Wabi-Sabi

Being Humane is Being Human

Text: Farzana Contractor

Of late my mind has been in analysing mode. I think and I think and I think. And I think. And I feel bad. Really bad. Something is not quite right. In our country, in our city, in our general surrounding. Even in my peaceful home I feel troubled. I sit gazing at the vast ocean in front of me and I ponder. Why? What is it? What is wrong? Why the gloom, this all pervasive negative feeling that seems to be hounding me.

I am not a person generally inclined towards pessimism. Quite on the contrary, I have always been positive, upbeat. A person who gets up and goes, if you know what I mean. I always think of the glass as half full and look at life through rose-tinted glasses. To shake this feeling off I invited a neighbour home for tea. Older than I, she is far wiser, more mature, more worldly, certainly very practical. I confided in her, telling her that I was quite upset with myself because I was feeling the world is not such a great place anymore. That I was looking at it with new eyes and not liking what I was seeing. Was I wrong? “No, my dear,” she said, “you are not the only one. Everyone seems to be feeling like this. It’s inexplicable anxiety. And it is in the air. Stop watching news on television. And definitely not those horrendous panel discussions. Give it time, things will change.”

Well, the TV I had stopped watching since a long time. At some stage during the run up to the elections I gave up on the news. All those lies being screeched gave me headaches. But with the headaches gone, heartaches have seems to have set in.

What is wrong with human beings? Why does hate seem to be in the air? To me, the most attractive quality is when a person is humane… but that seems to be a thing of the past. It’s ironic that while the word humane is derived from the word human, the sad fact is a lot of people today are human without being humane. These days that quality is at a premium.
A tragedy is unfolding right in front of us and we are totally unperturbed. I am talking about the plight of the Muslim Kashmiri, in Kashmir. I don’t care about the politics of Article 370. I don’t align myself to any thought but that of humanity. Is it right to ignore the hardship of a large mass of people, to not be sympathetic to what they are going through? Physically, emotionally, psychologically. If you read through stuff on the social media, you would think there is no room left for sensitive thought. There are sick jokes, cruel one-liners and general lack of compassion. For God’s sake, don’t hate people because they were not born in the religion you were. Religion happens. By chance. By birth. You don’t choose it. It chooses you. Understand that. Respect that. Respect yourself by showing respect to others. At the end of the day blood is blood. The colour is red and the blood groups are established. Blood does not have a religion. Don’t allow it to be shed in the name of religion. Our soldiers are in as much distress being in the thick of it, as ordinary citizens. They have families all over the country worrying about them… Don’t treat the entire scenario as some sort of a game on TV. Don’t post comments meaninglessly. Don’t forward things on WhatsApp just like that. Ponder, think for yourself, don’t be mechanical, robotic in your action. Don’t be so callous. We are dealing with millions of men, women, little children cut off from the world. They are in despair. Hurt, confused, scared and yes angry that they are being treated like slaves.

Show some compassion. You know what that means? It means being kind, considerate, sympathetic, tolerant, civilised, understanding,  gentle, even good-hearted. I have always believed in the goodness of people. I have always maintained there is nobody who is bad. Circumstances, experiences, the harshness of life may affect adversely, but deep down all human beings are good. We just have to think for ourselves. We have to make sure we do not get swayed by those who have changed due to attributes that have influenced that change; greed, power, lust to control… who knows…

The wabi sabi life is so beautiful. Being simple, humble, honest, caring. In being helpful there is such peace. Such lightness of heart. Don’t you feel good when you have been instrumental in alleviating someone’s pain? Or if not that, even just the act of sharing someone’s pain can give you a sense of being humane.

Humane. What is being humane? Depending on your age and gender, position and situation, it can mean so many different things; being benevolent, sympathetic, magnanimous, tender-hearted, forgiving, gracious, charitable, obliging, indulgent, liberal, democratic, accommodating, even just plain friendly. It can come from holding someone’s hand, showing sensitivity, wiping a tear or just listening to someone’s woe. Have you seen how a dog just comes and sits by your side when you are troubled… Or a little child wipes away the tear on the mother’s face even without knowledge of what pain and hurt is…

Can’t we just pledge not to pass judgement on people in distress and misery? To senselessly repeat what others are saying. To keep our counsel to ourselves. Maybe that would also count as humanity. Let it be affinity, empathy, goodwill, mercy, warm-heartedness as opposed to insensitivity, indifference, harshness, cruelty, animosity, hatred, hostility, callousness, hard-heartedness.

Earthlings, save the world. It’s worth saving.