Whether it is the supernatural or unseen,humanity has so far learnt to adapt, comprehend and give it a good fight
When you have always told yourself that Goa is aharmonious and peace-loving State, and you notice the scaling numbers ofmurder; you start to wonder whether you were living under the illusion. Everysingle day (I do not want to sound cliché) you take the newspapers and read orturn on your televisions or YouTube Channels you have a mention of thievery, murder,and other social crimes. St. Paul writing to Romans tells us that we should be indebtedto the other only in love. He specifies four of the commandments that we shouldobey strictly. He reminds, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill;you shall not steal; you shall not covet.” But with the news that surrounds us,it seems we are adamant not to follow these at all.
When incidences such as these happen, we tend to askourselves, what is the influence that makes one commit these crimes? Could itbe the rich and poor divide? Could it be a financial necessity? Could it bejealousy? Could it be pride? Could the TV serials like CID or Crime Patrol orkiller thrillers we watch have a lasting and dramatic impact on us? Could it bethe brutal and violent games we play on our Play Stations? Has our value systemgone corrupt? Have we largely turned immoral during the impending pandemic?
We may not be able to derive answers for all thesequestions, but we can give it a shot at mending ourselves. H P Lovecraft whowrote intensively on fear or short stories evoking fear said, “The oldest andstrongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fearis fear of the unknown.” Lovecraft unearthed fear of the unknown and presented thatthe human race is insignificant amidst supernatural beings. Fear is anintrinsic and powerful human emotion. Fear makes us cautious of the impendingdanger. It alerts us, making us live lives consciously. When at first we heardof coronavirus we didn’t know what it was, or what a person’s experience iswhen affected, and how to curtail its spread. But as days passed, we learnt afew protocols and tried to safeguard ourselves. But there was that fear of theunknown. “What will happen to me or us?” was the question that kept recurringin our minds. When we do not know what the future upholds we fear.
Perhaps, fear was the motive, because of which alover murdered his fiancé and people on ‘supari killing’ committed the brutalcrime at Margao or it could be for the sheer pleasure that they got into theheinous acts.
So whether it is a bad influence, our sin of pride,jealousy, disruption of our value system or just fear of the unknown, we oughtto address it. If it is a bad influence, we need to expose ourselves to goodand given the technological age we are at a point where we can make a goodchoice for ourselves when it comes to visual entertainment. And when it comesto bad influences from our relationships, we either have to tell ourselves tostop these toxic relationships or ask help as to better the friendships.Friends can be powerful influencers. So, friendship should be checked.
If it is our pride and jealousy, we must seriouslybe aware of it. When I am aware of it, I can handle it efficiently. You becomeproud because you feel that there is no other better than you. You get jealousbecause you feel that it is only you who must have or enjoy all the good thingsthat are around. Awareness of one’s pride will help break the garb and makeoneself realize the greatness and importance of the other. It is good to beproud of one’s achievements but it should never be used against depriving theother the good he or she deserves. Or pride should never be used to put theother down.
Values I always believe are caught no one can teachthem. There should be exemplary people around us who can teach us while they doit in action. Are we then lacking positive examples? The answer could be a yesand a no. Even if there are examples we may not be aware of them because we arebusy with our hullabaloo of life. Just a glance at the world around us, we alsonotice an immoral world. These are bad examples that leave a pessimistic viewof life. Therefore it is vital that on regular basis we update ourselves on thegoodness of having these values instilled in us because these values make ussensitive and caring people.
Fear of the unknown has always been and willcontinue to exist because it is a territory of the uncertain and unfamiliar.And bracing these fears makes us stronger. Facing these fears and coming outvictorious proves our intelligence and our calibre. Whether it is thesupernatural or unseen, humanity has so far learnt to adapt, comprehend andgive it a good fight. The present time is a remarkable history of this fact.
Addressing certain issues may help rectify our pastmistakes and make us gentle, humble and caring human beings. Let not ourefforts to wipe off this curse of humanity go frail.
