“
Why does a war occur? When will people understand that the
solution to mankind’s problem is not war, but peace”. So goes Preity Zinta, the
leading lady in one of my all-time favorite movie
Lakshya (English: Aim/Target). I’m sure this isn’t the first time this noble idea has
been thought of. Indeed it is safe to assume that right from the
starting of mankind, most (if not all) people would have always wanted peace.
But, have they succeeded? A quick look at the
history of war would tell us an entirely different story. A war has been fought in some part
of the world every 5 years or so. Clearly wars are not as infrequent as
economic recessions.
But wait, are economic recessions a rare occurrence? A cursory look at the
history of economic recessions says otherwise. Echoing Preity Zinta,
“Why do recessions occur? When will the policymakers understand that people
want to be happy & prosperous, not sad & gloomy”. Now, I’m neither an
economist (not
quite yet), nor is this post about the causes of recessions. But one
thing I can say for sure, if given a choice, everyone would want his life to be
filled with happy events.
Happiness. Everyone wants it. Everyone pursues it (afterall,
the Pursuit of Happiness is described as an inalienable right in the American
Declaration of Independence). But does one ever achieve it on a permanent basis? Ask your parents and
they might tell you that sad/challenging events were as much a frequent part of
their life as happy events.
Yup, life’s just like a sinusoidal wave - an interplay of opposing forces. Happiness &
sadness are part and parcel of life just as war & peace, and, boom &
recession. This uncannily reminds me of the story of
Samundra Manthan,
wherein the gods and the demons formed an alliance to churn the ocean for the
nectar of immortality.
 |
| Samundra Manthan as depicted at the Bangkok Airport |
The symbolism behind this story provides an interesting insight. The gods/demons represents the pleasure/pain principles
of life respectively. Their mutual participation signifies that to (spiritually)
evolve, one has to reconcile, harmonize and integrate both the positive and the
negative aspects of one’s nature and engage them towards a common goal.
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