter of Morava, the great Award by Serbian Writers Association, Belgrade and his name was engraved on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. The Academy of Arts and philosophical Sciences of Bari [Italy] honoured him with the award of an Honourable Academic. Recently, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy [Honoris Causa] by the University of Engg and Management, Jaipur. Recently, he organized an International Conference on Contemporary Ethics at Chandigarh. His most phenomenal book is Lustus:The Prince of Darkness [first epic of the Mahkaal Trilogy]. [Email: [email protected] Mobile: 919876652401[Whatsapp]
Link Bibliography: https://atunispoetry.com/2023/12/08/indian-author-dr-jernail-s-anand-honoured-at-the-60th-belgrade-international-meeting-of-writers/
