A Short Study on the Individual

We are made and shaped by our environment. Ironic it is, but the same environment made us rebel against the system we have been brought up. Some people assert you have to be in the system to weed out the ‘undesirables’, while others give a damn to this idea and fight with any means that they can employ. Well, our universe is so relative, and the judgment is in the opinion of an individual.

For me, it’s the rejection of these thoughts. In or out, left or right, there is always going to be a conflict. So the best way is to eliminate the concepts -- nationality, religion and tradition – while developing an attitude that conforms to the best in its school of thought. When considering my present living, the credence is more on the fight-from-the-inside group. But sorry, I have done away with your kind of thinking. It has become a way of life to resist and ignore the things that are considered social mores, political things and religious activities. And the process is going on.


On introspection, it is far too personal whether you vote for the best corrupt candidate or the most notorious political master. The exit poll and the final result are on hold now for the moment. When you live in such a society where the ‘unwanted’ is more than the ‘wanted’, it is unnecessarily fortunate that you have so many things that you can simply give them the cold shoulder.

Anyone is free to vote, provided you have attained the age of eighteen. But is it essential that we go to the election booth and exercise our franchise? Suppose you go there and make the ballot paper invalid. In another case, you go there and [a] vote for your ideal candidate or [b] put your thumb impression on the symbol you have been betting on. Finally, it’s the matter of bombing the school compound or any other public places where the votes are cast.

I’d definitely go, cast my vote, and also definitely make the ballot paper invalid. Talk about proxy voters who swarm such areas for a couple of free drinks and the bombers: never mind, they are busy in institutionalising extortion into an industry. Of course, they also have a huge share from the winning candidate. The verdict is that the booths are safe, except for some hoodlums who are paid to rob the ballot boxes.

No man is an island. Even HD Thoreau, during his Walden days, had to come out occasionally from the woods to condense his ideas about the world. For mortals like us what we can do best is to, including the election part, declare that the traditionalists are more injurious to public health than the contemporary politicontractors [politicians plus contractors, and they are synonymous!]

We talk about nomenclature and dress and music and food and literature and what not, which we say are authentically ours and authentically others and authentically no one’s. Yes, all of us originated from Africa, had conquered territories outside this continent and had called our homes. So in essence there is no entity, which is purely original and unaffected.

However, if these had not meant an issue of pride and self-esteem, the world would have been such a peaceful planet. We care about identity. We long for our roots. We are interested in our history. We are excited about our future. Without going through their concept on a textbook approach, it will be fair to state that common consciousness, in spite of the differences in attitudes and thinking, helps us in defining the parameters of these matters; be it in history, politics, social study or economics. In the same breath, this consciousness will be possible if and only if the individuals have their own judicious states of mind, free from any prejudices.

POWER TO ALL!