TUG-OF-HEART
All through schooling,and during collegiate education,a common word much mouthed,mostly used and often uttered is ‘heart ‘.
Students of arts,sciences,humanities and fine arts dole out their own definitive meanings and expressions to describe the heart.
Literature, be it poetry, dramatics,cinematic, book form or any other aesthetic field of expression ends a newer meaning with every user of the subject.
A student of life. Heart. Lifetime.
As one grows up, the meaning of heart,heartstrings,heartbeats, heartlessness and hearty laugh undergoes a metamorphosis.
Why so?
Is it a classic case of ‘great expectations followed by disappointments’ or,a mere instance of the odd ones being lucky about matters of the heart?
Ulysses. Romeo and Juliet. Comedy of errors. Das capital. War and Love. Ramayana. Mahabharata.
Illustrations galore. Of pride and prejudice. Biased relations. Myopic rulers. Jeálous mistresses . Possessive mothers. Shrew like spouses. Wayward,spoilt progeny.
Viewed from another angle-greed, lust, envy,madness,over-possessiveness, wickedness at play. Evil at large .
But, as students of political affairs which largely determine and mould our daily lifestyles and a newfound regimen to tweet hoarse as mad-caps about matters of State which,in actuality, are irrelevant and characters at play,unknown as fictitious fairy-tale heroes, the ‘tug-of-hearts’ catches our attention for closer scrutiny.
Why do little-known folk grow up to loom large as Demi-gods . Interfering . Interesting. Confounding . Destroying our peace of minds. Playing havoc,actually,with our orderly lifestyles.
How many of us have last stepped on to the playground for a game of cricket, volleyball or hockey ? Or, climbed down to the basement for a game of table tennis or quick dabble with the easel and paintbrush ? Not to speak of aimless ambling along the hillocks in the remote,native village where the telecom networks do not penetrate lives and mindsets?
Why do these fortunate ones try to dominate society and look down upon others as the deplorables and the accursed?
Why do psuedo-saints pontificate as the good Pope himself does from pulpits of the television studios, about policies of Statecraft, diplomacy, military strategy, stock market trends, insider stuff as underworld conspiracies hatched to loot economy of it’s wealth generated over millions of man-hours of industriousness of a few committed citizens?
Heart. It’s all a matter of their hearts. Heartless ones play with others’ hearts.
Traditionally, the heart is the hub of all feelings,harbors every thought, dreams, aspires, hopes and beats for loved ones’ sake.
True,a few are in love with themselves. This tribe of selfish ones apart, rest nurture love and affection beyond the natural ties and relationships of consanguinity. The add-ons and associates, partners-in-crime and accessories are the ones who tug at the heart of the perpetrator of an unjust act.
Indifferent to Dharma, differentiating between deserving and seeking, the heart works overtime towards self-aggrandizement and accumulation of wealth disproportionate to known sources of income-generation.
Oh yes, indeed they leave all this wealth behind when they leave their mortal forms on earth.
So, why then?
Madness? Mischief cultivated by evil forces ? Unbridled lust for power of possession?
Yes.
But, even the miser is guilty .
How does society break this jinxed existence?
By carving state policies aimed at equity,equality and equitable distribution of resources among all citizens. Extending from a small village panchayat to a municipal authority to dust rich administration to a State or Central Government,it reaches out to all members of the venerable United Nations Organization.
Resolve to end multiple tax regimes. For, it directly affects standard and quality of living of taxed citizens. Turn a transaction tax into an universal yardstick of democratic governance. Get rid of personal taxes. This first step singularly alters the meaning and purpose of humans having a heart which turns them all humane!
There are many means of financing public expenditure. In age of non governmental organizations stepping in to aid in public charitable works,social service no longer remains the curse of a Government.
Restructure. Focus.
Heart is the lifeline. Between a vegetated existence,a robotic lifestyle and that of leading life as a decent,loved,loving,lovable human being is this matter of the HEART!
The ‘tug-of-heart’ has been a very old dilemma of love and hatred. Yet, it can be re-engineered to become the heartbeat of a society and all humanity itself.
A ripple-effect is the behavioral aspect of the heart. Young or old, poor or rich, man or woman or of any other affiliation, heart leads. Let the heart tug at your chords of life to ensure co-existence,humanitarian and friendly policies,laws,rules and systems of good governance.
Arguably,the ‘Sri Rama Rajyam‘ aimed at this. At what cost even in that age of virtuosity and righteousness has been well-chronicled in that beautiful epic.
Western nations,largely influenced by earlier Greek cultural ethos,dub such endeavors as an ever elusive State of Utopia.
But, this is a matter of understanding.
Life in the USA often regarded as egalitarian by poverty-stricken lands little recognize conflicts of gun-control, racism and Chinese domination of economy of Uncle Sam’s country.
So, tug-of-heart is more a matter of ethical lifestyles. Predominantly of politicians in power. A bigwig pays his kitchen bills,auctions suits he changes every other hour as a part of protocol and dignity of the State. Yet another one had in-camera court-proceedings in respect of outstanding bills of a flat he was once allotted in his prime dats of being a government servant. There are many more who little bat an eyelid for owning medical colleges,hospital complexes and malls besides flying on chartered flights although leading a party of so-called communists.
A matter of one’s good conscience. Let the tug of heart not turn into a tug of war.
Gently nudge your loved ones.To give up subsidies on essentials.To elect peoples’ representatives who would legislate to draw only a nominal salary of one rupee each month . Not plunder the public exchequer in guise if being leaders of constituencies of a nation.
Tug-of-heart.
No half-hearted faith. Nor outdated ,regressive religion can work this miracle of hearts.
Only one endowed with a certain kind of heart can pull this coup off…
A golden-heart!
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