The missing link

One needn't be a physicist or a psychiatrist to figure out that something is severely wrong in the world around us and within us. And it doesn't seem to be getting any better. The obvious reaction to a thought of this kind is understandably, a knee jerk, cynical reaction that every preceding and every succeeding generation would have and would arguably justify, as being a natural growth curve; So why the brouhaha or hullaballoo, one would say?

The reasons are crystal clear and while connecting the dots, one discovers that the missing link lies in a four letter word that is not taboo, but has surprisingly been long forgotten; a four letter word that our ancestors lived with every single day and experienced consciously every moment, making them resilient and/or tensile as was the requirement of the hour. Other four letter words that are obviously over rated and bandied about like a good luck chant or charm are the ubiquitous ‘F’ word, and the Love word: both seem to slide into the most serious, to the most frivolous conversations. Not to mention that the ‘F’ word finds a place of honour in the lexicon of even nine year olds, who carry it around like a badge from King Arthur’s court (that even half of them have heard of him is debatable).

With no aspersions on the current indolent state of affairs, paradoxically everyone is looking for quick fix results and shortcuts to success. Or more importantly looking at a direct access to what is popularly viewed as success.  In the process not only does the missing link take a beating, but it does get petrified and subsequently fossilized, pushing it to the periphery of impending disaster; remaining undiscovered till a big time catastrophe takes place.

The missing link is the simple four letter word called cope.

The dictionary meaning of the word is, deal effectively with something difficult. Some of the synonyms that better describe the four letter word are handle, manage, survive and interestingly the antonyms are of the kinds that make complete sense today: crumble, crushed and beaten.

Corruption, cut throat commercialization and bare greed have become the reigning heroes of our current decadent society and in the light of several disreputable acts that seem to have overtaken our daily lives, it is becoming increasingly necessary to explore this four letter word further and look into its importance holistically, in order to ensure a healthier output from the generation besieged by avarice and discontent.

Surprisingly, I had begun to write this piece about a week ago, but had to leave it midway due to reasons beyond my control. During the process I had consciously decided to stay off newspapers and other forms of news dissemination channels as I did not want to be affected by the negativity that was all around just like flotsam.  

But there is no escape in this wired-wireless world from the overdose of news. Just as I had envisaged, I was hit by yet another futile chain of events the moment I took a peek at the news: Jiah Khan hangs herself; 30 year old tourist gang raped in Manali, Cricket fixing game , gets murkier…the list is, indeed endless, with some unmentionables sprinkling the firmament.      

In each of the cases mentioned, as well as the unmentionables, there is noticeably the absence of a vital ingredient: cope/coping. The inability of a reasonably beautiful, young actress to handle a tough situation with a boyfriend, work and or family; the incapacity of the rapists to cope with themselves and their own sense of well-being, forcing ordinary humans like themselves to fall prey to a moment of inhumanness.

The failure of the system (that usually begins with individuals agreeing upon certain norms, as in the first stage of a family),  to abide by set rules that give space for everyone to grow, has added to the current confoundedness of being. Somewhere along the line all of that has been lost, there is constant competition, lack of self-esteem and very low emotional stability giving the so called missing link time and space to remain missing rather that giving a fillip to coalesce  the pieces of this emotional divide.

So one needs to ponder on what was so special about just half a century ago that drove people to cope, to tolerate, to accept, to discover? What was it that kept them from being petty and self-obsessed? What is it indeed? 

©Copyright Suverchala Kashyap