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Another New Year

By Rituparna Goswami Pande |

Another year has gone by and it seems that in the entire year everything else but time stood still. For the troubles that Assam was afflicted with are still there but the year has passed with no one the wiser. Goodbye 2007 – Hello 2008 but will it be any different. Will the terrorist bombs go silent in this brand new year? Will killing of the innocent stop this year? Will families feel sure about their dear ones this year? Will bandhs become a thing of the past this year? Of course not whom are we kidding?

The strides of modernism seem to have ushered in its wake a host of psychological anxiety to man’s life or else why is the entire world wallowing in strife. Religious fanaticism, parochialism, regionalism in short all forms of “isms” have clouded man’s reasoning. Or else why do we have the need for separate states, separate identities, separate ideologies why cannot we coexist as one nation, one people irrespective of black or white, Hindu or Muslim, Gujarati or Assamese. The progress we have made technologically or scientifically has stunted our progress in the spiritual plane. We have separated rather than being united from the one great Soul.

Rituals are all that is left of us. Mentally our thoughts have hit rock bottom. Winds of change has further drifted families apart, friends turn enemies in no time, money has become all powerful which has the power to create and ruin nations. Politics has become more and more self centric rather than people centric where corruption rules the roost.

A return to values is the need of the hour for if we do not rid ourselves of the resentment, distrust, hatred our minds will remain clogged for freedom from these inner maladies can only lead to an external emancipation in the true sense of the term. Otherwise we will continue to burn in the pyre of hatred and violence that our world is today.

Lets all collectively wish to erode away the rust that has permeated in the world society. Lets wish that the New Year brings with itself some kind of a panacea to heal our twisted lives.

A happy new year!

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Rituparna Goswami Pande's picture

Journalist, writer

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jaay's picture

Submitted by jaay on Sat, 05/01/2008 - 04:24
AMEN!!!!!!! What nice thoughts for a change, but belonging to a nation which was crisscrossed on the basis of cast and religion, do you think it is OK to pose these questions at this hour and to people who did not participate in this nonsense. I have heard from folks that it was proposed to Mr. Nehru by Mr. Patel that if divisions of states are to be taken place then take a map and draw two lines horizontally and vertically, dividing each other in the middle instead of creating states, which Mr. Nehru turned down. Right or wrong, history is judging how well we have taken the right of preserving our caste and principles in the name of states. The great man probably thought people will be bound and proud of their lines but he may have never thought that after partition based on religion, the next step would be to have partition based on culture and micro-ethnicity. Tamils wants their own TAMIL Land, Assam is fighting it’s own battle, Punjab just came out of the hell of Bhindrawala, Kashmiri’s think Pakis are better bet because they have the same religion, Marathas cannot tolerate people from outside state, UP is in danger from the OSAMA Cult, Hyderabad wants to go back to Nizam era, you name the place and I can come with 100 rhythms of chaos. But still we tend close our eyes and think, everything is OK, at least I am fine. But I think History will judge us a people who did nothing to prevent corrupt politicians getting into power, people who stood by and saw the degradation of moral values, people who were proud of empty slogans and brought the nation on the verge of extinction. Well, people will tend to disagree that it’s not that BAD as I am writing, I hope it does not turn out to be. People say, GOD listens to all, I hope he is listening at the moment. Happy New Year.

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