Abhijit Naskar's Blog, page 98

Those Who Call You Mad (The Sonnet)

Those who call you mad will one day worship you,
For no great achievement is possible without madness.
Those who laugh at you will one day learn from you,
For working through the laugh is a criteria for greatness.
Those who know not you exist will one day seek your guidance,
For your endless sacrifice will make you a beacon.
Those who find you absurd will one day bow in veneration,
For the absurd ideas take us to the most breathtaking destination.
Those who look down on you will one day look up to you,
For your sacrifice will place you on a pedestal of glory.
Those who are deaf to you will one day cross limits for you,
For your voice will echo in the hearts as a purifying symphony.
Those who see you inconsequential will one day pay you homage.
Breathe your mission, live your mission and your acts will forge fate's foliage.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mad About Humans: World Maker's Almanac

Slogan For Humanity (The Sonnet)

Let's slogan for humanity above the cacophony of politics.
Let's slogan all together for the people and not bookish morality.
Let's slogan for humanity above the drumbeats of bigotry.
Let's slogan for the souls in misery and not nationality.
Let's slogan for humanity above the foghorn of policies.
Let's slogan cause we are responsible, not cause we’re aggressive.
Let's slogan for humanity above the siren of world peace.
Let's slogan being peace incarnate beyond all doctrines illusive.
Let's slogan for humanity above the noise of traditions.
Let's slogan all together trumping all worship of sects.
Let's slogan for humanity above the gunshots of authoritarianism.
Let’s slogan as just, free and brave beings, not loyal subjects.
Awake and Arise my sisters and brothers to slogan for all of humankind.
We are the light and we are the might that's needed during this ominous tide.

Give Me Blood and Sweat (The Sonnet)

Give me your pleasures, I'll give you awakening.
Give me your pride, I'll give you inclusion.
Give me your self-obsession, I'll give you acceptance.
Give me your arrogance, I'll give you liberation.
Give me your tradition, I'll give you revolution.
Give me your blindness, I'll give you clarity.
Give me your disparities, I'll give you humaneness.
Give me your rigidity, I'll give you serenity.
Give me your religion, I'll give you harmony.
Give me your language, I'll give you amity.
Give me your identity, I'll give you unity.
Give me your nationality, I'll give you humanity.
Give me your sleep and comfort, I'll give you assimilation.
Give me your blood and sweat, I'll give you ascension.

World in Peril (The Sonnet)

The world is in peril and security is out of the window.
If now we don't be humans, what's the point of us!
Humankind is in turmoil and anxiety is running amok.
If now we don’t be responsible what's the point of us!
Neighborhoods are wailing in fear and desperation.
If now we don’t lend a hand what's the point of us!
Communities are struggling in crippling uncertainty.
If now we don't break narrowness what's the point of us!
Nations are panting to sustain health and sanity.
If now we don't rush to rescue what's the point of us!
Nature is revolting to reclaim her kingdom.
If now we don't make peace with her what's the point of us!
Now is not the time for theorizing and criticizing.
Forgetting argumentation we must stand as one people unbending.

Addressing Plagiarism during a pandemic

On March 30th an act of plagiarism of my work was brought to my attention by the people of a nation where the plagiarism was committed in a national governmental address. I am not going to name the nation, for I do not want to make my sisters and brothers of that nation subject for global ridicule. If I do it'll be like putting the bad exam grades of a student on the school notice board for the whole school to see. So without mentioning the country I am making this brief address as my response to my work being plagiarized.

On March 28 the President of a certain nation in his address to the people said a few things about the importance of staying home in order to contain the COVID19 situation in his country. And among those few statements was a specific statement - "you can revive economy, but not a corpse", which appears to be taken without giving credit from my COVID19 address to the world which I published on March 24. Now this matter was brought to my attention because the statement of mine went viral in that country after the President's address.

Many people expressed their great disappointment at their leader for actively practicing plagiarism and that too in a time like this - some have called it "dishonesty" and others "academic theft". And I completely understand your disappointment, however, at this moment I am not able to give the matter any special attention, and I urge you, the people from that nation and in fact from all the nations of our homeland earth, to do the same. Here's why.

I don't mind being plagiarized as long as my work is used for the benefit of others. Right now our sole focus should be on stopping the spread of covid19 while helping those in need either personally or through a relief fund, and not on something comparatively so petty as plagiarism. At any other time it may be worth discussing, but right now is not the time. So I repeat, right now is not the time for intellectual debates and arguments, it is time for us humans to come together as humans with only one concern in mind - the health of all of us.

You can revive economy, but not a corpse

Stay calm, stay safe and seek medical information only from trusted officials and actual healthcare experts, not from random politicians, celebrities, news channels and religious fanatics. The New Corona Virus is a previously unknown virus which can make people from all ages very, very sick and it is more deadly for older people with pre-existing medical conditions. However, contracting COVID19 is not a death sentence. So, maintain social distancing and wash your hands frequently with soap and water for no less than 20 seconds, until the WHO lifts the global emergency. And above all, do not share conspiracy theories on social media, because every single share makes it difficult for health-workers and other people working at the front to contain the situation. Be responsible and stay safe.

Also, so far studies are showing that more than half of the people infected with the corona virus show mild or no symptoms, which means, they may not even realize that they've got the virus, yet if they continue living their life as usual and do not stay at home, they'd keep spreading the virus among others, and those others will spread it further, and the chain will never be broken. This also means that if you have the virus and are not aware of it, by denying self-isolation you could still be causing the death of somebody along the way as the virus spreads radically starting from you. So, now is not the time for parties and communions. Right now the first and foremost priority of the entire humankind must be to plank the curve through self-isolation.

Now here is an interesting part, a few officials have said that their country cannot afford a complete lockdown, despite having an alarmingly rising number of covid-19 cases. But the point is, no country can afford a complete lockdown, but this time - at this moment, the question is not of affordability, rather it is of survival. So, if a country has a rising number of covid-19 cases, it has two choices - either a complete lockdown right now for a short period of time or a lasting crisis in all walks of the society for a prolonged period of time. What we must remember is that, these are not ordinary times where we play politics and juggle with the safety of the society. These are the times that demand prompt decisions and utter responsibility towards not just the self but our kind - the humankind. Never forget this simple fact, you can revive economy, but not a corpse.

We must practice social distancing and stay at home for a while, because that's the only way to stop the corona virus from spreading. However, we must also keep in mind that not everybody is in the position to work from home, nor do they have enough savings to make ends meet without work for even a few days. So, now, more than ever, is the time that we wake up the human in us, and come to the rescue of those in need, by either helping such individuals in our locality personally, or by donating to a covid-19 relief fund. We must make sure that we all have each other's back and that we all get through this catastrophe together, without leaving anyone behind.


For more “factual” information on COVID-19 visit:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/disea...
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-...

The Pandemic Sonnet

This ain't the first time you've come to haunt us,
And it won't be the last either.
You thought you could break the species,
But all you did is bring us together.
You brought the world to almost a standstill,
Yet we never stood still to let inaction take over.
Each one of us did the best we could,
And we'll keep on doing till your traces wither.
We may have our differences at times,
But when trouble knocks on our door we all stand one.
We may act selfish sometimes,
But in catastrophe we refrain from helping no one.
However thanks for reminding us to leave wildlife alone,
Otherwise all we'll have left to do is mourn.

Together We Are Humans (The Sonnet)

Together we are humans, separate we are apes.
Together we are life, separate we are dust.
Together we are tools, separate we are weapons.
Together we are a boon, separate we are a curse.
Together we are power, separate we are insects.
Together we are sanity, separate we are lunacy.
Together we are serenity, separate we are misery.
Together we are harmony, separate we are catastrophe.
Together we are diversity, separate we are phobia.
Together we are purity, separate we are pollution.
Together we are savannah, separate we are a desert.
Together we are family, separate we are desolation.
Together we are to grow as beings of conscience and character,
Or else our lives are futile and will fade away in time's murmur.

If No One Comes, Walk Alone (A Sonnet)

If no one comes hearing your call - walk alone,
For the price of rigidity is greater than the cost of a fall.
If no one comes hearing your call - speak alone,
For the price of silence is greater than the cost of a scorn.
If no one comes hearing your call - reason alone,
For the price of prejudice is greater than the cost of loneliness.
If no one comes hearing your call - think alone,
For the price of bigotry is greater than the cost of feeling groundless.
If no one comes hearing your call - dream alone,
For the price of conformity is greater than the cost of failure.
If no one comes hearing your call - act alone,
For the price of inaction is greater than the cost of alleged misdemeanor.
If no one comes hearing your call, o brave titan - carry the society on your own,
For peace, progress and harmony are caused by the acts of the one alone.

Why do we crave for social approval

Nobody is immune to social conditioning or as people like to call it, social programming. Which means that everybody is vulnerable to this process of social programming - to social pressure. But the question that we are interested in here is why? Why do we crave for acceptance from the society? Why do we crave for approval of the society.

Unless a person has some sort of pathological condition that makes the person unable to create a healthy bond between the self and the society, everybody has the urge for being accepted by the society, by the community, by the environment - to look for approval from others. So, what is the reason that we look for approval from others, from the people around us? The reason is that we are not wired to be loners. We are social animals. Being in a community makes us stronger. And that's the faculty that actually enabled our ancestors in the jungle to survive against the forces of nature - against predators and all sorts of wild obstacles.

So we built communities, but it's not enough to build communities. The members in that community must have a neurological bond with that community - they must have a craving to belong to that community. You cannot just gather some people and say, this is my community. They must feel that they are part of that community in order for the community to survive against all odds, which at that time, that is, in the kingdom of the wild was rather imperative.

So being in a community means we are psychologically wired to feel that we are part of that community, which brings along an innate craving to be accepted by others in that community - by the majority of that community - to look for approval in everything that we do from others in that community - to look for appreciation for our actions - to look for appraisal from others, for our achievements, for our successes.

In the wild, it worked well. And even today it keeps a people together. That's okay. So it is not completely harmful, but what is harmful is that this very trait has also a negative side and rather devastatingly negative side negative aspect, which is that this craving, this social conditioning often compels a person to go against his or her own passion, his or her own uniqueness to be accepted by the society. So the person ends up doing what the society wants instead of doing what that person really wanted to do in the first place, whether it is about living life, whether it is about achieving a certain goal, or anything else.

In the end, the majority of people end up achieving the goals that a society wishes them to achieve as members of the community. And the same goes for wishes, the same goes for desires, the same goes with behaviors, the same goes for thought thinking - the same goes with emotions and feelings and sentiments and ambitions and so on. So we ended up living secondhand lives. We end up living lives of mindless machines - we end up living lives of slaves of the society instead of living the life that we want.

If a person is happy with living the way that the person is living while following the norms of the society, then that's completely fine. But if the person has to completely change himself or herself to follow the norms of the society, then that's dangerous and downright inhuman because all the progress that we have attained so far as a species took place because of the handful of so-called misfits who had the courage to go against the societal norms, to follow their dreams, to follow their passions, to follow their own original thoughts and ideas and inklings and passions.

In short, rules and norms of a society do not ensure progress. In fact, the rules that the society creates are there to ensure security, not to ensure progress. To ensure progress, one must first sacrifice security to achieve something that nobody has achieved ever before - one must have the guts to turn a blind eye to the mockery, the criticisms, the disapprovals of one's society. Only by doing this can one achieve what that person really wants for himself or herself. This doesn't mean rebelling against society violently or aggressively - it simply means paying no attention to the society's selfish expectations, instead, the person must focus all their attention, all their energy on the one idea that is most important to them - to that one dream, that one passion, that one purpose.