The Vivekean Version of the Prodigal Son

(An Extract from Indians in Pakistan, the Action Thriller on terrorism)

‘It was all my fault,’ I said frankly. ‘I was blind then but now I see the truth. You were right and I was wrong.’
‘Mother would have been happy to see you,’ he told me, sadly. ‘Too bad she’s not around.’
‘Wh - where is she?’ I asked, looking around frantically for her.
‘It’s too late,’ he said. ‘She’s no longer in this world.’
‘Mother, mother,’ I continued, not heeding him. ‘Mother where are you?’
‘She’s dead, dear brother. She’s in heaven now.’
‘No, it cannot be. She cannot die! I need to tell her how much I love her. I need to tell her how sorry I am for walking away. I wanted to introduce her to Najma, my wife. I wanted to - ’

Words failed me at that moment and I sank to my knees. There were plenty of kind words from everyone around but there was nothing that could console me – not even the beautiful hands of Najma wrapped around my neck. I was truly inconsolable.

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Exposing the Medieval Mindset

Today I visited the local fish market and was surprised to hear fisherwoman bargaining in English using words like “fresh”, “expensive” and “twelve hundred.” Yet, nearly a month ago, I saw several participants getting punished for using English phrases during day-to-day conversations in India’s premier reality show, Big Boss. Why is this anti-English idea being mooted on popular television shows when most of the world has adopted the language as their own and the world has gone truly global? Are TV show producers steadily succumbing to the paranoia of the medieval mindsets.

 

And, by the way, what is a medieval mindset? In the period following the collapse of the Roman Empire from the 5^th century right up to the sixteenth century religion ruled the roost. All the major religions of the world came into prominence during this period but culture declined. The followers of these modern religions were just as brutal and barbaric as their pagan counterparts. The Christian armies burnt and even ate the corpses of their foes during the crusades at the start of the previous millennium.  

The Renaissance in the 15^th and 16^th century came as a breath of fresh air to the sea of unenlightened humanity who just could not look out of the box they had so ‘religiously’ prepared and entrapped themselves in. But the medieval mindset continued on and has survived even up to this day of tablets, Smartphones, iPods and YouTube videos. 

Unfortunately, fascists as in Egypt and possibly in India as well, the chief proponents of this medieval mindset, are being elected to power all over the world. We can ignore this threat to our own peril. People accept them as a means of change from all that is not right with their present systems, but they could be in for a rude shock when the change does happen!

Excerpt from My Novel 'Indians in Pakistan'

 ‘And how did the Americans become the enemies?’ Irfan queried. ‘Weren’t they the ones who gave us money and arms, and dug tunnels for the mujahideens and even the Al Qaeda?’

‘I just love it when you lads ask questions,’ said the trainer cheerfully. ‘Of course, they were our friends at one point of time. They helped us in Afghanistan. They gave Pakistan plenty of aircrafts, weapons and money to fight India. In fact, Nixon, the American President, sent a warship to the Bay of Bengal to attack India in 1971. Unfortunately, the war got over before it could launch an attack. But America did everything for its own selfish reasons. It was the height of the Cold War, and America viewed India and Afghanistan through the prism of paranoia. They feared that these two countries which were close to the former Soviet Union would pose a major threat to their imperialistic plans. They have always been imperialists and infidels. It’s only now that we have begun to realize this sad truth. The mighty Osama was wise enough and realised this quickly, and so he kept on attacking the Americans especially when they meddled in our affairs.’

‘But the Pakistan government and army still maintain good relations with the US,’ Irfan pointed out.

‘We receive aid from them,’ said Razzak, with a look of disgust on his face. ‘So, we have to fool them into thinking that we are on their side. We take their money and pretend as if we’re doing a lot when we’re actually doing nothing for them. Whatever action the army has taken against other jihadis is in the interest of Pakistan itself and not for the US. It’s all an act, you know. Of course, there are some traitors in the army and government who are close to the Americans. That’s why we killed Benazir Bhutto. We killed her because she was an American spy. We even killed Daniel Pearle, another American spy who posed as a journalist.’

‘And now the Americans have a nuclear deal with India,’ I remarked pointedly. ‘They are trying to destroy Pakistan with India’s help.’

Razzak appeared happy to note that his lecture had started to influence us, and we were beginning to realize the gravity of the threat posed by our main enemies. Mere words are enough to start wars or stop them. Mere words are enough to get someone to kill himself or somebody else. Mere words are known to have triggered revolts and destroyed great empires. Truly, the power of words has been grossly underestimated through the ages.

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