Sanctimonious sanctions: sacrilegious sprees

Human nature is as dynamic as the world inhabited by these creatures. There is a constant tussle to fit in. Earlier it was more about brawn, then only brain and then brain and brawn. A perpetual struggle to perform, whether as a member of society, as it evolved, or whether to sustain the levels of excellence achieved, there was always the need to excel physically or mentally or even say emotionally. The underlying principle in most cases being how to make a niche and/or getting ahead. As long as these forays followed the norms set by society at that point of time, there was little disgruntlement, but very often there was a tweaking, a beckoning by the Devil as it were, to change the rules of the game to suit oneself and how!

Since millennia Homo sapiens or human beings, have evolved, devolved and progressed from the days of hunter-gatherers to settlers, emerging perhaps winners only in some fields; chiseling, honing and creating masterpieces, sometimes manifest as entire civilizations and often times as individual magnum opuses. Be it the Sumerians, Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians, Harappans or Aztecs to name just a few.

However, in spite of the nuggets of perfection that they left behind in specific times, for the future generations to marvel at and learn from, ranging from the awe-inspiring Pyramids of Egypt or Sumerian tablets relating entire stories, to the near perfect temples, mausoleums and churches, there is a common thread depicting a not so perfect trait: the insuppressible vicissitudes of human nature!

 A peculiarity, so singularly distinct in every era, yet seeped in eons of the same colour that it is hard to ignore. Topping the list of so called human deviations is the characteristic of treachery and the levels to which humans can drop or stoop, in a split second or gradually, transcending into duplicity is indeed worth looking at.  The tug is so strong that rare is a person who manages to stay unaffected by the gruesome world of intrigue: a slippery, slithering realm that seems to subtly draw the unsuspecting ones in. Once in the snare of these dastardly echelons, the macabre dance begins.   

There is rarely a place for the not so sharp, the not so smart, that is when devious intent comes into play, beginning most often in one individual mind, finally triggering havoc at a collective level. This is done by harnessing similar insecurities or aberrations in other individuals, almost making a lie a truth overnight.  However, if one looks very carefully at the psychological anomalies across time, it is usually the handiwork only of a certain creed of people. And who or what are they? What is their makeup? Are they genetically different? Are they decisively dissimilar?  Who or what actually allows them to spread? Is there a systemic collective failure that allows for the proliferation of profane practices? Or is it the urge to walk on the edge and sound hoity-toity just for the sake of it? What is the most aberrant factor?

To a certain section of humankind it is still acceptable at some levels, as it helps to identify the deviation as an absurdity and keep trouble at bay. But, when it pans out in a manner that there is smugness in every intent of debauchery, when there is celebration of an achievement measuring it only in its end and not even considering the flawed means, when there is scant difference between logic and ludicrous claims of rationality, that is when the balance seems to tip. Not just tip; it is a slide to bottomless pit, all the way.

©Copyright Suverchala Kashyap