Radicalism of Compassion

"Compassion is the radicalism of our times"
                                                        - Dalai Lama

Little Jack was found in corner of room 

With eyes brimming with tears of doom

Little Jill broke the marble run he built

Laughed at him and left with no guilt

Mumma found him and said 

"Go break Jill's toy instead"

"But Mumma you build a marble run 

Breaking is not how you have fun "

What do you do when Little Jill breaks Little Jack's marble run ?  Do you fear that this is the future that awaits Little Jack where his marble runs will be broken by Little Jills and he will always suck up and cry in a corner ? Or do you teach him aggression and revenge as a life skill ? 

Little Jill's mother is probably less worried for she knows Little Jill has the ingredients to survive in this world.  She will take what she believes is rightfully hers and probably survive in the world of sharks and hustlers.  Jill's mother is raising her up to be a strong , individualistic and independent kid. 

I am Jill. 

I survived quite well , am reasonably successful by general parameters.  I face the world head-on , have fought for what's rightfully mine and some. Navigating through greed, politics and aggression has come easy to me.  Compassion to me is a learnt act,  doesn't come easily..  I make up by a few monetary donations to charity and well... fake it till you make it .. right ? 

I am blessed with Little Jack. 

She is the kid who never gets a turn on the swing and then tears up after a long wait for she just cannot push her way through. The only time she gets a turn on the swing is when no kid is around or another parent or an older child intervenes. 

She is the child who gets elbowed out in a group performance .  She follows the rules , accommodates friends in a queue and feels super guilty when she is not able to share her favorite doll with a friend .  Despite being left out in many conversations with her peers for she cannot watch a contemporary movie or read the latest book series because they are rude and mean. 

You see the drift and you can imagine how it makes me feel ? Seems like a century of a generation gap in the reverse.  A friend once told me 'what is the point of being kind, its a handicap'.   Made me think .. how long can we go on creating a cocoon for her .. what will she do when the real world happens to her.. 

I feel she will survive … perhaps much better than me.... For there is no Jill whose marble run was not broken once by someone ,  something or probability itself.  For me it usually ended up in a mini crisis of sorts... perhaps Little Jacks know better … they get enough practice on forgiving and forgetting.  Maybe the life skill we all need is that ?

When I look around me, the only moments which make me feel genuinely blessed ( that feeling which you don't share on social media but makes you want to sing out aloud... ) are moments of kindness … a phone call when you felt the world turned upside down... that young man who let you go before him in the taxi queue because you were travelling with an infant... that network of people who chased after hospitals and ambulances for strangers as the pandemic raged....  maybe these moments and people  don't help you make it to the halls of fame printed by the minute..... but they are memories that will stay unpublished... unattributed... perhaps making them more precious... for they touched the subconscious.. the only part of being human that makes us human.  

Maybe the band of Little Jacks will be the radicals who will find a place for themselves because even when we make it to Mars … human beings will need the touch of real compassion … which even if you wanted to instill into the meta worlds of the future.... you will still need a prototype to learn from …