Mourning the Death of 'The City of Ideas'

There was once a city called ‘The City of Ideas’. It was known far and wide for its culture of questioning, debating, discussing, disagreeing, arguing and naturally, generating more and more ideas in the process. It was a city filled with numerous schools, colleges, Universities and Institutions of learning. People from all over the world vied to earn themselves the chance of visiting this city, studying here and staying here.

This thriving culture of dissent made a section of the population utterly uncomfortable. It could-not tolerate this threat to the structure of the society, which the ancients had so carefully designed. The painstakingly formulated rules and regulations that should govern society had to be followed to the hilt, otherwise only chaos would ensue. They watched this atmosphere of free exchange of ideas with horror. However, they did-not sit still. They started building up their strength right at the core, at the organizational level. With sheer discipline they soon built up a huge organization that had its presence right from the ground level, in schools, colleges and Universities, till the top, in the political echelons.

Finally, they became the rulers of the land. All opposition had been completely crushed. They were now not only ruling the city but also the minds and hearts of the majority of the city dwellers. However, there was still a section of the society that was causing mischief. They were the rebels and the dissenters who had the courage to think, critique and question the status-quo. They were refusing to surrender their inalienable right to their minds. All kinds of methods were used to make them fall in line. These dissenters were acting cleverly and carrying out all their activities within the confines of the law of the land. They could not be made to break the rules and laws. But how did it matter? Rules and laws could definitely be changed, to break them. It was done swiftly. With great alacrity. The dissenters were silenced by putting them behind bars, by questioning their claims of being ‘loyal’ and ‘dutiful’ citizens of the nation, by changing the definition of the term ‘patriotism’ overnight and by shifting the goalposts so often that no one could be sure of anything any longer. This strategy worked wonders on the majority, the large group of conformists, who now started worshipping the rulers. But this group of dissenters refused to be sidelined, ignored or silenced so easily. Something had to be done to eradicate the entire phenomenon from the root itself. Something had to be done so that the irritant breed of dissenters completely vanishes from the city, and no new dissenter is ever born in the city.

The final decision was taken and implemented. The death warrant for the culture of dissent, of debates, of disagreements, and of arguments, was signed. The destruction was now complete. This time the attack did-not target the branches, but the entire tree was uprooted. And how was it done? This entire culture of dissent had its birthplace in the system of open and free education that the ‘City of Ideas’ encouraged. It was a system where students were not only prodded to think, to question and to critique but were aggressively forced to do so. The culture of critical thinking was fiercely implemented. This culture, thus, became the natural strike point for the new rulers. They brought in a completely new policy, which ensured that it became impossible for students to get admission into the Institutions of learning. It was all of course completely justified, as the teachers in these hallowed institutions could not be expected to overburden themselves and consequently compromise on the quality of guidance they were providing to their under-studies. Thus, it was decreed that they be allowed only to take in a particular number of under-studies. This number of-course was not based on any logic or rationale or for that matter, any scientific study conducted by experts, but on whims and fancies of the rulers. And so, it was fixed to be so low that for years together, no student could think of taking up research in these institutions. Of-course it did-not matter that the teachers and the students alike, were appalled. They knew it was the death sentence for their respective communities and their cultures, which would now become totally extinct. But this was only a minor irritant, was it not? The larger goal had been successfully accomplished. The status-quo would now be preserved for generations to come. No-one could now rise to question the carefully designed structure of society. No-one could now even dream of being a dissenter. The era of conformists would now last for ages together, till such time that the original culture of the ‘City of ideas’ is completely struck off, even from the world of memories.

 

The Reign of 'Humanity'

I am told it was the best moment of their lives

When my parents saw my pretty little face, they say they forgot all strife

They loved me, adored me I felt I was the most blessed child

They made me feel special, beautiful, strong, dignified, let me have fun, allowed me to get wild

In the world I grew up in, I was only a human

I had a face and a name and was recognized by it, it didn’t matter whether I was a man or a woman

I had a body and a skin that had some color

Whether it was black or white or a shade in between, any consequence it had, to us it never even occurred

So engrossed were we in shaping our minds

Brimming with ideas, discussing, debating, thinking, reasoning, proud of our ‘aha’ moments, hungry to know, hungry to learn, hungry for knowledge, hungry for more and more that we could find

Me and my four buddies, we were on cloud nine that day

All of us together had grabbed that chance, we had finally made our way

To that temple of learning, the best in the world everyone used to say

We had been selected to satisfy our quest for knowledge, we would be interacting with the stalwarts, they were the best of the day

With dreams in our eyes, wanting to drown ourselves in the sea of knowledge we were headed for

With spring in our steps, we galloped ahead, there was no looking back now that we had got what we had aimed for

We landed in the land that housed the most ancient of civilizations, the land that was revered, the land of love, the land of hope, the land that accepted one and all with open arms and thus spread its name in all directions

This land housed the temple of learning

It was going to be our alma-mater for the next four years, it held within itself the answers to all our yearnings

Just a few days into our new world we had been

Walking the streets exploring the land, with all the newness we were just so keen

In our unblemished joy, we had had probably become blind

To those uncomfortable stares that greeted us everywhere from every pair of eyes we could find

We were treading along joyfully, oblivious to the lurking danger

And then it happened….in a jiffy we were on the ground surrounded by angry faces that couldn’t have looked stranger

What happened thereafter still seems like a nightmare that couldn’t be real

We were kicked, we were beaten, we were abused, paraded naked, and then dumped, left to fend for ourselves, with the hurt and pain solely ours to bear

Long after the shock, the physical pain and hurt had subsided

We were still clueless on the crime we had committed and the hatred by which the mob was guided

Not that when we learned of the reasons, we were any better aware

Of the rationale, the logic, the reason of this behavior; Our prized possession, our minds, just refused to hear

That the colour of our skins could have led to such brutality

That it could have triggered such extreme hatred that could wipe away all clarity

The clarity of thoughts, the clarity of conscience, the clarity of minds, and that of the hearts

That keeps one whole, that keeps one human, prevents one from breaking up into a thousand parts

One part worshipping skin colour, the second one caste, the third worshipping religion and the fourth one class

The list doesn’t end here it goes on and on till the time there are countless parts and sub-parts and sub-sub parts that it becomes impossible to count

That Whole, that One, that Complete, that Independent Entity

That used to be called ‘Human’ that proudly stood up tall for nothing but ‘Humanity’

That Whole was lying around broken into hundreds of thousands of parts

It still didn’t deter us enough to lose all faith that our rational minds had taught us would always last

We now knew that the times were tough, that it would not be easy

We would have to struggle hard, would have to pay a price that was far from measly

But the day would dawn when we would witness that world again

That carefree world of ideas, of our debates, our discussions, our dissents, our inventions, a world where only love, respect, dignity, life and the ones called ‘Humans’ would reign