Love is not a business

 

Love is not a business

it doesn’t ask - what I get?

it asks - what can I give?

and the best gift a person can give

is their undivided time and attention

a flower offers its beauty, its fragrance

without asking anything in return

but like all beautiful things

it is fragile and prone to decay

it is not a logic of market

that thrives on calculation

it is a logic of home

that thrives on care and respect

if you want a society based on love

answer this question first

isn’t love exclusive?

does it not discriminate by definition?

how can you love a stranger?

you ask important questions

but you do not understand love

or love has not happened to you

truest love happen between strangers

you love not because you know

but because you don’t know

when something projects outwards from you

and is grabbed at by the stranger

and it doesn’t stop there

it moves from one to another

when the other was so strange and still love

then love can happen to others who are strange

but tell me what is love?

love is care, love is respect

love is a wish that the other thrives and flourish

love fulfills you without any reason

it gives without asking

without seeking acknowledgement

without expecting anything in return

it makes you blind to other’s faults

even makes you love the other’s imperfections

it may not seem to be wholly rational

but love has its own reason

its own vocabulary

it understands reason as a human construct

that is susceptible to revolution,

to paradigm shifts

i believe in love

because i know no better thing to believe in

and if you can see where I am coming from,

you too would see the ugliness of power

manifested in capital, machines and weapons

power sees human to be an appendage

to a machine, to a system

a mere automaton

that labours, eats and sleeps

but love is romantic at heart

it raises a person to exalted heights

it makes us humble, it makes us curious

and it is wholly human

it grows by giving

and giving is not a substraction but an addition

and there is not a joy comparable

to the joy of reciprocrated love

do you know what pains love the most?

what taints its sublime joy?

the state of the world

the poverty, the inequality

the fights, the wars

the neglect, the indifference

the utter absurdity of things

the folly, the stupidity of men

that those who work the hardest

are the ones who suffer the most

a group of women have to travel

long distances in the exhausting heat

just to fetch a pale of water

a farmer takes a loan to till,

fertilize, irrigate, protect his crop

only to find his work undone

by the weather gods

despairs and commits suicide

a child growing up in the village

learns the ways of his father and mother

only to learn that what he learnt is not enough

to lead a life of dignity and civility

it is not so that we do not know

we know this in plenty

but throw up our hands, mindboggled,

saying what can we do?

such is the destiny, such is the nature

or even worse, knwoing and still ignoring

surely, another’s problem is not my problem

living comfortably in our little bungalows,

travelling in our little cars

and working in our little offices

do you see the problem now

with the business as usual?

it is not a matter of resources

we spend them on cars and rockets

the latest gadgets and state of the art warfare

it is a matter of will

a river cleans itself if waste is stop being poured in

the villagers, the subaltern, the hard-working

will be better off, if left alone

the contact with state, the markets, the academia

corrupts them too and they too believe then

that money is the panacea of all problems

there are two opposing forces - money and love

and neither understands the logic of the other

money is restless, love is patient

money is insecure, love is sure

money is anxious, love is confident

money is boastful, love is humble

as long as the money is the business of the world

love will seem strange and out of place

since they do not understand each other

the one mistakes the other for insanity

in a society of love

there will still be problems

but they will be good problems

because love’s problems are after all love’s problems

and one will rather solve love’s problems

than contribute to the sickness of society

we are on a threshold 

and the clock is ticking

either we change our ways 

or nature will change it for us

a new world will surely arise

the only choice we have is whether

we want to be part of it or not?

Humanity

O Friend, my friend

Do not let your heart harden

i do not pretend to know

the consequences of your poverty

it must be exhausting

doing something you don’t want

to get through the day 

and barely survive

to go to sleep still hungry

to see your children grow up

without education, without a future

i do not pretend to know

i only know i cannot imagine

living the life you live

with no hope, with daily struggle

to barely make the ends meet

i would be angry at the Sun

that comes every morning mercilessly

bringing with it

more toil, more work

work that has no meaning

work that serves no purpose

i would be angry at the mountain

which stands tall and magnificent

never changing, reassured of its beauty

how it mocks me and my existence?

i would be angry at the human society

wonder at its hypocrisy

which has reached the moon,

but has not reached the poor

which pretends to be progressive

but fails to protect the vulnerable

it is a profoundly sick society

that respects the cunning

but abhors the simple

because the powerful and the rich are insecure

so they imagine the whole humanity as insecure

they are the controller of destinies

and are ruthless and efficient in their functioning

the only right they know is the right to exploit

the courts and the police act as their henchmen

the law of the jungle has become the law of society

where the wild and immoral rule by fiat

and the weak and obedient are made to suffer

still i would urge to not loose the heart

for it is your labour, your work

that makes the world go around

the struggle is incessant

the toil is back-breaking

and every new technology disrupts

whatever security you may have found

we are all culprits and responsible

for the misery and destitution you suffer

i cannot change the situation overnight

so i do not promise you the moon

for i am too but a drop in the ocean

but i can commit to you one thing

that i will never sleep content and with peace

as long as there is oppression

and unnecessary suffering

i urge you to take the heart

the hour is dark with no glimpse of light

i am at a loss to find how to change the world

i promise that I will expose society’s complacency

in wilful participation in an unjust world

the people defeated feudalism

so they can defeat capitalism

and there are still voices that advocate your case

take heart and do not despair

for the darkest hour is also the most restless

and from this may spring a glimmer of hope

to a world where humanity becomes a world religion!

Emancipation

Emancipation will bring joy

not only a freedom from exploitation

but a freedom to create

like two elements cross a barrier

to be in loving communion

so can humans bridge their differences

to participate in each other’s freedom

when the law of the market will loose its grip

and the law of human happiness will replace it

when someone working in Sun will be valued

as much as the one working in a posh office

when the struggle for survival is overcome

and replaced by a striving for shared flourishing

when Earth is no longer a warehouse of resources

but a fragrant abode dancing with joy

when free citizens will make power irrelevant

when love will guide justice

when differences will not be feared

when there is no asymmetry or hierarchy

when the human neither suppresses desires

nor does he over indulge the passions

when society attains a golden mean

not crossing ecological boundaries

and poverty and want will be history

this is not a romantic dream of an idiot

this is not a denial of human fragility

what it is - is a denial of a certain cynicism,

a certain wickedness, a certain pessimism

of what good is our birth if we cannot create joy,

if we cannot love, if we cannot do justice?

existence will then appear to be absurd

something without meaning, something terrible!

isn’t a child’s smile, its first steps

an evidence against such nonsense?

We cannot change the fact of oxygen, food

and digestion, respiration and circulation

but we can change the facts of society

the world is a human creation

and the humans can change the human laws

with our commitment, with our dedication

with our unwavering faith in the good and the beautiful

it is a call to break the chains of pain and sorrow

and awaken to the joy of the good and the beautiful

for long we have been sold the myth of scarcity

for long we have been afflicted with greed and meanness

what more does a human need than protection and shelter,

freedom from hunger and freedom from pain?

The Earth may not have enough minerals and oil

for everyone to have a car, a plane or a yatch

but the Earth has enough for everyone

to have a home, food, protection from elements

and when we have everything we need,

aren’t we free to create, share and thrive?

and so it is a dream of a new world

a world devoid of conflict and competition

but one of shared effort and cooperation

a new relationship, a new understanding

where domination and exploitation do not rule

where there is freedom and there is responsibility

where members of a same species are not divided

by race, gender, caste and nationalities

where a new religion of humanity reigns

where new friendships are forged

and old enmities are forgotten

where technologies do not enslave people

where they do not surveil, control, exploit or kill

but enhance the human capabilities

and reduce the human toil and effort

it is a vision of an emancipated world

where instead of a war of all against all

there is a friendship of all with all

and so unburden your mind

and lighten your heart

and let yourself be guided by love and justice

if the times seem dark have the courage,

have the sense of humour to laugh at the human folly

for it is really a folly to fight and destroy

when the existence is abundant and bountiful

it is a folly of an insecure mind that hoards

and tries to bind and control the human spirit

and know that 

however much the madmen try

the victory belongs to the free-spirited and light-hearted!