Awakening

There is a saying in English which goes something like, if you strew roses in someone else’s path, you can’t do it without letting some of the scent left behind onto your hands. But it leaves a perturbing question: what if the sole purpose of strewing flowers is to get scent onto hands? It does make the deed morally insignificant, but does it take away the fact that the roses may gladden a heart unconcerned about the intentions. Is intention more important than the deed? Or can we just ignore the intentions behind an action and focus on the benefits of the action?

Human beings are inherently selfish species. A sacrifice maybe made with an intention of getting mental peace or fulfilling one’s responsibility or winning accolades—but each of the above actions reeks of selfishness or more acceptably self-preservation. So why is it that Homo sapiens need to hide their selfishness behind the curtains of charity and public service? Why is that the benefits of actions are assigned lesser importance than the intentions behind the actions?

If we take a trip into the history of human politics, a striking fact stands out—intentions have never been a stronghold of politicians or for that matter most of the public figures. So why is it that we still want to adhere to the belief of a “self-righteous politician with honest intentions”?

The adherence to the above belief is the sole reason behind the criticism levied against Baba Ramdev. The yoga guru is accused of fasting to serve his own political motives; he is under constant attack for misusing people to his own political advantage. But the question still remains, why are we so focussed on intentions? Why don’t we concentrate our thoughts on the positive impact that this strike is having on the society? Is it right to discredit the entire campaign against corruption just because the perpetrator of the campaign travels in chartered planes? Is it right to ignore the awareness that this campaign is spreading among its masses? There is no disputing the claim that Baba has his following among the poorest strata of society—the section unreachable by any form of media; the same section that plays a very important role in formation of the government; the section that lacks the ability to judge the pros and cons of a national problem and is easily influenced by the politicians. The government’s insecurity regarding Ramdev may be attributed to the fact that Ramdev through his campaign has reached people which otherwise only local politicos with no noble actions could reach before.

The time has come when we should focus on the positive impact of the campaign and not let the shadow of so called ill intentions over influence our perception of this national awakening.