# 5 - JUDGMENT DAY

26th February, 2005

Everyday, we the simple, far removed from war and crime, pronounce death sentences on people. We hang the innocent; suspect the sane and beat up an accused - in our thoughts, our reactions and our memory.

There is little logic to prejudice. The sparks are often very different from what our mind is charred with. Came across an interesting poem that illustrates this. It’s on Fire Engines and why they are red;

They have four wheels and eight men
four plus eight is twelve
twelve inches make a ruler
a ruler is Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth sails the seven seas
the seven seas have fish
the fish have fins
The Finns hate the Russians
the Russians are red
Fire engines are always rushin'
So they're red.

Apply the same logic to war. Unlike what ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Independence Day’ would like us to believe, disaster doesn’t always unite. War often means distrust, where baser instincts goad one to protect their own. Take the recent Tsunami relief camps. Even in such trying times, the Upper Castes segregagated themselves from the lower castes, and saw to it that their camps were kept cleaner than those for lower castes. The tide might have changed, but not necessarily in our favor.

World politics and diplomacy isn’t free of prejudice either. Shiv Sena leaders have, in the name of Indian tradition (which incidentally extols love as the highest form of devotion - Meera, Radha), stormed Mumbai Parks to separate couples on Valentine’s Day. An active voice against gay marriages, George Bush seems to have problems with heterosexuals getting married as well. Papers were bursting at their columns with news of the White House not giving Prince Charles and Camilla the red carpet because they are adulterers (diplomatically, divorcees). This coming from a country with an ex-divorcee President (Reagan) and an oval office that's seen more shag than my rug.

Why should the modern office be left out - Recruiters look for certain qualities in the ‘recruitee’; some based on skills and others based on traits that cause least friction at work. Loud people are considered misfits, as are people who talk too fast, too slow, too much, too little. Do we want all people to be the same nice, the same good, the same brilliant? Have we as a policy, stopped celebrating differences?

Like friends, our Gods are a mirror to us; Jesus had to fight his evils, Ram listened to a common washer man and turned his wife away, Shiva, the most revered, is easy to anger; easier to please, prone to impulsive mistakes and dopes. They’re all worshipped and loved. Maybe it is the hope, that Gods like them, will listen to our prayers more kindly, understand our frailties better. Maybe differences are god’s gift to mankind.

So, in the all-accepting New World, where everyone has a right to their views, where the individual is king, are we really all accepting?