In Search of Heer

by Manjul Bajaj

The world hates those who do not conform. It is easier to forgive liars and cheaters, thieves and murderers than to tolerate someone who does not aspire to the same things as others.

Gossip is society’s watchman, wall and whip all at once. Tale by malicious tale, rumour by rumour, the wall of society’s narrow morality is erected. Inside it is the cosy warmth of belonging. Outside, it is brutally cold and lonely. Sahiba was better off on the right side of the divide.

What is social class anyway but a man-made prison,

Land and riches come with the responsibility to perpetuate them. They come with an understanding that their holder will do his utmost to leave the world more skewed in favour of his progeny than he found it. I wanted none of the narrow self-serving behaviour that come tied with ownership.

‘Who is to say we won’t cohabit and reproduce better if we are equals?’ Her voice would speak up in my head. ‘Why assume relationships based on fear and bullying would be better than relationships based on independence and respect?’

Self-awareness is a trait not common to many species. Least of all humans, who see and yet do not see, who have divested mirrors of their original purpose and made of them polished surfaces for reflecting their own vanity.

Of course, all of this may be misconstrued as excessive pride in our species. But there are types and types of pride. There is the arrogant, blind and self-aggrandising pride of humans, which is eradicating other species from the earth’s surface without a backward glance. And then, there is the resilient pride of the pigeons which will ensure that we are not among the annihilated species.

They had not been taught to think of madness as a very, very quiet coming apart and drifting away of a mind weighed down by grief.