Letter worth Imbibing

Abraham Lincoln was a person extraordinaire, not only was one of the greatest American President but also a thinking human being. Below is the reproduction of Abraham Lincoln's letter which he wrote to his son's teacher:

"My son will have to learn I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.
It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is of far more value than five found.
Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning. Steer him away from envy, if you can.
Teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick.
Teach him, if you can the wonder of books, but also give him quiet time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill-side.
In school teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.
Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon.
Teach him to listen to all men. But teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through. Teach him, if you can how to laugh when he is sad. Teach him there is no shame in tears.
Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness. Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders; but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul.
Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob… and to stand and fight if he thinks he is right. Treat him gently; but do not cuddle him because only the test of fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always to have the sublime faith in himself because then he will always have the sublime faith in mankind.
This is a big order; but see what you can do; He is such a fine little fellow, my son."

Kashmir-A Forgotten Cause

I simply avoid writing on the topic for my views on totally different as the rest of you. I might sound cynical to an extent, let it be so since I firmly believe in what I think and what I feel about the land where I was born and raised. Kashmir is history for me, land where I was born and raised initially; I am no longer attached to it. I don’t consider it more than a past chapter of my life. I will always be nostalgic about it as I have lot many memories which I will cherish till eternity and may be share with my children but I am no longer interested in reclaiming the Kashmir which we left behind in the early 90s. I just want to take things as they come and let me make it clear that it doesn’t mean that others must not do anything about it. I know that all Kashmiris will disagree to what I think and write and hence they will do whatever possible and let me wish them all the success and hope they achieve what they strive for.

Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits is not a recent phenomenon and if my memory doesn’t fail me there is a written account of Kashmiri Hindus migrating from Kashmir as early as in year 1320, when a Turk general wrought havoc on non-Muslims. Since then we as a community have moved out of the valley many a times to return back when the things were to return to normal.

Let me put it across very bluntly that we are not emotionally attached and bonded to the land where we were born and raised, the land where our forefathers lived and died. The recent militancy in the valley was not an armed uprising against Hindus; it was an uprising against the Indian Law and Order. It was really unfortunate that many innocent Hindus were targeted and exterminated. And when such events started occurring across the state, the rest packed their bags and left lock, stock and barrel while some of us were unfortunate in this too. We sought an easy way out, we could have chosen to stay and die. Let’s face and realize the fact that Hindus are not and can't be Jews. I can safely and surely assume that out of all Kashmiri men & women there is no David Ben Gurion and Golda Meir. We are made up of different genotype. True but my point of contention is that perseverance and the basic human instinct to live and survive isn’t a genetic trait, it is a fundamental human character which everybody is born with. It is now we realize that the Kashmir valley to us is like the Forbidden Land of Jerusalem is to Jews. How opportunistic as community can we get?

Various apolitical organizations claim to represent the cause of Pandits. Do we really need a political organization when each Kashmiri Pandit as an individual is a party in himself/herself? We might not possess anything but one thing is for sure that we possess a political opinion. What are we fighting for? Are the aims of so called organizations in sync with the ground reality and the modern times? For me reclaiming the valley for Kashmiri Pandits is a secondary issue, there are issues which are far more important and far more mandatory. Even if we reclaim the land by some means, who is going to be there; with whom will our affiliations lie? Will we pledge our allegiance to India whose apathetic attitude bothers us everyday. We are not patriots; we are pseudo-patriots, all of us. There are very few of us who possess that fire in the belly and that zeal in the heart to live and die for our motherland India.

What are the primary issues that I mentioned above? This writing will be incomplete if I don’t write above them. For me the primary concerns is being strong and powerful, not on individual basis but on collective basis. We have spent an exorbitant amount on building ashrams and temples, which doesn’t make any sense to me. How a community can spend money on building temples and ashrams when the people of the same community are living in deplorable condition? It is such a shame. We don’t own and run schools, charitable hospitals, colleges, age-old homes; we have not encouraged entrepreneurship. How many of us are in Civil Services or decision making or in the who’s who in the financial sector or Planning Commission. I won’t be surprised that one fine day we find some other community coming along and driving us out from the places where we are currently residing. We are a small cog in a big wheel (India) whereas the need of the hour is to be a big cog in a big wheel. I believe in one thing that if we are strong as a community, we can turn any land into the valley and then lay claim to the original valley. I rest my case.

To be contd.

Jai Hind