It took me 15 years or even more to get the slightest scent of how I was being educated at home since childhood. Yes, my teachers were awesome and made be what I am today. My friends have taught me everything about being a man and how to be a little less selfish than yesterday. But my parents knowingly or otherwise, have contributed so much in my growth.

Still remember the nights when my mom used to recite the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana to me. Daily, without fail, without getting annoyed, without forcing me to sleep, she kept at it. There were times when I did force her to sacrifice her sleep for my story time, but now my mom says it always felt like she was imparting knowledge beyond my realization at the time.

Today, I feel disgusted when people brashly slam the Indian epic sagas as nonsense and is not taught as well as it was some years ago. These days, you can only find the slightest of mistakes, a crack in the wall, to jump upon the practitioners and curse them with your acclaimed WhatsApp-twitter knowledge. Globalization, the opening of the doors to the world, was meant for us to expand our wings, our knowledge and share it with the world. But welcome to the age of social media trolling, hyper-sensitive narrow minded thinking, judgmental take on everything that’s Indian, and of course still maintaining the trends of the west in the highest regard.

How did we go from lets spread the spices and culture of India to lets smear it with adjectives as inhuman and useless? Why did we let ourselves fall prey to the hypocrisy of the naysayers? Why is this a part of the “Woke” culture to not appreciate the intricacies of the temple architecture, which still is a mystery to the world on how it was built, but to fight over the idols kept inside. Why are we not appreciating the Indian culture being the first secular culture ever, but call it as a discriminating cult. The wonderful event of one reinstating their belief in a culture is being viewed as an oppressing act and is condemned by the few who rage on the social media.

The social media warriors are funny and lethal. Many of them are entitled and fail to listen to the other side. Only if everything was black and white in the world, maybe then it would have been easy for me to be as judgmental as them. But what will anyone gain from that. Yes, a cult following for a few days, few other warriors hailing you as the savior of the world. Then what? Are you going to improve the standard of the country or even yourself through this, I wonder. I’ve had many logical arguments on this with my friends and some other arguments where I’ve just been called a pig, insensitive and a threat to the democracy. The polarization always leads to something radical. Either good or bad. But no one thing is going to be accepted as soon as it comes into picture.

When the celebrities join the bandwagon of few suggesting whom you should vote for and vote against, I automatically lose respect for them. I wonder if asking their fans and admirers to vote sensibly, to vote for development is responsibility or asking them to vote for/against a certain party is responsibility. If your fan can watch your movie and like it, then he/she is sensible enough to look at the wrongs and rights and vote. If not then I request you all celebrities to come out and state that your fans and all others are just fools and you and only you know the complete truth.

Meanwhile the killings in the name of religion, the rape epidemic still haunts us. Just when I read about the immense progress of ISRO in my country, I unfortunately still see the listings of rapes and murder occupying the majority of the headlines. Is it the education that we lack or a sense of individual responsibility? If everyone holds themselves responsible for themselves and just the person next to them, wouldn’t it be a good start to challenge this? I feel helpless on not being able to pinpoint a solution. But I figured, being friends with opposite sexes, with friends from all religions and castes does play a major role in letting go of inhibitions. When I meet someone for work or leisure, my mind most of the time doesn’t wander off from the task at hand. I don’t care about other things anymore. To be a winner, to be an alpha is to be at the peak of one’s own physical and mental strength. Why do we have to satisfy our ego by degrading others to fail? This is exactly the trend that I fail to understand with the social media policing.

However, I am certain of seeing a new India incurred with old values and traditions that keeps us together. Certain of seeing a public that looks in the eye of the others, discuss their minds and feel a little more empathic with each passing day. Certain of seeing a day when everyone realize their worth and mistakes through individual responsibility. Certain of seeing a day where the driving goal is to be a little less selfish than yesterday.

The baby next to me woke up crying. As I make funny faces to keep her entertained, I genuinely smile. A world full of radicals, instant shaming, no tolerance for comedy, rioters filled with wrath and misguided hate. A little baby secured in her father’s arms, placing her earnest trust in me, a complete unknown, to keep her happy for the moment. Let me try and reinstate her that she is the world to me at the moment too.