The Identity Crisis

Who am I? Who are you? Who are we?

I am working for a Japanese automobile company, and after working here for more than three year I really came to know about the meaning of “Oneness”. They answered my question of one breed, one breath and one belief. Though they do not believe in any form of god, any strange rituals, greedy identity of castism and communalism but the thing they believe is working under one flag. August 6, 1945 was the black day in the history of this country. The country of “rising sun” was about to sat; the country was on the verge of finishing. But the unity and oneness that they have shown is not hidden, became the superpower in just 50 years. 1947 we also got the freedom from British rule logically both the country has started at almost same point of time and now they take work from us and we provide services to them on nominal charges. It is immaterial to discuss what they have achieved but the point is how they have achieved. I never heard from any of my Japanese colleague about the word discrimination, discrimination on the basis of age, cast and religion. An older person is always ready to give his cooperation to the younger one even if the younger one holds the higher visiting card. The only question which arises in my mind is why we are so obsessed with these factors? What satisfaction it gives to us when we say, my name is superior, my cast is superior, my religion is superior, my town, my degree, my dog, my mobile phone, my brand of underwear, my state and blah blah blah…the list is endless, everything which is associated to me is superior than the person next to me.

Are we so obsessed with the Identity? Or we became the victim of Identity crisis? Since my childhood I heard many stories and jokes which portrayed that we Indian are the best. Some times joke flows like this, where 3 people are traveling in a plane, American, British and Indian and finally joke ends with a crux that Indian beat both American and British in terms of intellect and behavior. I have seen Indian always win though we loose in many fronts but in “text” we always win. We talk about our great culture and unity in diversity. When I hear the word Unity especially in diversity I just laugh. I laugh because unity is just a word. No one has the willingness to accept other face. Whether its love, hatred, respect or jealousy. We have created an invisible barrier around us that we never allow diverse people to get in and the barrier of “Me superior”. We behave that other peoples are just a breed of morons. A Bihari treated as rickshaw wala, marathi as fool, south Indian as black, bangali as asshole, Punjabi as show off and so on, 28 state 28 categories to define. Irony is within the state also there is discrimination. Love is the last thing that we can do as we give our spare time to god. Before falling in love the checklist is important. The checklist which can satisfy that the person you love and the each and every living organism associated with the beloved holy creature is falling under the perquisite requirement. You never know sometime you have to satisfy the checklist of the pet (if your beloved has got a pet). Where is the spontaneity? Where is Love? And in which dictionary I can find the deifinition of belongingness? Where is freedom of thoughts and flying of imaginations? Life became a kite, a kite which has got many strings attached to it. Anyone can pull the string according to the desire he/she is carrying and the kite has to fly without wind. Where is love dear god?

What prompted me to write this blog is the marriage situation of two birds. The birds were staying on a tree next to my apartment. I have seen the days when the she bird was alone, aloof and at the position where trust was the only a word for her. Nature has sent a he bird for her. The he bird, full of enthusiasm and spontaneity brought lots of smile on her face and things started becoming normal. Both became very good friend and started sharing the joy of being very good friend. He bird was admiring her beauty and playful nature and she bird was admiring his knowledge and livelihood. He bird started looking her as a prospect for life partner and so does she bird. But here came the role of father of she bird, I am not sure what kind of personality that big bird was but certainly he is the victim of identity crisis. My cast, my religion, my tree, my feather, my color and My locality. Life came to an abandoned station where no train can come; friendship had been sacrificed due to identity crisis. And now situation is two birds don’t talk to each other. It may be a pre mature evaluation to judge their situation but this is what I could have observed from my balcony.  Then I realized that we have created this diversity either to increase our own hollow self confidence or to hide our emptiness of knowledge. The knowledge of being self and not skin. We cannot see that this identity is of our skin and flesh.

“Ram naam satya hai”, this is what we pronounce when we carry the load of any dead flesh on our shoulder or become the part of last journey. But for whom we chant? Is it for the flesh which cannot listen, or for self realization that the only truth is the name of “Lord Rama”? This is just a “lip service”, or the best we can give to a dead man. Hardly people realize that the only truth is the name of “Lord Rama”…Bechare Ramji. It is amazing to hear the talk of the people when they reach to the “cremation place” and put the body in fire, While dead body is been transformed into five elements few of some very famous dialogues:

1.      What is life?

2.      What this body is?

3.      Sab yahin dhara ka dhara rah jayega.

4.      Marne ke baad kaun kiska hai.

5.      Bahot achha aadmi tha.

And then people go home and start the same identity crisis again.

            I am still waiting for the day when only love will win. When there will be only one identity, the identity of humanness and not of the flesh. Sri Sri speaks about this Identity and he calls it “tadatm”. The more tadatm will be present the high degree stiffness in the personality will be. Let the love grow, let the knowledge to transcend. Its true that for a moment being everybody start realizing the truth of identity but I want this time period to be more stretched. So that more belongingness can grow and we can spread love in the air not “Tum aur Main”.