Some people seem to carry the past around like an old suitcase.
The suitcase is torn, the handle is broken, and the contents smell musty, but they refuse to put it down. Every now and then they open it, pull out an old hurt, dust it lovingly, and tell everybody how badly they were treated.
Some nations, especially ours, do the same thing.
We are constantly reminded by those in power, of what happened hundreds of years ago. We are told about Moghul invasions, British occupation, injustices, the killings during partition, exploitation, and every wound history has ever inflicted upon us. Some people seem determined to keep those wounds fresh.
Now I am not suggesting that history should be forgotten. History is a good teacher. If we do not learn from it, we are likely to repeat it. But there is a difference between learning from history and living inside it.
Imagine a man who has recovered from a terrible illness. He is healthy, prosperous, and full of energy. Yet every morning he gathers his family around him and spends three hours describing the fever he had twenty years ago.
After a while the family would probably suggest a psychiatrist or mental hospital for him.
The same could apply to our nation.
We should be thankful, because every few days there is a new inauguration. A bridge is opened. A flyover is unveiled. A train is flagged off. A road is dedicated. A building is inaugurated. There are speeches, photographs, garlands, applause, and declarations of progress.
And what is an inauguration if not an act of thanksgiving?
It is society saying, “Look what we have achieved.”
It is a celebration of the present.
But if, in the same breath, we are constantly being told to remember old wounds and ancient grievances, then something strange happens. The joy of the present gets diluted by the bitterness of the past.
Gratitude and resentment cannot live in the same room.
The more thankful we are for what God is doing today, the less power yesterday has over us.
I have discovered this in my own life. The hurts that once seemed enormous began shrinking when I started counting blessings instead of bruises. Gratitude has a remarkable ability to heal memories. It does not erase the past, but it removes the poison from it.
Perhaps that is a lesson for all of us, including those who govern us.
If we truly believe India is progressing, then let us celebrate that progress. Let us thank God for every road, bridge, school, hospital, and opportunity. Let gratitude become stronger than grievance.
For when thanksgiving fills the heart, yesterday finally loses its power to wound, and tomorrow becomes a place of hope.
Are the national hate mongers listening? Ok, even if they are not, are you listening?
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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
Message has been beautifully conveyed – but those who need it will not read it and others will appreciate and move ahead. This should be the thought of the Gen Z
Beautifully articulated article. This is so true! Our present dispensation would want us to live in the glorious mythological past, but deny unacceptable aspects like the Moghuls, the Nehrus etc. As one saffron celebrity declared, India got her independence only in 2014
Very well said. I believe in what you’re saying here. Let’s live in gratitude, as there’s so much to be thankful for. Also we all come with limited time spans. Id rather forgive & forget, to help create a sense of community & healing
Focusing on progress will not keep these same people in power because when there is progress people develop and fraternity increases and when fraternity increases then people want more. When there is divisiveness people don’t look towards progress and are too busy fighting each other and people stay in power longer
This gormint is trying to deflect attention from its own major inadequacies and destructive policies and practices. Hence the constant reminder of pre-2014 ‘history according to the andhbhakts’ – a distortion, to.put it mildly.
Yes I am listening. And I heard what you said. True in most senses. But…. and here is a BIG “BUT”.
The man you refer to, who got well after an illness, needs to make sure that the filth in and around his house that gave him the illness in the first place needs to be cleaned up …otherwise he will fall sick again. And he SHOULD keep talking about it until his family and neighbours get together and clean up the place.
You talk about the wounds of history and some people wanting to keep them fresh. The sad fact is that if we personally did not suffer the wounds, or in fact are even UNAWARE of what happened, then how are the coming generations going to protect themselves from history repeating itself ? So the attempt is to keep the MEMORY alive, not the wounds.
Hitler is taught in German schools so that another Hitler may not arise. The Holocaust is taught in Israeli schools so Jewish children are aware of the forces that are out to annihilate them. These are not attempts at keeping wounds open. But in India … there is talk of Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb and Hindu Muslim Bhaichara ( brotherhood ) as if nothing happened in the past. We are told to forget that 20 lakh Hindus were raped and butchered in 1947. That the Direct Action day of 1946 saw tens of thousands of Hindus butchered at the hands of the “peaceful”community in Bengal. That tens of thousands were raped and murdered in Kerala during the Khilafat movement in 1920. That Bakhtiar Khilji burnt to the ground the library in Nalanda – our ancient university where 4,50,000 precious documents and books containing generation of our accumulated knowledge was lost to the world. The massacres of Hindus by the foreign invaders is history that our youth need to learn – yet it is sadly missing from our text books. WHY ? Should this history not be taught any more? And is it not a FACT that the same mindset is very much alive and kicking in India today? Have we not heard the slogan “Sir tan sé Juda” ( off with your head ) being chanted by frenzied mobs umpteen times in recent years? Have we not read about Kanhaiyalal in Udaipur being beheaded just for supporting Nupur Sharma? And Nupur’s sin … just quoting verbatim from the Quran and the Hadis. Have we not heard of Islamic terrorists burning down scores of schools in Kashmir?
The fact is that the mindset and philosophy that drove the perpetrators of all those massacres and murders are very much alive and well today. It has been pampered and allowed to flourish for over 60 years under the Congress. With the recent elections, India dodged a bullet in Bengal. Another 5 years of Mamta’s rule and we might have lost W. Bengal to a Greater Bangladesh in the making. And the rape and torture of innocent Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh AND W. Bengal under Mamta are on record.
Please let us be honest. Islam is NOT a religion. It is a political philosophy aimed at world domination by means fair or foul.
Just take a look at Europe. Britain has almost become a Sharia compliant state. Countries in Europe, who forgot their history and let in millions of muslim immigrants are already paying the price. So, please, let us not make that mistake in India.
Let me state very categorically that I am NOT anti Muslim. I have lots of very dear friends who are muslims. School friends , business colleagues, neighbours. I lived in Dubai for 23 years. Even had Pakistani staff. I would trust Saeed my Pakistani driver with my life much more easily than many Hindu compatriots. That is at an individual level. But when we talk of ISLAM, as a political philosophy, then I am sorry it is a very different story altogether. The Q’uran exhorts muslims to kill the Kafirs ( non believers – i.e. you and me ) “..where ever you find them”. The Hadis ( the life of Mohammed and the second most holy book of Islam ) talks of Gazwah E Hind – the conversion of the WHOLE of India in to a Muslim state – without which Qayamat ( day of Judgement ) can not come and they can not not rise to heaven to enjoy the many wonderful rewards awaiting them. Pakistan, as a Muslim state , is hell bent on destroying India and have many ready accomplices here … as witnessed in Kashmir, in the recent bomb blast in Delhi, and the many communal riots across India over decades.
I repeat, Islam as a political philosophy is marching ahead steadily and needs to be identified as such and stopped. Otherwise may God help us and our children.
I want to repeat. No offence is meant against any individual or community. I am just stating facts.
I resonate !!
Thank you Bob 🙏