A NEW WORLD WAR WITH A DIFFERENCE

Hope, Hope, Hope. Hoping against hopes. That keep human beings move forward which is inherent in every individual. With the lose of hopes, people get frustrated, disappointed and disillusioned with life. Some turn depressed which in turn lead them to dipsomania, drug-addiction, God-negation (sorry, God-negation has nothing to do with atheism, it is something different) and absurdity and meaninglessness of life, cynicism, even suicides.
Regarding God-negation, what is required or essential to mention here is, it had its genesis since the Second World War and its after-effects. The existence of a merciful, caring God came into question, quite natural and justifiable it was and that thought of a merciless God created a new genre of thinkers and philosophers, existentialist philosophy of a different kind, that of negation of God came into existence. Jean-Paul-Sartre, Albert Camus, Simon De Bauvier, Samuel Becket, Ionesco, all entered the scene - a new line of thinkers and writers were they - which could create a sort of intellectual revolution of sorts in the western countries. The threats, agonizing moments spent in concentration camps, seeing death face to face, the members who were gunned down were countless by the firing-squad in the Nazi concentration camps, the holocaust which led to the mass slaughter of millions of jews and round the clock bombardments leading to the destruction and devastation throughout. The fight between the Allied forces and Axis block raged on and ultimately as a last resort Allied forces dropped atom bombs and its effects mankind had never been subjected to, the most destructive ones than other lethal weapons, in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and that left no traces of life reducing the cities to heaps of dust. The radiation brought about by the atom bombs affected the generation-next, children born with deformities, still its aftereffects linger still a nightmare to all countries across the whole world. Still even today countries compete to acquire and pile-up more powerful hydrogen bombs to remain in positions of strength as paranoia among the countries mounting day by day. All these every global citizen is very well aware of.
I was writing about existentialists like Sartre, Camus, Simon De Bauvier and the intellectual revolution ushered in by them had many takers especially the younger generation across the western world, they turned rebels losing all hopes of a bright future for the entire humanity. Loss of faith in God, a philosophy of life - negation exerted a major influence on them and they adopted suicidal paths like drugs, liquors, withdrawal from the social milieu, even went to the extent of revolting against their parents.All the frustration due to the feeling of absence of a Protector in whom all had dedicated themselves from their all troubles. All such thoughts they imbibed through the writings of the afore-mentioned philosophers cum literateurs. The latter became hot topics of discussion among them and eventually coming to the conclusion that life, whatsoever had no meaning, everything around quite absurd aand colourless and Sartre's works like Nausea, Respectable Prostitute, Road to freedom, Iron in the Soul, Being and Nothingness. Camus', Outsider, The Fall, Le Myth De Cyciphus, Rebel, Becket's Waiting for Godot, Ionesco's, Rhinoceros, all provided them with nothing positive to follow.
The influence of the philosophy reached India very later, but our younger writers of that period - that was in the sixties - eventhough the aftermaths of Second World War affected our nation not much and the then writers followed the paths of Sartre and Camus, intersetingly in the West once revered writers and philosophy of negation was gradually disappearing in the meanwhile. But our writers and their readers were busy with imitating those European intellectuals, their thoughts, actually experiencing nothing of the kind the European thinkers were confronted with during the Second World War and its immediate aftermaths. Certainly there is some substance in the criticism that we Indians always prefer to follow in the steps of Western intellectuals, no second thoughts after all. Countless educated young men blindly followed the writings of the 'ultra-modern writers' of the 60's imitated the frustrated heroes in their works and went astray. All history now, whatsovever on thinking about that generation when we are passing through the first half of the 21st century. Yes, all get influenced by the writings of world famous writers but we have to take care of the contemporary realities reflected across our nation. That is sadly absent. Exceptions ofcourse there are.
All these I was forced to comment upon are due to a widespread trend visible across the political and social scene in our country.
Have a look at the political and social scenes across our country. Our entire social fabric, frankly speaking, is in a pathetic situation often. Torn apart with impoversihed millions mounting day by day and millions of them even after 64 years since we achieved Independence without any basic amenities. The law and order situation already in turmoil, hunger, poverty, malnutrition, homeless millions, with no sanitation facilities and pure drinking water and while the number of billionaires, millionaires and crorepatis also increasing alarmingly. Political scene already in a quagmire with corruption, nepotism,opportunism, communalism, religious chauvinism, all eating into the vitals of politcal fabric since decades.
How many parties in India acually hold ideologies and how many those claim to hold ideologies keep on holding them? We the citizens of India truly don't believe in the parties which often declare ideological paths they adopt and knowing all these during each elcetion we under the scorching sun, queue up before the polling booths to exercise franchise actually with belief in parliamentary democratic system eroding day by day. Lack of ideologies, principles and all kinds of evil tendencies among the politicians, whether we also are losing all hopes of bright future of the whole India?
Although the chances of a third world war seem to be bleak, the political and social scenario have created a devastating and destructive effect across the developing and under-developed countries and that itself is a kind of world war with a difference. It is high time we all sat together and try to evolve a strategy to wriggle out of this pathetic situation. Let us keep hopes against hopes as I had mentioned at the outset.