The Art of Leaving
THE ART OF LEAVING
As I proceed with my thoughts, it will be clear that this has nothing to do with the discourses delivered by the well-known public figure who has been credited with the noble job of teaching on how to live in this stressful world of today. It's a different question that such inputs would not normally reach the audience for free.
But here I will try to touch upon only one aspect of the emotional, physical and practical basis of day-to-day human action/inaction in a given situation-- the art of "leaving".
To make the discussion point a little more clear and being a football lover, I am easily drawn toward a fact that happens in a football ground. It is a treat for the eyes to see a player keeping the ball to himself for a long time despite stiff opposition from the opponents who may sometimes take resort to rough tackles too. But we adore the player who has such wonderful skill , at the same time knows exactly when to leave the ball for a better prospect for his team. The same is true of the hard-hitting batsman in cricket too. One is great only when he shows the right temperament and judgement that allows an incoming ball to speed past him untouched to the gloves of the wicketkeeper.
The practice of the art of leaving in the world around us may be explored from different vantage points:-
1) Booming Bandwagon
Thanks to our multi-party democracy ! Whenever someone does not feel comfortable with his/her existing political existence or vice-versa; there is no dearth of another political entity to move over to for better political prospect. In India there are many breakaway political parties. Very few of these have differences on economic and political principles among themselves. Most of these have their origin rooted in clash of personalities in the mother party on the question of leadership. Hence in the world of politics of state power, we have become accustomed to see floor-crossing by the political activists day in and day out. It only becomes news, when known faces in the highly-contested political arena move over to the rival camp. The stock explanation for his/her mind change is his/her "pious" desire to 'serve' the people in a better and more effective way. It does not matter what he/she has spoken in public against his/her latest choice few days back. This practice has become so common in politics that the members of the public do not consider it to be a big issue in election time and do not question their political integrity either. Many of them who make the "right' choice at the "right" moment do not find it difficult to register success in electoral hustings. However it does not require the knowledge of rocket science to realise the real reason for leaving a party that he/she has been aligned with for years. One may fail in such venture too sometimes, if one has not been able to imbibe the "ART OF LEAVING" successfully.
2)" Leave-it-First" vs. " Give-it-Up
The present government at the Centre would not do away with the policy of providing State subsidy for essential consumer goods altogether, we are told very often. But they would rather prefer a subsidy regime that aims at providing the same to the target groups only. The government subsidy in LPG distribution is a case in point. Release of subsidy through bank account of the customer was the first step towards this direction. Now the Central Govt. has started a campaign to exhort the affluent section of the LPG consumers to give up the subsidy part of its price voluntarily for the sake of those who really deserve it. In fact lakhs of consumers are reported to have surrendered their privilege of enjoying the benefit of getting subsidized LPG cylinders already.
But this call by the Prime Minister to the nation appears incongruous, if not ludicrous, in the background of a RTI revelation that the Govt. had spent Rs.60.7 crore to subsidise the food items available in the Parliament canteens in last five years. The appeal to leave the subsidy coverage gradually by the affluent section of the society would certainly lose its momentum by such revelations of embarrassing kind. The leaders must learn to LEAVE the world of privileged class first and only then it will lend credibility to what they preach to their fellow countrymen.
3) To Leave or to Live
It is not very unusual to witness a person or two getting beaten up mercilessly in the open by a stronger group--sometimes to death in city roads as well as in rural areas, in the presence of a crowd. The people around are either too afraid or unconcerned to come to the rescue of the victim(s). Some mobile-savvy person may even grab the occasion to capture the scene in his camera to share the same with his friends and family members as a better option before them. Many would say that if they did intervene with a proactive mind, later they might find themselves entangled in unwarranted police cases running for years. This may not be entirely untrue, going by our existing system of policing and administration of justice.
But things are different for the political bigwigs and other celebrities They have little or no fear of such harassment during the investigation process. Even if it occurs, he/she would have thousands of people to raise their voice against such unwarranted situation. How many of such VIPs are known to have taken proactive steps in combating such cases of violent action in public places happening in their presence?
On the other hand many of them are accused of deserting the trouble spots hurriedly leaving the victims to fend for themselves. Two such cases widely reported in the national media as also in social network may be recalled in this connection. The first one involves one of the most popular actors of Bollywood involved in an alleged hit-and-run case that left one dead and four injured. The matter is sub judice and it can not be said whether the actor was directly involved in causing the death and injury to the victims. The court verdict may be awaited on that account. But perhaps it has not been denied by the actor in the ongoing court proceedings that he left the place of occurrence unhurt immediately after the mishap. Did he care to look back what had happened to the victims sleeping on the footpath in late night ? Incidentally these days he is reported to be actively engaged in humanitarian work like supporting the charitable trust called "Being Human Foundation".
In another case a couple of weeks back the car, the famous actor of yester years (a people's representative to boot) was travelling in collided with another on the highway causing death to a four-year old child and serious injuries to her parents. The actor herself got injured too. She left in another SUV that came to her assistance, with her driver and another companion leaving the other crumpled car with its severely-injured passengers including a four-year old child. The child was left on the roadside far too long without any medical help and could not survive the injuries. Neither the " good Samaritan" who took the actor to a hospital nor the actor herself who was conscious and was on her feet cared to look toward the fate of the occupants of the other car a little distance away. Lack of space in the" rescue" car was assigned to be the reason for not accommodating the severely-injured child in it while taking the actor to a city hospital. But the driver of the actor's car was seen walking into the police station without any visible signs of serious injuries next day. Many would say if the child could reach the same hospital promptly along with the injured actor, she might have defeated death. True, nobody could say anything for sure on that. But there are many who would accuse the actor of gross callousness for leaving the injured baby on the road and taking only men in her group to receive best possible medical assistance. Incidentally she is an activist associated with PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) ! What about human beings ?
It appears that there are people who are deft enough to raise the act of '' leaving'' to the level of an art, no matter if such actions are questioned on ethical grounds and tarnish their image in public eyes very often.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I proceed with my thoughts, it will be clear that this has nothing to do with the discourses delivered by the well-known public figure who has been credited with the noble job of teaching on how to live in this stressful world of today. It's a different question that such inputs would not normally reach the audience for free.
But here I will try to touch upon only one aspect of the emotional, physical and practical basis of day-to-day human action/inaction in a given situation-- the art of "leaving".
To make the discussion point a little more clear and being a football lover, I am easily drawn toward a fact that happens in a football ground. It is a treat for the eyes to see a player keeping the ball to himself for a long time despite stiff opposition from the opponents who may sometimes take resort to rough tackles too. But we adore the player who has such wonderful skill , at the same time knows exactly when to leave the ball for a better prospect for his team. The same is true of the hard-hitting batsman in cricket too. One is great only when he shows the right temperament and judgement that allows an incoming ball to speed past him untouched to the gloves of the wicketkeeper.
The practice of the art of leaving in the world around us may be explored from different vantage points:-
1) Booming Bandwagon
Thanks to our multi-party democracy ! Whenever someone does not feel comfortable with his/her existing political existence or vice-versa; there is no dearth of another political entity to move over to for better political prospect. In India there are many breakaway political parties. Very few of these have differences on economic and political principles among themselves. Most of these have their origin rooted in clash of personalities in the mother party on the question of leadership. Hence in the world of politics of state power, we have become accustomed to see floor-crossing by the political activists day in and day out. It only becomes news, when known faces in the highly-contested political arena move over to the rival camp. The stock explanation for his/her mind change is his/her "pious" desire to 'serve' the people in a better and more effective way. It does not matter what he/she has spoken in public against his/her latest choice few days back. This practice has become so common in politics that the members of the public do not consider it to be a big issue in election time and do not question their political integrity either. Many of them who make the "right' choice at the "right" moment do not find it difficult to register success in electoral hustings. However it does not require the knowledge of rocket science to realise the real reason for leaving a party that he/she has been aligned with for years. One may fail in such venture too sometimes, if one has not been able to imbibe the "ART OF LEAVING" successfully.
2)" Leave-it-First" vs. " Give-it-Up
The present government at the Centre would not do away with the policy of providing State subsidy for essential consumer goods altogether, we are told very often. But they would rather prefer a subsidy regime that aims at providing the same to the target groups only. The government subsidy in LPG distribution is a case in point. Release of subsidy through bank account of the customer was the first step towards this direction. Now the Central Govt. has started a campaign to exhort the affluent section of the LPG consumers to give up the subsidy part of its price voluntarily for the sake of those who really deserve it. In fact lakhs of consumers are reported to have surrendered their privilege of enjoying the benefit of getting subsidized LPG cylinders already.
But this call by the Prime Minister to the nation appears incongruous, if not ludicrous, in the background of a RTI revelation that the Govt. had spent Rs.60.7 crore to subsidise the food items available in the Parliament canteens in last five years. The appeal to leave the subsidy coverage gradually by the affluent section of the society would certainly lose its momentum by such revelations of embarrassing kind. The leaders must learn to LEAVE the world of privileged class first and only then it will lend credibility to what they preach to their fellow countrymen.
3) To Leave or to Live
It is not very unusual to witness a person or two getting beaten up mercilessly in the open by a stronger group--sometimes to death in city roads as well as in rural areas, in the presence of a crowd. The people around are either too afraid or unconcerned to come to the rescue of the victim(s). Some mobile-savvy person may even grab the occasion to capture the scene in his camera to share the same with his friends and family members as a better option before them. Many would say that if they did intervene with a proactive mind, later they might find themselves entangled in unwarranted police cases running for years. This may not be entirely untrue, going by our existing system of policing and administration of justice.
But things are different for the political bigwigs and other celebrities They have little or no fear of such harassment during the investigation process. Even if it occurs, he/she would have thousands of people to raise their voice against such unwarranted situation. How many of such VIPs are known to have taken proactive steps in combating such cases of violent action in public places happening in their presence?
On the other hand many of them are accused of deserting the trouble spots hurriedly leaving the victims to fend for themselves. Two such cases widely reported in the national media as also in social network may be recalled in this connection. The first one involves one of the most popular actors of Bollywood involved in an alleged hit-and-run case that left one dead and four injured. The matter is sub judice and it can not be said whether the actor was directly involved in causing the death and injury to the victims. The court verdict may be awaited on that account. But perhaps it has not been denied by the actor in the ongoing court proceedings that he left the place of occurrence unhurt immediately after the mishap. Did he care to look back what had happened to the victims sleeping on the footpath in late night ? Incidentally these days he is reported to be actively engaged in humanitarian work like supporting the charitable trust called "Being Human Foundation".
In another case a couple of weeks back the car, the famous actor of yester years (a people's representative to boot) was travelling in collided with another on the highway causing death to a four-year old child and serious injuries to her parents. The actor herself got injured too. She left in another SUV that came to her assistance, with her driver and another companion leaving the other crumpled car with its severely-injured passengers including a four-year old child. The child was left on the roadside far too long without any medical help and could not survive the injuries. Neither the " good Samaritan" who took the actor to a hospital nor the actor herself who was conscious and was on her feet cared to look toward the fate of the occupants of the other car a little distance away. Lack of space in the" rescue" car was assigned to be the reason for not accommodating the severely-injured child in it while taking the actor to a city hospital. But the driver of the actor's car was seen walking into the police station without any visible signs of serious injuries next day. Many would say if the child could reach the same hospital promptly along with the injured actor, she might have defeated death. True, nobody could say anything for sure on that. But there are many who would accuse the actor of gross callousness for leaving the injured baby on the road and taking only men in her group to receive best possible medical assistance. Incidentally she is an activist associated with PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) ! What about human beings ?
It appears that there are people who are deft enough to raise the act of '' leaving'' to the level of an art, no matter if such actions are questioned on ethical grounds and tarnish their image in public eyes very often.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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