Death, it is said, is the only fact of which we can be 100% certain; no need to fight over it. And, no space for believers or unbelievers unlike the existence of God!
It is the only proposition on which there has never been a debate at the Oxford Union which is the holy citadel and mecca of all people who want to hone their rhetorical and oratorial skills. No, this topic is not open for discussion. It is closed! And, so we open a new topic: After life? This is where religion begins; enter the priests and scholars and philosophers, and a projection of all our dreams and desires. But death is one side of the coin. Only because there is death do we have life, as we cannot have one without the other. We need to appreciate death and even be thankful for it, otherwise we would not be here at all. Some people, especially Americans, try to cheat death and, so far, they have only been successful in cheating themselves. The rich, at times, keep their bodies in cold storage. Do they use formalin? Don't ask me, ask the FDA. If death is certain, wouldn't human beings want to celebrate life and living? That is logical, isn't it? Even though we have been taught in school how God created man in his own image and how man is rational, looking around you or reading the history of human beings, can this really be true? History is a record of wars all over the world, including in our country. No matter how much we may hold up the mirror of spirituality the facts sink us fully. We, human beings, are violent and might even use violence to defend our image of spirituality and non-violence. That much we know and learn without even having to go to school. Do human beings really want peace or is living in a peaceful world too boring? Peace - cynics tell us - is only an interval and a time when we prepare for the next war. Are the critics really being cynical? For there have been more than five thousand wars in the previous two millennia. Our report card is poor, no matter how much we may try to fudge it. Maybe there is in human beings the need to kill, and so we go to war every decade or two. Since the Second World War, how many wars have there been around the world? And, we no longer fight with bows and arrows or sticks and stones. Scientists tell us human knowledge nowadays doubles every ten years unlike in the past when it took centuries. But have humans beings changed? Aren't our mindsets the same? What is the future of the world when the development of science is moving at a tremendous pace, and we can now destroy the world several times over using nuclear weapons? Great progress accompanied by a retarded human perspective on life? We can, most of us, only work on a micro level, and hope to make some progress by protecting our immediate environment: our rivers, sea, air, food and earth to a limited extent - on the micro level - only if our greed level is also micro. No need for grandstanding. Today in Goa our air and rivers are polluted. Fishing and tourism are safe industries. Government needs to make sure hotels and casinos do not release their sewage into our rivers. Why can't government make sure they follow the rules? The formalin fish problem can open doors to a healthier Goa. Stop imports of fish from other states and stop exports. Goa has a lot of new hotels and people who live in Goa are from all over India. Goan food habits have also changed over the years. Goans eat all kinds of fish today. No need for export of fish. We cannot depend on spot checks of imported fish from other states as it is playing matka with the health of the people who live or visit Goa. It is unacceptable. A famous sage reminds us how all wars begin in chai shops. Maybe, not just chai shops but also in the kitchen.