Of self and selflesness

The origins, goals and motivations of this outrage in Mumbai are quite evident now.
If there is any doubt in any mind on this planet on the fruit of ignorance, hatred and spiritual bankruptcy are, they need their head examined.
That said, the outcome of one's life is clearly a sum total of choices we make at every step in our lives. This however is not so obvious to those who covet visible success or its spoils without having the stomach or susbtance for what that takes.
For every terrorist or wastrel who justifies his acts in pursuit of vengeance is just a weakling who wishes to take the easy way out, trying to bargain a price for what he covets.
That is the essential difference between the Salaskars',Karakres', Kamptes', Gajendra Singhs', Karambir Kangs' and Sandeep Unnikrishans' and the countless others who shall remain nameless and faceless in our consciousness on one hand and the Azam Amir Kasavs' and his ilk of the world.
In our need to look compassionate and socially responsible we seem to try to defy these natural laws of life. In our eagerness to be liked we seem to be over-eager to hand out fishes and loaves to those and create a mentality of covetousness and create a belief that it is indeed righteous to to be so.
What could be further from the truth about the forces of life.
It is a delinquency in our roles as leaders, as we lead our siblings,children, colleagues,societies or indeed nations, if we lead ourselves or others to believe otherwise.
Sympathy is a substance liable to abuse like any other and in fact is the most rampantly absued
of all opiates.
So let us purge ourselves of the guilt that is distributed so liberally by all and sundry who pose as the wronged most often, when all they are doing is venting greed devoid of any intelligence -cognitive, emotional or spiritual- at all.
Compassion, Humility and empathy are great virtues that all of must possess and pusrsue in greater measure, as we pursue greater success and make progress but let no one use this as an arm to twist behind our backs and hold entire nations and world to ransom.
Let us not reward incompetent and stunted leaders with negotiated settlements to buy peace but lead them to paths that teach these essential and if that means not sparing the rod so be it.
Let us not be delinquent in our responsibility towards the ones that we lead and those who choose to be in our care by letting our knees buckle and take easy ways out at any step or take cover under the fuselage of superficial debates that will now erupt and be fuelled by these men-of-words-and-little-else.