Peace interrupted

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too 

Imagine all the people 

Living life in peace 

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one 

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

I can't get the lyrics of John Lennon's song 'Imagine' out of my head. Beautiful song. Catchy tune. Yes as long as it is a song, we can enjoy it. But can we really imagine such a world? A world without boundaries or religion? A world where life does not come cheap? A world where there are no fights and hence no killings? A world where only peace prevails? Very difficult, considering the fact that even though man is a rational animal but more often than not acts out of instinct than out of reason. How else can one explain the wars fought in the past, the atrocities meted out by one on another on the basis of beliefs and the loss of human lives due to bigotry?

Does Lenon's song ring the bell? Isn't it an echo of the thought 'Vasudaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is but one family) found in the Hitopadesha, the Panchatantra and the Mahopanishad? The Cynics and the Stoics of ancient Greece too propagated the idea of cosmopolitanism. Socrates had famously said "I am not a Greek or an Athenian, but I am a citizen of the world." Yet if we look into the history of mankind, we find it ridden with wars, killings, oppression, either due to religious dogmas, borders defining territories, hatred towards a race or simply to prove ones' supremacy. We have clear cut demarcation of ours, mine and yours.

There is chaos prevailing everywhere and in this melee where does peace stand? Has mankind ever given peace a chance? Every era has been a witness to some insurgency or upheaval which has sometimes lasted for generations. The end of every violent act brings with it a hope of a new dawn, only to be brutally cut short by another act of aggression. Thus we can find Ram Rajya only in the mythology. We can only live 'Ram bharose'. This is what the persistent terror strikes in Mumbai have to teach. The day we run out of luck, we could be the next target. The fighting spirit of Mumbai sounds too cliched. People have no option but to go to work. Over the years people have become too used to such attacks. Life just goes on. They say time is the best healer and as time passes, everything just becomes a blur.

The question then remains, 'Are we anywhere close to 'Vasudaiva Kutumbakam' or to being a world citizen?' The answer is a resounding 'NO'. Actually its sound has a good resonance to it, hence it is used by orators while giving a pep talk and the word peace is a fantastic topic for the wide eyed school kids' projects or seminars. In reality it might take eons for it to materialize, and that too is highly skeptical. There is some disturbance, hostility, aggression in every part of the world. Mankind needs to go into an introspection mode which seems highly unlikely in the near future.  Till that time we can keep wondering what this peace talk or being a world citizen all about is and enjoy Lenon's song for its sheer beauty.