The Human Mind in conversation with the Modern Hypocrite.

“At all costs try to avoid granting yourself the status of the victim. Of all the parts of your body, be most vigilant over your index finger, for it is blame-thirsty. A pointed finger is a victim’s logo-the opposite of the V-sign and a synonym for surrender. No matter how abominable your condition may be, try not to blame anything or anybody: history, the state, superiors, race, parents, the phase of the moon, childhood, toilet training, etc. The menu is vast and tedious, and this vastness and tedium alone should be offensive enough to set one’s intelligence against choosing from it.”-Joseph Brodsky

*reads the above on Brain Pickings*

*tries to contain herself*

*tries harder*

Not working.

*hence decides to, as John Ruskin puts it ‘dirtying the paper delicately.’* (He meant art by that. Writing is an art; that I am miles away from mastering.)

Here is what’s happening.

I am currently experiencing what the dictionary describes as ‘Jouska(n); a hypothetical conversation that is compulsively carried out in one’s head.’

*jumps to a Harry Potter reference in self-defense*

“Ofcourse it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” –Albus Dumbledore.

Alright, without trying to sound witty with words (which I obviously am not), my mind wanders off to Aleppo where my people are dying.  A helpless and an exhausted person that my mind is in this situation, battles it out with the Modern Hypocrite.

MH: Your people are dying. How do you feel? Are you okay? You know you can talk to me, tell the truth.

HM: *smirks at the last sentence that the hypocrite has said and answers* Sure, I can. Because you are so adept at handling the truth. What makes you think I can talk to you? Everytime I do, all I hear is that it’s okay. It’s okay to not make an effort for anyone. Do you not realize it’s on us? Each one of us!

MH: You don’t have to be strong. We know you are trying to help.

HM: True! I don’t have to be strong. But I cannot afford to be weak in a situation where my own people desperately need help! Even though I am terrified right now. Even though I feel like shattering because I do not know who I may lose next. But I would rather be ignorant of my feelings right now than talk to you about it.

MH: Why don’t you talk to me? I am your friend.

HM: I wish you were. I have been nothing but a muse for you all this while and I am no longer going to stand that. You have been manipulating me emotionally and like a fool I have let you. However that shall happen no more.

MH: *pretends to be devastated as the mask slowly peels off* What? What have I done to you but be concerned for your welfare?

HM: *calmly* That’s what you would like to believe. Time and again you have given me a platonic answer about how one should do what makes one happy.  Maybe. But tell me, are the soldiers, who fight day-in and day-out for us, happy? Do they not understand responsibility? Deep down inside we all want someone, anyone to put the blame on if something goes wrong. By saying that it is okay to step down, you contradict your own self. *laughs and continues* Are you not the ones who are first to cry for justice when something terribly goes wrong? It can be a national issue, a murder or a rape, or it can be a personal issue, a friend who committed suicide. How do you not care? Why is it that people like you frown the most if anything in this world goes haywire and yet you preach casual stance on things?

MH: But..but..I.. *stammers*

HM: *cuts MH off and continues* It is because of people like you who love to play the victim, who love to sympathise and mask it under empathy that nothing in this world ever changes. You shun responsibility like it were some decayed flower fallen onto your shoulder from a tree in Autumn. If you were to read all the great books that have been written, if you were to listen to those legends that ever walked this planet and lived a glorified life, would you understand that true happiness comes when you uplift each other. That it is in helping others that you are at your most humane self. It’s okay to take a break sometime but to use that as a catalyst for willful inaction is unforgiveable.

MH: I know the theory. Circumstances changed me.

HM: *scoffs* That is the lamest excuse that the human race has ever come up with. Circumstances. *scoffs again* Do not call yourself a reader, a lover, an artist and most importantly a learner if you could not retain humanity inside you. Do not call yourself human if you could not rise above it and learn to be human. Above all, do not question the extraordinary nature of one of the best creations of the Universe. Do not be so naïve as to forget your smallness in this multiverse and not believe in the extraordinary tasks that the human mind and the human mind put together can accomplish. The universe put you here for a purpose. If you cannot realize that, at least do not be a hindrance to those who seek it.

MH: *opens mouth to say something stupid, instead gets shut off by HM*

HM: And for God’s sake, do not preach inaction to children! They are crucial to mankind’s growth, therefore, don’t you dare inculcate that nonsensical seed of thought inside their flexible, young minds. Do not teach them that it was okay to enjoy life at each other’s cost. Do not ask them to not care, masking it under sinister selfishness of your own deeds and seeking justification in saying so. It is human nature to care, to make an effort! Teach them to prepare themselves to be broken and mend themselves if they wish to be warriors.  Humans were born to be warriors, to be there for each other. To help each other heal.

MH: *exits with a sulk*

HM: *goes back to reading, observing and understanding its’ true purpose in life*

P.S. Consider the ‘Aleppo’situation as also a metaphor for emotional torment. Please keep them in your prayers and if possible, reach out to help our fellow beings in distress. That’s what we are here for, to help the world heal. Godspeed. :)