Of Apathy and Acceptance

It is an odd world we live in. I won’t say only the present is odd nor will I refer to a glorious past. Something leads me to believe that humanity right from it’s inception itself has been odd. Every human being born into this world is handed certain guidelines on how to act and more importantly on how not to act. This guidance comes in a variety of ways religion, education, tradition, environment, history and even parenting. They all endeavor to teach us the same thing. The difference between right and wrong. We do take these lessons seriously up to a point after which we all tend to let go of those beliefs and tend to compromise little by little on our values. Of course there’s a variety of excuses and justification we tend to give but who are we really kidding? Over time one tends to become apathetic to morality, values and even sheer decency.

It is happening all over the world today. People are killing and people are being killed. Sure, you know that but what’s worse is our apathy about it. We all know terrorism by now. It’s become a part of our life in this new millenia. I am pretty sure back when it started in the 1960’s in Jammu and Kashmir, people all over the country must have been shocked. but then the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s happened. Most people bypassed the newspaper articles which began with “2 killed in the valley.”. Let alone the Army Jawans, public at large had stopped bothering about civilians being killed as well. “If-it-happens-in-Kashmir-it’s-Ok” kind of attitude was adopted by the masses. Around 2-3 spots on the front page was dedicated to Kashmir throughout the past decades. People by now ,sadly enough, had even begun to associate Kashmir with terrorism.

When the Indian Airlines IC-814 was hijacked. Most people were either fascinated or ignorant of the fact what actually was going on. There wasn’t a perceived danger. Majority of the population couldn’t afford to fly so why bother?

When the attack on the Indian Parliament occurred, it did stir something in the Indian public. but it was soon swamped down by the hype created another mania sweeping the country. Reality Tv with Kaun Banega Crorepati. Reaction was”Whoa! There’s been an attack on the parliament? I wonder if that doctor guy is going to win the Prize money on today’s show.” Simple, undisguised apathy plagued the people. Even worse were some who actually thought bumping off a few MPs was a good idea!

Many more ghastly events shook the nation. This is the era of miniaturization. Be it electronics, designer clothes, cars and time. What it took the Indian public decades to achieve with Kashmir, a casual indifference, has been achieved in the last ten years with the whole nation. After the Mumbai attacks really shocked many people. In fact many people have taken quite an interest in terrorism after the attack but sadly that too has died in the din of Rakhi ka Swayamwar.

The Pune blasts were the latest in a series of gory events that has shaped India’s entry into the new millennium. A sad disclosure is that it hasn’t made much of a difference to the us. Yes we do go to the blast site and light a candle. We hold peace marches for recreation and charity events to get drunk. It seems that if the death toll is a 2 figured number people don’t consider it a big enough incident anymore. Bombs are going off every now and then and the places are becoming more and more familiar. People are getting wary of the harrowing airport security checks yet they have accepted it as a regularity. It is quite an interesting lesson terrorism has taught us. Keep putting the people long enough through anything and they shall accept it. As for terrorism, find a solution or not, The public shall always be accepting.