Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times
By Imran Jattala | December 31, 2010
The midnight hour has already struck in New York and the sun continues to move further west on the other side of the globe. Now the west coast of the United States will realize midnight in Hollywood, California under blinding lights, with ear-piercing music blowing through modern horns and the same-old vulgar smell of alcohol in the atmosphere.
Tomorrow when the sun will come up it wouldn’t be any different from the sun that came up the previous morning. In fact it will be exactly the same sun from yesterday except for it will have traveled the course of time another 24 hours, our lives now a day shorter and the end of the line for our world a moment closer. However, the participants of the previous nights maddening proceedings will not remember even a one-half of what went on between party-goers.
‘So, what were we celebrating last night?’ many will wonder.
And, those who are living in a world of hurt – the flood-stricken, the earthquake stricken, the famine-stricken, the disease-stricken, the terrorism-stricken, the drone-stricken, women who are men-stricken and men who are tradition-stricken, and the young girls who are custom-stricken and sold by their father for a paltry sum called dowry – a dowry that was supposed to be for the girls' benefit – all such unfortunates will continue to live in the same world of hurt.
This is the appalling saga of ‘purposeless’ lives that seem to contribute nothing for the benefit of the humankind.
Happy new year?
-- Imran Jattala
What cynicism!! These same party-goers could be involved in many efforts to make the world better and work hard all year round. Who are we to judge their down-time? The celebrations lead to growth in industry, tourism whilst bringing millions of people and many communities together. Lets look at the whole picture or else we will lose meaning of life and be depressed souls moping all over the world. It is not just about the hardships but also the great things that we achieve and we have the choice to celebrate if we so choose to do.
ReplyDeleteI think the blogger's cynicism serves to put things into perspective for the overwhelming majority in the world for whom the dawn of the new year is just another day, no different from the day before... their travails continue... unsung, unnoticed, whilst the apathetic crowd who is fortunate enough celebrates pointlessly.... It's not so much about being "depressed", as it is about EMPATHY!
ReplyDeleteFor those who assert that this is overly cynical; It is a perspective and a matter-of-fact statement whose truth is incontrovertible. No doubt there are those who make gallant efforts in bringing to justice the misfortune-stricken peoples of the world. However, such jubilations can be employed to address far more pertinent issues who's brevity is of paramount significance. Nobody is "stopping" any celebrations. Rather, the insights on an oblivious lack of fundamental rights in developing nations in stark contrast to the Western world's extravagant indulgences are a difficult, albeit sadly disregarded issue. It is a question of humanity itself. How ironic that the blogger is asked to "look at the bigger picture," when in fact, the question of humanity clearly fits a category 6 on Kohlberg's morality development scale: the highest level of ethics described as an "awareness of universal ethical principals."
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