Live and let live!

https://www.thecollector.com/greco-persian-wars-timeline/

Humans are a peculiar species. They do not always behave in accordance with their own teachings. Rules are often for others to follow, not themselves. These social beings gather along lines of ethnicity, lifestyle, social standing, and even skin colour. They forget that every one of them has blood of the same colour. They feel happiness or sadness for similar reasons. They love their kin equally, but not necessarily each other's, though. 

Entering a world so cold, ancient Man believed strength came from numbers. A group becomes more powerful when like-minded individuals unite. 

Although everyone is heading towards their own destination and there are no instruction manuals to guide life, each group believes that they alone hold the key to the universe's secret. Sometimes they wonder whether theirs is truly the correct path, and they convince themselves of this by being among those who share the same belief, perpetuating cognitive dissonance. Each group is convinced that the other belief system is on the verge of ruin. If so, they should just leave them to self-destruction. But no! They make it their life's mission to oppress and suppress the other. The glaring example of this can be seen in two events unfolding right before our eyes. 

What began as a small group of warriors spreading their influence beyond their territory some 2,500 years ago grew into the mighty Persian Empire. Like everything else in life, they too had a shelf life. The expanding Islamic Army from the West brought them to an end and ruled over an area so vast that it incorporated many civilisations as its own. They believed they must be doing something right to expand so rapidly. They must be doing God's work. Their Army must be God's Army, and their warriors were fulfilling God's divine duties. Over time, their scriptures began to reflect a similar view, and the eradication of other beliefs became their life's ambition.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2007/12/7/
malaysia-urged-to-protect-temples

Even though this Islamic Empire also crumbled under its own weight, the fringe member groups do not believe so. They are cocksure that it is the conniving work of its enemies. 

Another radical group has emerged in the homeland, insisting that houses of worship of non-Muslims must be destroyed at all costs. This group, comprising mostly converts, 'born agains' - as if they were born from the same wrong orifice the first time around. Perhaps they are uncertain about their conversion and feel insecure about acceptance in society by their peers, so they attempt to appear more Islamic than natural-born Muslims. Their crusade on this mission threatens the societal harmony that Malaysians have built over generations. 

This kind of oppressive culture must surely be wrong and self-defeating. Acquiring knowledge is an ongoing pursuit that never ends. Instead of dismissing others' input, why don't we sit down together, try to see the shared teachings, which I am sure are abundant, and build a better world — one where no superpower destroys another and no group breaks the temple of worship of another.

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Burying the hatchet? Don't leave the handle sticking out!

©Flikr

Many times, people have told me to take it easy. They ask, what is the use of all these negativities? Life is short; you already have one foot in the grave and are living the second half of it. How long will you hold onto the grudge? Make the first move, bury your pride and hatchet, and break the ice. Forgive and forget, they say. Before you know it, you'll be laughing like old friends again. Be the bigger man! Now, how often have you heard that? My question is, why do I always have to make the first move? Don't all these thoughts also cross the other person's mind? Why doesn't he make the first move? These are not just idle musings but essential questions about human relationships and society.

Making the right decision is not a walk in the park. Life often presents us with conflicting lessons, making the journey to forgiveness and forgetting a tough one.

'Turn the other cheek, one says. But yet, another says, 'Snap the hand before it swings a second time.' The pacifist would say, 'Bear injury, bear insult; that is the highest form of merit.' 'You don't have to do anything; karma is a bitch. You don't have to wait till the next birth. Sometimes, you will live to see the payback!' An eye for an eye will only leave the world blind. Amma would throw a spanner into the works if that was not enough. The person who knocks you on your head is a fool, and the person who does not retaliate is a bigger fool.

So, do we 'forgive and forget', 'go for an eye for an eye', 'forgive but don't forget', or be unforgiving, stating that forgiving is the work of the Divine? We are mere mortals.

Historical conflicts continue to cast a long shadow over the present. Each year, Japan commemorates its fallen WW2 heroes, a solemn event that reignites China's grievances over the 1939 Rape of Nanking. The demand for an apology remains unmet, perpetuating the cycle of resentment and unresolved issues.

Conversely, the Japanese did not take offence at the American unnecessary dropping of atomic bombs, which caused indescribable devastation to Japanese lives. Instead of rebelling against the oppressors, they tried to emulate the victors—dressing like them, playing baseball, and prospering as they did. The same applies to Vietnam and the American soldiers waking up to the smell of napalm; the Vietnamese still see the USA as a cash cow and long for their tourists' dollars.

 

The Middle East has experienced ongoing turmoil since the 8th century. Every faction involved in the conflict has an undeniable claim to the lands they fight over. They are even willing to risk their lives for their cause. Like one of the false mothers in King Solomon's court who would rather have the baby cut in two than see its well-being compromised, they allow their treasured land to become a wasteland. Sharing and mutual prosperity are not priorities for them. They should be. In their culture, someone who shares bread is considered a brother or sister. Or is it merely poetic language to comfort the ears?

As our medical services continue to improve rapidly over the years, we anticipate that medical procedures will become increasingly routine. The low rates of morbidity and mortality associated with surgeries persuade us that such issues only occur elsewhere. However, when things do go wrong, what is everyone supposed to do? Medical practitioners may become defensive when patients sign informed consent. The patient might claim ignorance of the risks involved in the procedure, and lawyers would be sharpening their knives. With zero tolerance for adverse outcomes and Murphy's Law lurking in every situation, who gets to forgive and who can forget?

 The media, acting as the Fourth Estate, helps check and balance. Call it overzealous or satisfying the nation's 'need to know'; the public is often flooded with gory information. Justice must be seen to have been carried out and done swiftly. Unnecessary trials by the media have caused many unnecessary heartaches and led to false accusations against innocent people. Even when their innocence is clear, the press does not care; it just moves on with the next gory story. The bereaved can go heal themselves.

 

Losing a life is bad enough. It is worse when the person hasn't lived a full life. Murders, fatal accidents, suicides driven by bullying, and rape-murders often attract media attention today. This obsession with crime and murder has increased so much that many content creators earn a living analysing these crimes. Interestingly, some of these podcasts go beyond the gory details and sensationalism. In a world where the courts are stretched to their limit to seek justice—or is it vengeance?—to give the heaviest sentences to the accused, there are cases where dependents and relatives of victims go as far as forgiving the murderers. Does punishing wrongdoers truly help victims 'rest in peace' or attain moksha?

 

Forget about all those major crimes. Let us focus on relationships close to us. More than once, our loved ones and best friends have wronged us. They may view it as a white lie or even a bad decision due to misjudgment. Humans make mistakes, sometimes influenced by desires or complex emotions. How often have we thought we've been deceived? So often, we tell ourselves, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Life decisions are not easy. They are linked with societal norms and personal convictions.

Forgetting and forgiving are easier said than done. It is not easy for us to snap out of something. We want to remember, as it is our defence mechanism, to prevent a similar heart-wrenching event from happening again. Still, forgetting helps us heal and reintegrate into life. Sincere apologies are a great way to start the healing process. In modern life, according to our legal experts, apologies are considered an admission of guilt. They say that in times of crisis, one should not speak to avoid incriminating oneself. Forgiveness is crucial for emotional health and moving forward. The balance between forgetting and forgiving leads to healthier interactions and personal growth.

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Violence, the necessary evil?

Sun Tzu

A couple was asked how they maintained peace in their household. The husband replied, "we clearly demarcate our respective scope of duties. My wife would handle the smaller issues like what to cook, where to get groceries, and how to balance the household budget." 

I, on the other hand, am left to deal with larger issues, such as peace agreements in Gaza, airport security, and the world's geopolitical strategies. In that way, we do not cross paths. There is peace within the family. 

My secondary school friends, mostly males, seem to have taken the cue from the couple mentioned above. In the WhatsApp group they share, they are quite fierce about condemning one side's perceived cruelty and justifying the other's right to defend themselves during discussions on unrest in the Middle East. Another member would respond by saying violence can never be justified. An eye for an eye would only leave the whole world blind. 

Another wise guy retorted that it is idiotic to subscribe to Jesus' idea of turning the other cheek. Many current commentators are quite certain that it was not Gandhi's passive resistance or satyagraha, which he began in 1907, that led to India’s independence in 1947. They argue that the Royal Indian Navy revolt in February 1946, sparked by the trial of captured Bose's Indian National Army (INA) prisoners of war in Delhi, was the real catalyst. The threat of thousands of sailors mutinying against the colonial authorities terrified the oppressors. Meanwhile, the Indians, left uninformed by the British media about resistance from locally recruited soldiers, suddenly became highly motivated.

Similarly, a select group of individuals in my WhatsApp group support the actions taken by the Palestinians against what they perceive as Israeli oppression. They justify Hamas's stance on 'teaching the Zionists a lesson'. They oppose turning the other cheek, preferring instead to strike the offending hand before it lands a second blow. The former might argue that doing so would make the whole world blind, not to mention the hardships it would cause. They often quote Sun Tzu, who said, 'In war, no one wins,' suggesting that wars should be avoided. In reality, Sun Tzu did not promote abstaining from war. Instead, he advocated using diplomacy, strategies, and intelligence—well before conflict arises—to prevent direct confrontation and bloodshed. 

Justifying Nathuram Godse's violent decision to kill Gandhi, a lifelong advocate of violence, he argued there is a moral duty to resist and overpower an enemy by force. Godse cited examples of Rama and his men fighting Ravana, as well as young Krishna overpowering the tyrant Kansa. History is filled with violence. For one era to end and another to begin, Nature marks it with violence; whether it is the Big Bang, the start of Kaliyuga, or even the extinction of the dinosaurs. 

In that manner, the discussion continued without reaching any conclusions. Everyone clung to the topic until it reached a lull. Then somebody would suddenly go off topic, and at that point, everyone would have another subject to discuss. 

And believe you me, my friends are all Jacks of All Trades who would never admit to being Masters of None. In conclusion, they have simply become very opinionated armchair geopolitical critics who could only stir up a storm in a teacup.

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When two tribes go to war...

Tehran University students, 1971.
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/xmjn15/
tehran_university_students_iran_1971/

Persia's love affair with the Jews dates back to 593 BCE, when Nebuchadnezzar plundered Jerusalem and took the Jews as slaves to Baghdad. He attacked Jerusalem again ten years later, destroying the First Temple and completing their captivity. After spending seventy years in exile in Baghdad, Cyrus liberated them, allowing their return to their homeland. In gratitude for helping the Babylonians, Cyrus enabled the construction of their Second Temple.

Throughout the generations, as Persia was overrun by various empires, including the Abbasid Islamic Dynasty, the Jews remained part of the Persian diaspora during the glorious days of Islam. The Islamic invasion did cause some Jews and Parsees to flee their homeland to various places, including India. Nevertheless, the Persian-Jewish relationship persisted into modern times. The Islamic Empire would claim that the Jews were very content living under the Empire. However, in reality, it is anybody's guess if the present-day opinion of Muslims about Jews is anything to go by.

Iran opposed the Palestine Mandate that aimed to establish the Jewish state of Israel in 1948. Many Persian Jews migrated to the newly formed country of Israel. Interactions between Iran and Israel remained cordial, though they were mainly transactional. Iran was among the first countries in the world to recognise Israel as a sovereign nation. Israel secured oil and finances from Iran, as maintaining a friendly relationship with Iran made considerable sense. It is important to note that the Israelis' neighbours, all of whom were Arabs, were quite hostile. The Persians have always held a sense of superiority, believing themselves to be one step above the Arabs. Therefore, maintaining a good relationship with a major non-Arab, non-Sunni country was crucial.

In the early 1950s, Iranian Islamists criticised Iran's diplomatic relations with Israel and actively collected donations for the Palestinians. They were unhappy with the Shah's close connections to Israel. The Iranian defence system used Israeli arms and was involved in their wars with Iraq. Both countries were also deeply engaged in developing each other's nuclear facilities. All of this changed after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. 

Suddenly, Israel became a 'cancerous tumour' as mentioned by Ayatollah Ali Khameini in 2000 and should be wiped off the surface of the Earth, according to President Ahmadinejad in 2005. Iranian hostility towards Israel grew over the years, mainly via proxies, in Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthis. The climax of all these must surely be Hamas's kidnapping of Israelis at a music festival on October 7, 2023. Finally, a full-scale war between Iran and Israel broke out on June 13, 2025, when Israel conducted strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets. The world is once again at risk of a nuclear meltdown.

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About falling and the moustache...

A jocular Tamil proverb sarcastically portrays a man who denies losing his balance and falling flat on his face on the ground. He would show the people around him a clean moustache devoid of sand. The man hoped the others would believe he was a macho man who never fell. (குப்புற விழுந்தாலும் மீசையில் மண் ஒட்டவில்லை - the said proverb.)

This proverb has been playing in my mind over the past few days during the recently paused India-Pakistan War. 

It started with a band of terrorists crossing over from Pakistan, killing 26 tourists just because they were not Muslims and retreating back into Pakistan. Pakistan vehemently denied being part of the killing or even harbouring any terrorists at all in their country. This heart-wrenching moment, especially the one involving a 6-day married honeymooning couple and a father shot in front of his wife and young son, stirred India to take retaliatory actions.

Both sides flaunted their military toys, and the war games were flagged off. The only thing is that these were not games. People actually died.

Then, the media war started. Both sides were quick to announce their kills and successes. Loud cries of jingoism filled the air. Visuals of destroyed enemy planes and sites filled cyberspace. The only thing is that, as pointed out by their enemies, much of the footage was old pictures of unrelated events. Citing military secrecy, many images of damaged sites were kept under wraps. So what actually happened is anybody's guess.

Finally, both sides seem to be congratulating themselves on a well-done job. Both boast of inflicting much pain and destruction. They claim to be on the side of truth, and truth prevails in the end. Perhaps, time would be the best judge. In time, all the putrefying rots would start stinking. Maybe then, we would know where each country stands. 

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Everyone loses in a war!

Once a war starts, nobody can control its trajectory. The promise of a swift surgical strike with minimal casualties is anything but a fallacy.

We have more than enough examples to tell us this wisdom in our present times, but we just refuse to listen. The Kuwait War and Iraq Wars were just propaganda wars attacking something non-existent. It also proved that there is no such thing as precision bombing with zero casualties. It is no use telling us it is just collateral damage. 

The Vietnam War showed how elections can be lost. When the body count piles up, and the disadvantaged fraction of society bears all the sorrows of seeing their sons returning in body bags while the elite dodges their way from drafting, the public knows they have been taken for a ride. It happens because, like a broken dam, war has a mind of its own that cannot be reined at will.

An episode in the Mahabharata tells us a thing or two about wars. All the war ethics were closely followed until about day 12 of the Kurukshetra War. With the battle heating up, casualties piling, and almost reaching a standstill, the Kaurava side decided to play dirty. Maybe the Pandavas, too. Krishna and Arjuna (of the Pandava clan) were steered away to fight with another faction. At the same time, Arjuna's son, 16-year-old Abhimanyu, was lured into a complex military calyx devised by master strategist Drona. As skilled as Abhimanyu was, he had learned about the military formation. He knew how to get in, but he was not taught how to escape from it. When Abhimanyu was caught in the maze, he was trapped and was unceremoniously killed from the back.

On learning of Abhimanyu's death, Arjuna took revenge the following day.

Legend had it that Jayadratha, who masterminded Abhimanyu's assault, had a special boon. His father, Vriddhakshtra, had learnt about Jayadratha's fall at war by beheading from his birth charts, had done severe penance and subsequently received a boon from Brahma. Whoever drops the son's head on Earth would have his head explode into a thousand pieces. With his unparalleled expertise with his bow and arrow, Arjuna shot Jayadratha's head to land right on the mediating Vriddhakshatra's lap. A shocked father instinctively moved his thigh, causing Jayadratha's head to fall on the floor. Vriddhakshtra's head broke into a thousand pieces as he wished/cursed. Be careful what you wish for; it is one lesson learned from this fiasco. 

Another lesson from this turn of events happened long before this episode when the Pandavas were exiled for losing a game of dice. Jayadratha had acted ungentlemanly with Arjuna's wife, Draupadi. Instead of severely punishing him for his misdeeds, Arjuna and his brothers let him off with a slap on the wrist. If not nipped in the bud, a minor wrongdoing would morph into quite a monster difficult to curtail. Hence, lesson number two is to nip evil in the bud. Do not let it branch out and grow deep roots. 

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Serenity exemplified in Auschwitz!

The Zone of Interest (2023)
Director: Jonathan Glazer

Even though this is about something that happened more than 80 years ago, put in a similar situation, I foresee we humans do the exact thing that we did during World War 2 Nazi rule of Germany. We justify our actions and inaction through the dog-whistle call of the majority without taking a step back and asking ourselves, "Am I doing the right thing?"

Even during peacetime in Malaysia, a section of people is trying to steamroll their agenda to the rest of the country. Any sane person of reasonable intellectual capacity would understand this is not how democracy works. The majority chooses, and the rest would follow suit. Changes are made via constructive discourses at the appropriate forums. This renegade group is trying to change all these. The might of high decibels in the confines of an echo chamber cannot be underestimated.

Like Grobbels, who thought that the propaganda machines of the State could steer the thinking of the majority, small-minded fascists in this country are using mob power backed by their own interpretation of the scriptures to gain political power and to cow the minority into submission.

The thinking majority should be aware of this and not just that. They should also have the gumption to call the bluff. Otherwise, the outcome will be what we see in this movie—the country's machinery used to carry out a dastardly activity for future generations to curse us.

This movie won many accolades for its gruesome (not in graphic representation with gore, violence and blood) depiction of events that may have happened at Auschwitz concentration camp. All the violence, killings and death are only depicted in sounds and indirect visuals.

Serene living beside a concentration camp
in Auschwitz.

It tells the story of the Commandant of Auschwitz and his family as they live in a lovely double-storey bungalow immediately beside the camp. Amidst the background hum of the incinerator, screams of prisoners as they are led to their death and the occasional gunshots, the family leads a happy life. Oblivious to the happenings at the camp, the family grow attached to the bungalow, beautifying it and even refuses to move when the Commandant is transferred elsewhere. The air is filled with bellowing smoke of burning flesh. The river occasionally has fragments of bones discarded after incineration. The compound is strewn with ashes. Still, life goes on happily.

The irony is that the family lives without a care in the world. They conveniently overlook the carnage that happens behind the camp walls. They even have grand plans for the future.

This must be the true meaning of the word banality of evil that Hannah Arendt popularised after the 1948 Adolf Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem. People perform the cruellest of evils, not because they are sociopaths or inherently evil. They do it because the system expects them to behave in a particular way. For them, it is business as usual. It becomes the list of duties that must be completed to qualify for remunerations and promotions.

The mind shuts down. Mindfulness is lost. The higher thinking centres get bypassed. Everyone goes into zombie mode under the hypnosis of the supreme leader. 

(P.S. The director's acceptance speech at the Oscars ceremony has started a storm and could possibly be outcasted by Hollywood. His speech essentially can be interpreted as all that seen in the film was the effect of dehumanisation. His mention of the October 7th incident begs further clarification. Are the Jews, after surviving their aggressors, repeating the dehumanisation policy to the Gaza people? There is no easy answer. Remember, the state of Israel is located amongst neighbours who yearn for its annihilation. Can one practice no violence at the end of the barrel of a gun? 'We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people,' he said.)

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The Elusive Utopia

© Borderless Journal

When I was growing up, the radio was the musical score constantly playing in the background. Blaring between Tamil movie songs and radio dramas were news of the hour and current issue discussions. The things that got imprinted on my impressionable mind as I was transforming from a teenager to a young adult were about violence, wars and bombings. I remember about the war in Vietnam as it was close to home. For every peace talk and the end of war announcement, there would pop up another bombing and a barrage of casualties. My simple mind wondered when the war would end, but it never did. It went on for so long that they had a Tamil film in 1970 named Vietnam Veedu (House of Vietnam), referring to a household forever in family feuds and turmoil....

https://borderlessjournal.com/2024/03/14/the-elusive-utopia/