Articles

Humanity is not a race, it is a value.
And we have lost it in our blind
pursuit of success and prosperity.
Anand

In this age of falling moral standards and near-absolute absence of the sense of discrimination between good and evil, we find that the structures which imparted values to humanity have been erased out of existence, or distorted so that they stand only in form, while their essence is essentially lost. Let us look at religion. All the goodness that it preaches remains restricted to the holy pages, while what we see going on in society is utter lack of divinity even among the holiest of holy people. Religion has been reduced to a habit, a custom, a rite, and its spirit has been taken away. In the same way, the second structure which was supposed to maintain morality in the system was the teaching profession. It has been dropped from the list of ‘noble professions’. It is not a matter of choice with our youngsters. It is only a matter of employment, a dry attachment to a job from which we extract monthly salary to support the family. The systems which decide the content of teaching subjects want that there should be no literature in the syllabi, students should learn only how to write a letter, a quotation, and how to draft advertisements. The third structure that has fallen, absolutely, is the presence of the grand parents at home. Need I mention the broken family system, and the single-parent families where old people have been exiled from homes and quarantined old age homes? Who is there to teach the stories of Raja Harish Chander and Shakuntala, and even the Ramayana to the young minds? They have been replaced with the TV which has tumbled them into a world of consumerist culture, day and night telling them, eat this eat that, making them obese in body and mind too.

Man or a Perfect Manipulator

With all the moralizing structures gone with the wind, we are now in a helpless state, in which the modern generation is exposed to market values. It is commerce, success, wealth, power and fame that rule the minds of men. In fact, let us agree that in a society, what happens is decided by the government and these days, governments want smart men who look charming, and intelligent, and who can be masterminds. In other words, modern society needs manipulators, who have mastered the art of success, because ultimately, it is the success that matters in a competitive conglomerate to which our society has been reduced.

The culture of corruption that has made inroads into human society on a spectacular scale has increased the pace of humanity towards self-destruction. Philosophically, we appear to be at the end of the cycle of Kalyuga, and this being the last phase of the epoch, we can see signs of an imminent disaster waiting for us, when every value has been lost. Humanity is not a race, it is a value. And we have lost it in our pursuit of success and prosperity.

What do we require today?

We are opening universities, and colleges, and sending our kids abroad for education.
It is all a surcharged exercise to make money, and then, more money so that you can lead a life of comfort and luxury. I wonder if there is any other passion which works with our younger generations. I want to underline what makes India different from western cultures. India stands for a life which believes in God, in godliness, in religion, in scriptures like Ramayana and Mahabharata, in Guru Nanak, in Tulsi Das, in Rabindranath Tagore and in Mahatma Gandhi. There is no India if you drop even one person from your search. India never dwelt on BARE LIVING PRACTICES as we are now going to imbibe in our upcoming generations. Earning money or a job makes 20 per cent of a man’s life, the rest of it is leading a life in love, compassion, family, believing in goodness, working hard and praying.

And what we are now preaching is a lifestyle which is shorn of all values. Which has only money as the first and the last value. It is a destructive passion that we are teaching to our younger generations. How many old couples are now taking care of each other, because their kids have migrated to US or Canada? And how many when die, remain unattended by their sons at their funerals?

Man is not body, nor bones. Man is his emotions. His family. His love. His likes his dislikes.
His peace. His time. His vacant hours. His dreams. We deny all these things and force them to live on money and impractical dreams of a high life. If we remove our flesh from our bones, can we sustain ourselves? Where are emotions in our blood? In our flesh? Where are dreams in our minds? And visions in our eyes? We are much more than bare bones. No science can dissect us. Let these people who decide our fate know this fact.

THE COUNTER-BLAST

We, all those who wish well to this society, who want values to return to our younger generations, who want that we must rise above crass commercialism, and turn human again, need to join heads together. Certain things are clear. We cannot look for correction towards religion. Education has been destroyed by masters of commercialism. And family system has gone down the drain. Our worry is how to inculcate Humanism among our growing children, who are going to make our world tomorrow. How to bring them to realize that this society needs certain values of goodness, humanity, honesty and integrity. That wealth is not the last value. That fame, power are glittering illusions only.

We can do so if in each state, we have a University of Ethics, which should be beyond the pale of all religions, regions, and creeds. We need to teach literature and philosophy, and issue 6 month certificate courses in Moral Engineering and make them compulsory to pass Higher Secondary. No person who does not possess a degree can get into a job. A three year degree programme in Moral Engineering may give us Ethical Supervisors to be placed, one in ten schools in a cluster. In Universities too, we need to open Department of Ethics, and make the study compulsory in every department.

Let us take the cue from Shanti Niketan. That is a University with a different mindset. Let us in each state open a University of Ethics, so that the world knows we have taken the much needed U-turn. It will be India’s pioneering effort to push the world back from the brink of moral disaster.

Article by
Dr. JERNAIL SINGH ANAND

Dr. Jernail Singh Anand is an Honorary Member of the Association of Serbian Writers. He is Prof. Emeritus in Indian Literature at The European Institute of the Roma Studies and Research Belgrade. Dr Anand has authored more than 150 books in English poetry, fiction, non-fiction, spirituality and philosophy. He is credited with the theory of Biotext in critical theory. His work has been translated into more than twenty world languages. Author of 9 epics which are regarded as modern classics, Anand has organized 4 International Literary Conferences, latest of them, in Chandigarh. He was conferred Franz Kafka Laureateship 2022 and International Aco Karamanov Poetry Award 2022 (Mecedonia).

More about the author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jernail_Singh_Anand?

This year is the centenary of the Asia Minor catastrophe of 1922. It is a time of remembrance for those whose lives changed from one minute to the next through no fault of theirs. A time of remembrance by their descendants, who are now the third generation of those first
refugees that came from all parts of Asia Minor Turkey: from far away Cappadocia,from  Ionia, from Thrace, and the Black Sea area. A time of remembrance for the cruel and planned genocide of first the Armenians and then the Greek population by the Turkish armed forces and the chetes irregulars that took place between 1914 and 1923.

Over one and a half million Greek Orthodox natives were forced to leave their ancestral homes that had been the home of the Greeks from ancient times, go on forced marches where many died along the way and cross turbulent seas to reach safety. Such memories can never be forgotten, and they have been passed down from generation to generation as is the case of the first refugees that came to Anavyssos and made it their new home.

On Wednesday 10th August a church service was held followed by the unveiling ceremony of the monument to commemorate the first Greek refugees from Asia Minor who settled in what was at first an arid and inhospitable area. The service took place in the small, restored church, which had formerly been a house. When it was first built as a church, it was given the name Agioi Theodori (Greek: Άγιοι Θεόδωροι) by one of the first settlers who also covered most of the building costs. The other settlers helped by offering their labor and their knowledge. The bell was made by a well-known bell maker from one of the villages of Cappadocia.

Today, the church is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Greek: Κοίμηση της Θεοτόκου), whose Name Day we celebrate on 15th August. It is referred to as the Summer Easter of the Greek Orthodox Church to show the importance of the day and the dedication that the Greek people have towards the Virgin Mary. A panigiri (open-air local celebration) is held after the church service to celebrate this important day with local food and music. It is a time of reunion for those that have left their place of birth and who return for this special occasion.

Besides the clergy, the Metropolitan of the area Nicholaos was present as well as the Mayor of Saronicos and other officials. The honorary guest was Mr. Prokopios Pavlopoulos, the former President of the Greek Republic, who unveiled the monument to the first refugee settlers of Anavyssos. On one side of the monument are the names of the first refugees that settled in Anavyssos and on the other is a tree with its deep roots symbolizing the anchoring of the refugees in their new homeland.

Their determination and tenacity helped them overcome all difficulties and brought new life to the area, developing it both culturally and economically. The location that had been chosen for them was the famous ancient Greek Dimo of Anaphlysto. It was the homeland of Cleisthenes (Greek: Κλεισθένης, c. 570- after 506 BC), the ancient Athenian lawgiver, who is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it along democratic lines in 508 BC. This new homeland has also been described in the book ‘Serenity’ (Greek: Γαλήνη) by the well-known author Ilias Venezis, also a refugee and one of the first settlers in the area. It describes the journey of a group of Greek refugees from their homeland in Asia Minor who settled in the summer of 1923 in a desolate corner of the coast near Athens.

Today, a time span of a hundred years from the first generation of refugees to the third generation of their descendants has passed. The unveiling of the monument dedicated to these first settlers in their new homeland is the torch that will keep alight the memories so
that their forced departure from their ancestral homes and their struggle in their new homeland will always be remembered by the generations to come.

The Asia Minor Cultural Museum ‘Makis Agkoutoglou’ in Anavissos houses the history of the refugee settlers and visitors can read excerpts relating their experience as well as see artifacts and other documents of the area.

 

Despena Dalmaris
©Despena Dalmaris

 

“Be careful or you will fall!
Watch out or you will fail!
Look out or you’ll get hurt…!”

One phrase – “be careful” – is constantly ringing in our ears filling us with fear; removing all confidence in ourselves, putting us in tight
patterns from an early age, evidently for our own sake, questioning our abilities to cope with any difficulties or misfortunes that befall us. Restricting us within barriers prevents us from learning how fast we can run. Because that “be careful” made us land before we even took off! It also deprived us of the opportunity to learn the lessons that failure also has to offer. To acquire the ability to acknowledge the danger, failure, and risk. To get in touch with our skills and desires and consciously, or not, assume the cost of our decision.

Since nothing is achieved by “being careful” while everything is conquered by “acting”. The amount of effort we will put into achieving our goal, or the ease with which we will give up will prove whether the choice was ours or was forced upon us.

Perhaps you will whisper, “parents warn us against acting out of interest and love…” Neither interest nor love is involved in clipping
feathers. It only reflects their own problem. This mostly is the case of parents who do not see their children as separate entities, but as a continuation of themselves, obliged to fulfill their own repressed dreams; obliged to make them feel proud of their achievements.

Children, however, are not “circus animals”, to perform tricks and demonstrate talents they may not have, in order to receive applause
and awards. They are autonomous beings born carrying their special characteristics. And if parents want them to be glorified, they must
help them develop their own talents. They must teach them how to fly instead! They must show them trust, so they can believe in
themselves.

In a rapidly changing society, where many things and choices seem long outdated, as if they belonged to a previous century, the attempt to impose their own right on them, seems funny or even absurd. Isn’t it much better if parents helped them find their own “right”? Instead of clipping their wings, they had better stand by them not as authorities and bright omniscient, but as supporters whenever they are needed.

Anyway, love should never suffocate anybody. It should only help one to find and develop their inclinations. Children should be let alone free to learn that error is entailed in life, just like a failure. They should also be taught that one single failure should not be the cause
for despair or mourning. Neither should that fact discourage them because we are all imperfect beings and life is a path we have to
walk in order for us to reach completion. These beliefs are the real“wings” that good parents must craft for their children.

After all, there are several cases of so-called “losers” whose careers eventually turned into success stories. For the record, Edison failed 1001 times before inventing the light bulb. Famous author Stephen King was rejected thirty times before publishing his first book. And the founder of the KFC company had been discarded 1,009 times before he succeeded. What did the three of them have in common?
Faith in themselves!
And this is the best legacy that parents can ever leave to their children.

Nouli Tsagaraki
©Nouli Tsagaraki

 

“How are you?” I asked happily the acquaintance I met by chance.

“Don’t you see?” she replied sadly. Although I hadn’t seen her for a long time, she seemed well-groomed and elegant, as always. “I am wearing black clothes, I lost my husband” she added, while a tear was hovering in the corner of her eye… The smile faded at once from my lips. “Ah! We don’t see people! We look at them, but we don’t see them!” I got angry with myself. “Everything takes its time,” I finally stuttered, “and the loss, the most.” She looked at me so intensely that I shuddered. “I’m not used to it,” she muttered… I left with my thought hooked on her last sentence, wondering “how is it possible?”

How is it possible? Since loss is interwoven with humans and stars from the very moment of our birth! With a cry, we come to life. With a lament for the safety of the nest that we forcibly abandon. But who can imagine staying there forever! Safe, but doomed to eternal immobility. Like some decommissioned boats I see rotting in secluded moorages. But these have, at least, travelled before retiring. They fulfilled their purpose, they lived! Immobility, on the contrary, resembles death and then, what is the reason for our existence! Since life is a long journey into the unknown, a perpetual movement, a change of level!

Unfortunately, humans are easily comfortable, easily contented, and easily let themselves loose. So comes the loss which forces us to move on. To redefine the meaning of our lives. We are in need of meaning in order to feel good and that meaning is defined by our choices. Anything we choose and bond with, anything we love or value, gives value to our lives. And when we lose it…, it hurts! Along with the pain comes the mourning, which signifies – nothing more or less than – our process of adapting to the new situation.

If we think about it thoroughly, we will discover that our lives are connected to a series of losses, that occur without our even realizing it. “The loss, big or small, is always a death,” they say, but is it really? Or we have limited ourselves to this perspective? Because the unknown – the new situation in which we are forced to move to – scares us. As we have learned to associate it with the possibility of insurmountable obstacles, rather than developing skills that can lead us to higher levels. Regrettably, we are used to thinking of loss only as an end, never as a beginning. We have not yet consolidated that nothing, nothing at all, is stable, unchanging, eternal. That there is nothing we can essentially control. So, what all remains is to enjoy everything offered to us, for as long as we are here…

Or else, we have to wonder, are we really mourning for what we lost, or for what we didn’t allow ourselves to live?

Article by Nouli Tsagaraki
© Nouli Tsagaraki

About the author

Nouli Tsagaraki is a short story writer and chronicler, as well as a poetess. Her articles have been published in various magazines & blogs, while she maintains a stable cooperation with the Greek-language newspaper of Canada “Evdomada Greek Weekly News” & the web page “authoring melodies”. She has two collections of short stories to her credit, “One of us” & “Fire & Hope”, while she has participated in several publications in order to support vulnerable social groups. Recently she was elected executive secretary of the Panhellenic Writers’ Union.