The eastern sky
is lit in a resplendent orange hue. Everything under the sky – human or
inanimate – is bathed in the beautiful bounty of Mother Nature. The cold air of
the night is giving way to the gentle, warm breeze of a bright dawn.
The village
wakes up to another day, only, that day was different, for it brings with it a
man, a dark silhouette in the backdrop of a rising sun bleeding an orange tint
all around. Silhouettes do not speak much, but what this one said was a lot.
Long, shoulder-length, unkempt hair, a long thin staff in one hand, and
knee-length loincloth around the waist, are not a common sight for the
villagers.
Workers
preparing to leave for tilling, housewives sweeping and watering their front
yards and drawing colourful rangolis,
and others just lazing in front of their homes look quizzically at the figure
walking towards them in the dusty street.
As the figure
approaches them closer and closer, the picture becomes clearer and clearer for
the villagers. A tall lanky man in knee-length coarse cotton loincloth
around the waist, and with long unkempt tresses parted in the middle, does not
walk but gently glides through the street at a snail’s pace. The stranger
accosts everyone whom he comes across.
A village elder
greets him back and asks, “Who are you and where from are you, stranger?”
Politely
refusing the offer of a seat, the stranger says, “I am from everywhere.”
“What is your
name?”
“Whatever you
call me by. You called me stranger. So be it.” The stranger smiles.
“Who are your
parents?”
“With my
biological parents safely in heaven, God Almighty is my father and mother.”
“Your answers
are intriguing. They do not tell anything about you.”
“I am an open
book. All answers are in it. It is up to the reader to read.”
“What do you
do?”
“Bring peace to
ravaged souls; at least, I try to.”
“Are you going
to stay here?”
“Do you want me
to? Is there a need?”
“I don’t know,
but people are unhappy, in general.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is it only here
or at other places, too?”
“Everywhere, I
guess.”
“Have you heard
of the universal axiom, ‘a contented man is a happy man’?”
“Our parents used to tell us about
contentment.”
“So, what
happened?”
“We forgot all
that somewhere on the way.”
“Why? You have
progressed much with all the technology at your disposal.”
“That’s what we
all thought.”
“So, what
happened?”
“Everything went
awry. Our problems only increased and happiness decreased in an inverse
proportion.”
“Sad.”
“There used to
be plenty; food grains, water, clean air and, above all, time. We used to spend
much time with our families.”
“And, now?”
Sigh…sigh…“Stranger,
you look familiar. Are you from Bethlehem?”
The stranger
smiles. “Maybe.”
“Or from Mecca,
or Lumbini, or Porbandar, or Atlanta?”
“I am from
wherever you want me to be from.”
“You have told
us nothing about you.”
“I am no
stranger to you although you call me by that name. I am born in every age in
every place. I was born in Dwapara yug in a jail cell in Mathura. I was born in
every place that you mentioned - Bethlehem, Mecca, Lumbini, Porbandar, and Atlanta. I look
familiar to you because you have seen me in every epoch. In every epoch, I was killed
by tyrants and zealots…because I loved nonviolence and peace …because I
preached nonviolence, love, and peace…because I practised nonviolence, love,
and peace. I will be killed now, too. I will be born again and shall be killed
again by another tyrant. I strive to bring a reign of nonviolence, love, and
peace on God’s beautiful earth. That is my mission given to me by the
Almighty.”
“Now, I find
nothing but hatred and strife on this pathetic planet. You mentioned ‘plenty’.
Where have those ‘plenties’ gone? I find that one who asks the inconvenient
question is exterminated by any available means – dog-bone whip, crown of
thorns, spear, guillotine, lion, bullet, dagger, sword, fire, or bomb. There is
paucity for everything - food, water, clean air, and, above all, love. Greed
rules this planet now. I am striving to bring peace, at least to one human, one
family. I admit, I am finding it difficult. Labours of Hercules are childsplay
compared to mine.
“You spend
billions on deadly armaments when a huge chunk of population does not have a
morsel to eat, a rag to cover their bodies, or a slate to write upon. You
forget that the earth is but one nation. You perpetuate the mistake of Babel.
You, with your ingenuity, make it worse for personal gains. You divide
populations on religious, caste, class, and colour lines. You exterminate six
millions of a particular sect, for you attribute reasons for all your failures
to them. You do not use your knowledge for peaceful and progressive purposes
but create deadly nuclear and chemical weapons and exterminate thousands and
thousands of innocent populations. You practise and preach apartheid and
untouchability.
“You introduce
religious insanity and mercilessly slay thousands, while you let millions
suffer without food, water, and clean air. You pollute the ground, the water,
and the air, which God Almighty has bestowed upon you. You give your children’s
hand deadly weapons instead of a pencil. You give in your children’s stomachs
killer drugs instead of a glass of milk. You worship goddesses yet you treat
women as vassals. You deny them education, freedom, and basic human dignity.
You lust for them and use them as sex objects.
“This is the
only planet where millions of such unique life forms exist. Your lifestyle
destroys thousands of species every day. Millions of lives are lost regularly
stricken by floods, drought, storms, avalanches, landslides, earthquakes, and
tidal waves. The salubrious climates created by God Almighty are eroded. Your
seasons are changing, thus creating havoc in human life.
“Yet, you do not
learn from your mistakes, either as individuals or as nations. You rescind the
cosmic philosophy that your generation has merely borrowed the earth and the
universe from your children’s generation. You degrade the environment as if
there is no tomorrow. You do not even realise that it is your children and
their children who suffer. Babies are born with incurable breathing diseases.
Yet you are blind to reality.
“Wake up at
least now, for there is no tomorrow for this planet. Spread peace and love.
Follow the path shown by the pacifists of yore. Follow the simple philosophies
propounded by them. How can I help you if you do not help yourself? Let charity
begin at home. Let reform begin with one human – yourself. Let it begin now.”
The village
elder was silent for long minutes.
“Are you a
messiah?”
“Why do you need
a messiah to tell you what to do?”
“Are you a
pagan? To which religion do you belong?”
“Oh my God! I
cannot help these people. Take me unto thee, never to return.”
“He teaches us
wrong philosophies. He insults our gods. He is an atheist. Stone him, stone him
to death…” The chorus grows.
Then fall the
stranger.
***
