2013 – Where The Mind Is Without Fear…

2012-13 hope

The death of “Nirbhaya Damini” – the gang-rape victim has forced us to introspect. It has woken up the nation to a common cause. It has given a wake-up call to the hitherto indifferent society and has, for once, brought the country together in grief and in shame. The common man is on the street demanding justice. Justice not only for the victim, but justice to all women who have so far quietly borne the brunt of harassment at the hands of insensitive men and an even more insensitive system.

Today, I am reminded of a poem written by Rabindranath Tagore, which used to be the prayer recited in our school assembly for all the years that I spent there –

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

The poem is perhaps more relevant now than ever before. However, In addition to this, I would like to add the following wishes in my prayer for all of us:

Where humanity is not dead

Where people are sensitive and tolerant towards each other

Where people are responsible

Where women are respected and can live freely

Where there is no terror on the streets

Where the common man feels safe

Where the government is responsive

Where there is law and order

Where there is hope…

Those are my wishes for everyone. Let us hope and pray that the coming year 2013 is more peaceful and safe for everyone.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

– Albert Einstein

Author: Rajiv

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