Utopian dreams

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." ~ Source: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., an American writer

Aeons and ages ago, long before mythological times, Lanka was a land, peopled by a people, who cherished utopian dreams of equality for all men. Thereafter, in times immemorial, came the period of myths and legends when Ravana reigned over Lanka. As a young ruler, he gave a promise to his nation: He would create a world of equals, where all men and women would be, not only equal; but also given equal treated equally. He promised to bring back to the people, the golden age of his ancestors, during whose rule poverty was a word of the past, want was unheard of. As is wont with most rulers, he did not stop with a mere assurance; but went on to fulfil on his promise.

Lanka epitomised the principle of all progress; not just in trivial exercise of the imagination, but in every conceivable field in which civilised men found solace. Ravana and his men challenged and defeated all the mighty empires of the known world. They fought not only nations; but also inequality, oppression, and all meaningless rituals.

With the sweat and blood of his people, he built Utopia, a land of dreams known as Lanka. From this pearl island to the foothills of the Himalayas, the flag of Lanka flew high. Prosperity came to the people. Lanka, then, was the richest empire in the world.

However, as is want of mortal man, along with his march towards progress and progressiveness, Ravana made mistakes and strayed from the path of righteousness that the great leaders of his ancestry had so painfully walked upon. He lost purity of thought, and the simplicity of life.

He began to think that some men were, privileged. Man never realises that some men are born into greatness; some achieve greatness; and others have greatness thrust upon them; yet, a truly great man is always humble, willing to be little, and ever willing to listen, which the arrogant find repulsive.

"He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career" said George Bernard Shaw, that inimitable wit of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, in Major Barbara. He may have said so, long after Ravana; but I suppose that throughout the ages, the same could be said of, most men who aspired to a career.

Mirage

For most nations, utopia is a blessed past never to be recovered. To many, it is often a mirage; always projected as waiting just beyond the horizon to happen any moment. To our mediocre logic, it is an ever-present possibility worthy of waiting. We realise not that paradises and all utopias projected are designed by ideals that are not there, by people who are not for equality; and therefore not attainable. Yet, we dream that utopia is in the making because the only basis for believing in it is that nobody has proved it does not exist in this age of the privileged.

Thus, the beauty of it all is that we go on walking towards utopia, which may not exist, on a bridge that might end before we reach the other side.

Perhaps our greatest utopia would be if we could all realise that no utopia is possible in today's world; that no utopia is going to shoot across our sky like a meteorite and so, it is better that we just take care of our lives here and now and exist as best we can. Understanding this is better than waiting for the principality of utopia.

Unless one is willing to be trapped in the amber of the moment; waiting would be reason gone mad; even if the heart may have its reasons, which reason knows not.

The world is indifferent to the trivial pursuits of men. It is indifferent to the plight of people as it is to the plight of a deer in the death grip of a panther. The earth has soaked in enough blood of men, of beasts, of anything that breathed. Violence alone rules the world. Everything else was a brief interlude, a pause before violence struck with more viciousness.

All the talk of honour and pride, of race and skin colour, of morals and traditions, of triumphs and failures, is irrelevant in the greater order of things. Humans desperately grasps for the maddening phenomenon called life; whereas, it seems that the only meaning of life was that it did not have any meaning.

When men realise this, they will mature beyond the adolescent pursuits of honour, revenge, war, and racial superiority. The world is large enough for all to live; and unless man learns to live accommodating the dignity of other men, only the death experience will teach him humility.

See you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking; keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities.

For views, reviews, encomiums, and brickbats: [email protected]