When you have always told yourself that Goa is a harmonious and peace-loving state, and you notice the scaling numbers of murder; you start to wonder whether you were living under the illusion. Every single day (I do not want to sound cliché) you take the newspapers and read or turn on your televisions or YouTube Channels you have a mention of thievery, murder, and other social crimes. St. Paul writing to Romans tells us that we should be indebted to the other only in love. He specifies four of the commandments that we should obey strictly. He reminds, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet.” But with the news that surrounds us, it seems we are adamant not to follow these at all.
When incidences such as these happen, we tend to ask ourselves, what is the influence that makes one commit these crimes? Could it be the rich and poor divide? Could it be a financial necessity? Could it be jealousy? Could it be pride? Could the TV serials like CID or Crime Patrol or killer thrillers we watch have a lasting and dramatic impact on us? Could it be the brutal and violent games we play on our Play Stations? Has our value system gone corrupt? Have we largely turned immoral during the impending pandemic?
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We may not be able to derive answers for all these questions, but we can give it a shot at mending ourselves. H. P. Lovecraft who wrote intensively on fear or short stories evoking fear said, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Lovecraft unearthed fear of the unknown and presented that the human race is insignificant amidst supernatural beings. Fear is an intrinsic and powerful human emotion. Fear makes us cautious of the impending danger. It alerts us, making us live lives consciously. When at first we heard of coronavirus we didn’t know what it was, or what a person’s experience is when affected, and how to curtail its spread. But as days passed, we learnt a few protocols and tried to safeguard ourselves. But there was that fear of the unknown. “What will happen to me or us?” was the question that kept recurring in our minds. When we do not know what the future upholds we fear.
Perhaps, fear was the motive, because of which a lover murdered his fiancé and people on ‘supari killing’ committed the brutal crime at Margao or it could be for the sheer pleasure that they got into the heinous acts.
So whether it is a bad influence, our sin of pride, jealousy, disruption of our value system or just fear of the unknown, we ought to address it. If it is a bad influence, we need to expose ourselves to good and given the technological age we are at a point where we can make a good choice for ourselves when it comes to visual entertainment. And when it comes to bad influences from our relationships, we either have to tell ourselves to stop these toxic relationships or ask help as to better the friendships. Friends can be powerful influencers. So, friendship should be checked.
If it is our pride and jealousy, we must seriously be aware of it. When I am aware of it, I can handle it efficiently. You become proud because you feel that there is no other better than you. You get jealous because you feel that it is only you who must have or enjoy all the good things that are around. Awareness of one’s pride will help break the garb and make oneself realize the greatness and importance of the other. It is good to be proud of one’s achievements but it should never be used against depriving the other the good he or she deserves. Or pride should never be used to put the other down.
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Values I always believe are caught no one can teach them. There should be exemplary people around us who can teach us while they do it in action. Are we then lacking positive examples? The answer could be a yes and a no. Even if there are examples we may not be aware of them because we are busy with our hullabaloo of life. Just a glance at the world around us, we also notice an immoral world. These are bad examples that leave a pessimistic view of life. Therefore it is vital that on regular basis we update ourselves on the goodness of having these values instilled in us because these values make us sensitive and caring people.
Fear of the unknown has always been and will continue to exist because it is a territory of the uncertain and unfamiliar. And bracing these fears makes us stronger. Facing these fears and coming out victorious proves our intelligence and our calibre. Whether it is the supernatural or unseen, humanity has so far learnt to adapt, comprehend and give it a good fight. The present time is a remarkable history of this fact.
Addressing certain issues may help rectify our past mistakes and make us gentle, humble and caring human beings. Let not our efforts to wipe off this curse of humanity go frail.
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