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Journalism of Courage
So many deaths this last week, of a promising young minister in Delhi, of a brigadier and colonel in Kupwara, of little children or helpless women stabbed senselessly, of pedestrians run over. These are public deaths with terrible private resonances. And then, there are all the unknown stories 8212; ours 8212; in which each of us learns that courage is as much a long-term necessity as a brief burst of adrenalin. We need to be sprinters as well as long-distance runners, and we need strength for one, endurance for the other. One way to lighten our loads might be to make a serious attempt to forgive those who have wronged us I don8217;t mean ultras, jehadists, sainiks and such like 8212; they kill innocents. But Christ said it, Gandhiji said it, every holy person urges us to forgive our enemies.
I would gladly touch the feet of Gladys Staines for the terrible vow of forgiveness she has undertaken. It is as fearsome as Bhishma8217;s vow, for she has chosen to deny herself two of the most basic human instincts, anger and revenge. Perhaps she has accepted God8217;s dread pronouncement in the Bible: 8220;Vengeance is mine.8221; But it is truly one of the most difficult things for a human being to do: to refrain from loathing and ill-wishing those who hurt us, steal from us or insult us. I8217;m not talking jealousy here 8212; that8217;s something we wish upon ourselves out of our own insecurity or greed. But knowing that someone has intentionally harmed us, destroyed our peace of mind or diminished us in some way is immensely hurtful. You want to ruin such people, root and branch, we want them to suffer unendurable agony, yes, suffer, for having hurt us. It is only human to feel this and one of the best treatments for releasing this particular pain is 8212; to go away!
Since we are so patently an inter-dependent race, these small, unoriginal exercises in connectivity might help ease us into a state of mind that answers to that never-trite word, 8220;positive8221;. All kinds of pleasant things might then start to happen. We might become more aware of all the hidden solaces that serve as important consolation prizes. We might actively count blessings. And 8212; the endgame, at last 8212; our hatreds might diminish into mere dislike, or a wry acceptance of the dark side of human nature, or, most liberating of all, indifference to the wrong and the wrong-doer, for by now, we have 8220;gone away8221;. This stage has a nice, little side-benefit: it is guaranteed to drive our enemies insane with rage, because we are now out of their reach. And it8217;s the best revenge we can have on fate.
The scars inflicted on us will always remain, but that8217;s allowed, they bear honourable witness to our experiences, don8217;t they? We may no longer live in that golden land of TV commercials, where everyone and everything is in place. But forgiving others 8212; and finally, forgiving fate 8212; seems to set us free to get a huge kick out of this messy, glorious business called life. We might even emerge from our rooms impelled to return good for evil 8212; miracles of transformative power!
