Tuesday, 11 September 2018

Once upon a dropping of 377


Part I: It’s an internal fight

Long back when she was fighting her prejudices, a 15-year-old student of psychology, was aversive to those who killed the animals and ate them. The strong sense of what is right and what is wrong that was instilled in her by her strictly vegetarian family and community made her pass a moral judgement on all those who chose to eat meat. She, being a woman, championed her cause of how women were ill-treated but continued behaving differently with those who ate meat. Then, while learning prejudices and understanding them through some literature, she came across an anecdote and that became something that changed her perspective towards life.
One day a person was hanging from a precipice, almost about to fall. There was no hope for life; death was waiting. When all hope had vanished, a hand came in the view. The person thought it to be an illusion. But it wasn’t. The person held on to that hand and climbed up. Neither could see the other till they came face to face. A life was saved.
The person hanging was a staunch patriarch with a notion that women are lowly creatures and should be treated as animals. The person who saved this man was a feminist who constantly embarrassed the man.
The girl asked herself every time she thought there was some pre-judgement, “Will I not accept this person’s hand if I was hanging from the precipice? Will I not extend my hand for help if this person was hanging from the precipice?”
Life became easy. Living beings just remained living being. They stopped being a category.
The 5 elements that make the body of a living being and death that ceases its existence never seem to treat it differently. It is “we-the society” that emphasize the differences and decide and create the need to label.
The judgement given by the supreme court to drop 377 serves as a hope in the face of despair that surrounds. Today, I do not write to comment on what this means to a particular category because I believe that we all are simple living beings trying to live our life as we deem fit.

Part II: Coincidence?

I have a conversation with my friend. We are kind of updating ourselves on what are the things that are happening in the country. We have always done that. I mention about the amendments to the atrocities act and we realise that article 377 was to be discussed by the supreme court and it’s pending. We talk about everything under the sun.
Next morning, we are both surprised to learn that finally it was dropped.
This morning is not only iconic for us but for others who believed and discussed this issue. I am going to learn about this in about 36 hours.
The day after the verdict, I was on an assignment with Japanese artists as an interpreter. They were scheduled to give a talk in yet another art gallery. There, one of the artists had showcased his angst by making a death room. It was symbolizing the murder of emotions by the so-called morality. The outlet to that was a corner of love where everyone wanted to fight for the dropping of the article 377. Surprisingly enough, on the day that his art was exhibited, the verdict came out. All of us including the artists were in awe of the strength of art and emotions.
During the day, I had read about psions (a person with psionic ability releasing vibrations in the universe; they may act for protecting or pleading). I thought that everyone must have released so many psions that kept wishing for some positive actions and finally the collective energy led to healing.
If you ask around, there would be people who would tell you that there is no such thing as coincidence. On the other hand, there would be people who would tell you stories after stories of confidence. At the end of the day, it is what you believe. And believe you must. For, when you believe, the universe starts conspiring in your favour.


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