Peace v/s Violence

Like most young rebellious teenagers, I have laughed at Gandhi and his ideals of non-violence. I studied about Gandhi just because it was a part of the course curriculum. To me, Gandhi appeared to be a person who screwed India’s freedom struggle. There was lot of animosity towards Gandhi and his idea of non-violence was rated as utter crap and outdated concept.

With an extremist approach, I found Gandhi as a loser and cheered for fighters like Subhash Chandra Bos, Bhagat Singh and Mangal Panday. I believed in their principles and supported their cause. It was more heroic than that of Gandhi’s. On top of it, the fact that they gave up their lives added an extra glamour to their sacrifice. Obviously, the young bloods preferred freedom fighters and I was no different from the pack.

I remember arguing against Gandhi and praising the deeds of the freedom fighters. The very thought of these rebellious leaders triggered the adrenaline rush within. It felt good to talk like them and think like them.

Somehow I subconsciously accepted Violence as the symbol of strength and Non-violence as a sign of weakness. As a result, the ‘Tit for Tat’ approach seemed to be the only smart decision and Forgiveness sounded good only in spiritual anecdotes.

I didn’t realize that I was subconsciously sowing a seed of Violence within me, which grew like a weed making every cause to fight justifiable. My urge for a fight reflected in my behavior towards others. My siblings, my friends, my colleagues, whoever it was I always found something to fight for, with them. Whether it was a friend going overboard bullying me or a sibling not allowing me to watch my favorite show, the cause always seemed right and I always stood up for a fight.

But this is not just my story. I have heard many people cribbing and bitching about similar issues. This is the case with everyone.

We all are used to Violence. We choose Violence over Peace, simply because Violence makes us feel powerful and this feeling is what we crave for. We know the person we are fighting with is a sibling, a friend or for that matter a human like us. Yet to forgive, we cannot afford. Somewhere it starts raising a doubt within us whether the act of forgiveness is a sign of weakness. To satisfy ourselves, we fight. We convince ourselves that the cause is strong enough and justify the fight.

Today, we have each gradually grown into a violent person. We don’t want Peace. But this was not the case. In nature, everything was meant to be at Peace. We too are part of this peaceful Existence. But our urge to prove ourselves has lured us to violate the Nature’s law and become violent.

However, our violent nature never comes into the limelight. We fight with a fellow commuter while traveling to office, because we think he pushed us. We fight with our family or relatives because we think they are exploiting us. We fight with our spouse thinking our partner is being unfair to us. We fight a lot, but our fights get overlooked. It is not highlighted like wars between nations. So we think we are normal people and there is nothing wrong with us. We don’t even realize how violent we have become.

I am sure it would crop up in the minds of many fellow readers that sometimes it becomes a requisite. Some times one has to fight for life. One would say – “If a person is intending to kill me, I can just say, Please be my guest. I will have to fight for my life.”

I understand this argument, but the idea of non-violence is not meant for one person. It is for all. If somehow all follow non-violence then there would be no person intending to kill another human. But to expect that is to ask for Utopia. There will be threat to life and there will be fight for life from natural calamities and from beasts. That is justifiable. Perhaps, it is justifiable even when an un-awakened soul is hell-bent on killing you. When you can’t take sense into the other being, the best option is to stand up and fight for your Life.

The focus is not on those extreme situations in Life but rather on the day-to-day Living.

Is a favorite TV show, a favorite attire or any other belonging, a worthy cause to fight with a sibling?
Is getting little pushed over or stepped over, a worthy a cause to get into fist-fight with an absolute stranger?
Is Wealth or Land, a worthy cause to cut through the bloodline of our ancestors?
Is Politics, a worthy cause to pull out a partition and divide a nation?
Is Race, a worthy cause to burn human beings alive?

Some may say Yes and be proud about it. There is absolutely no way to prove them Wrong. But the fact remains, they have become Violent and in being so they are violating the natural state of Peace.

Gandhi’s non-violence approach may have definitely affected India’s freedom fight, but it has surely saved Humanity from becoming a Monster. He has, in his own little way delayed the process, which today seems like inevitable.

Today, we fight for Education. Education is supposed to help us become more mature. Ironically, we have ended up fighting for seat reservations. Today we fight over Religion, which was devised to help humanity transcend the normal being. Instead of transcending to higher level, we have stooped further low and have humiliated humanity by our act. Today, we fight for Love, which just reveals the height of human ignorance. Love the most divine feeling, the essence of peace being the sole cause of hatred and triggering violence.

We can continue with this madness or we can simply start asking ourselves - is the fight really required? Can’t we let go of our desire to fight?