Diwali !!
The festival of the lamps.. lights, illumination, crackers, sweets, gifts and the general hustle and bustle all around.. people busy purchasing gifts for their loved ones and ferrying them across to reach them.. sons and daughters returning home on vacation to be with family.. friends and relatives getting together to unwind and catch up … there was an air of festivity all around..
Diwali symbolizes the victory Ram over Ravana .. victory of good over evil, holy power dominating over evil power, of right over wrong.. the common man, as usual, spend the whole weekend thinking, while the world around him were having a blast..
What is ‘power’? How does one define ‘power’? is it same as ‘authority’, or different? Our man heard over the media that the ‘most powerful’ person in the world was visiting his country over the weekend, and he was curious to know how this person looked like.. to his dismay he found a black, sharp featured common-ish looking person shaking hands with the bigwigs of the country, and the media going ga-ga over him and his even-more plain looking black wife.. “is this the most powerful man? Doesn’t look like,” he mused…..
Is knowledge ‘power’? do we call a knowledgeable person ‘powerful’? Does possessing information about someone make one more powerful than the other person??
Does love make someone weak or strong? Now this is a tricky one.. our common man loves someone, but the thought doesn’t make him strong.. rather, he goes weak when he thinks about his lady love … his knees kind of turn jelly-ish and there’s lump in his throat… on the contrary, his lady love probably gains in strength with the knowledge that the poor bloke is all over the place in his love for her, and therefore she can take him for granted cpmpletely (??)..
We often tend to think that those who are economically stronger, or politically more connected in society, or holding important positions in the government or ministry, are the most powerful.. “No wonder the 1st citizen of USA is so powerful”, the common man thought… but, that power is only short-lived.. the moment out dear Prez is out of office, he is no more the “most powerful”.. someone else takes over.. look at what happened in US recently – in the recent polls, the Republicans have already completely white-washed Prez Obama, who is just about 2 years in office, already making his comeback a bleak prospect.
That brings us back to square one, i.e., how does one define ‘power’? is it the ability to influence the thought and action of others, or a community, or a country, or maybe the whole world??
The possibilities seem unending..
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