Would you be a 'Neville' ?

"We are vessels, wind goes through us.. We make the noise.."
#JayZ

Act 1:
A close friend of mine asked something which put my wheels of thought into motion, it was simple, "How come highly educated people from your profession, are also casteist?" Apparently he knows a certain consultant who had graduated from two highly prestigious institutions, who openly has expressed his casteist views, in a discriminating manner.

My friend is an outsider(professionally). I smiled at his innocent presumption was that being in this noble(i have a little god complex :P) profession somehow auto-transforms each individual into a 'good person' who doesn't act-on (or) have biases like regular people. The notion that we doctors somehow are on a higher platform of ethics and morals, that we have transcended above basic human emotions of mistrust, hate, anger, discrimination, bias is naive.

Doctors(or any other properly educated person) face the same choices of right/wrong. Nothing is granted. We are divided deeply in our belief systems, and there are no two people in this world who can align on everything alike.

Act 2:
There was this news of this junior who is supposedly participating in a beauty pageant. That created huge ripples in the college, in a bad way. Thats exactly when i came to see how small and regressive of a world this whole medico community is. If you take away the apron and steth off us, we are still mostly disappointing individuals underneath.

Imho, the glamour industry is over-rated and shallow, but thats just me. Education and glamour are the opposite extremes in a spectrum of human achievement. Its natural that people bat eyelids at an unconventional path which breaks barriers. What disturbs me is how misogyny and sexism came roaring into open conversations unabashedly. With much technology, time and internet, there are endless possibility of how much time can be spent on objectifying a girl. Mostly with instant judgments/opinions on her character and her choices, Which frankly is not anyone's damn business. Just because she chose a public life doesn't give anyone express rights to be an indecent person publicly/privately. So many toxic testosterone filled conversations about a girl and her ambitions. Imagine if a boy were to do the same thing, venture into modelling/pageants.. He would not have to face this hidden backlash and character assassination, in fact many would approve of it. He is safeguarded by his privilege. This sexism is so deeply ingrained in everyone of us, either we are not self-aware or this patriarchal society has heavily normalized this absurd behaviour. Maybe if no one protests, it will continue to be so.

No one is born with an innate label, a child cant even communicate if he isnt trained properly, so why does this pure child tend to grow up and become biased? Because as we grow, we observe, we ape the current social scenario, and however illogical it may seem, we continue to walk in this path.

Education and character of a person are completely different(i have mentioned this somewhere else in my blog). I know what im saying wont make much sense to most of you.. We are all part of a mob, of regular people and we will throw stones at those who choose a different path(zero fucks given to robert frost). Somehow human nature tends to push people to find similarity, something which they can relate-to in others, something substantial so that they dont feel alone, insignificant, scared. This society is built to hate the misfits. Oppression stems from this bigotry towards weaker/different people.

Very often we lose sight of whats real, even though a thousand voices reach our ears we tend to be selectively blind/deaf to reason. We foolishly think we protect ourselves by being in a pack - of the same region/religion/caste/language/slang/race/skin color etc.. We are just united individually within a sub-group of people with aligned biases/roots. We are nowhere near equality.

Thats why Friendship is pure, Love is pure (one in which you do not look up a caste/religion of the person and then decide to like him/her). Spontaneous pockets of good-ness in a world full of biases right from the skin tone to surname. Someone once told me that he would rather leave this country rather than associate with a person of my 'birth', i dont wish him harm, i just hope he realizes someday, that we are all equal in creation, that these divisions only exist in our thoughts, that they can be overcome, if one simply chooses to.(Note : I'd rather not be subjective about these topics, but being vocal about such incidents helps empower those who are currently going through the same..)

Even 'Love' is a choice, thats why people fall in love - because they make a choice. Also why people fall out of it, because they stop making that choice. Everything else is trivial.

"We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy."
#AlbusDumbledore #JKR

We are the most evolved species on this planet, and it is for a reason i.e we are social. If not that, we are nothing. Just a bunch of bipedal mammals with big brains and a deep hatred towards non-similar individuals.
We have more in common, than we can ever imagine. If only we take a chance, to reach out, to know the other person.
What if we extend our bubble. Include everyone in it. Help everyone. Respect everyone. Be kind to everyone(kindness is such a turn on!). Smile at everyone. Love everyone.
Don't lose hope, do good, be good, don't discriminate, don't hate.

  

All we are and all we've achieved is null without love for each other.

Act 3: (The conclusion)
Everyone faces choices in life. Choosing good every-time, all the time is the right way
(why not left? why is 'left' associated with all the negative emotions? and why is 'right' always the positive word? Lets leave that conspiracy theory for another post :P). 

Ask yourself these questions.

Would you choose love over hatred?

Would you choose right over wrong?
Would you choose peace over violence?

Would you choose forgiveness over anger?
Would you choose to trust against a prejudice?
Would you use your privilege to protect someone who doesn't have it?
Would you strive to find beauty in negative spaces?
Would you choose hope over despair?
Would you be vocal about something that doesn't affect you?
Would you say no to discrimination in any capacity?
Would you stand up to even your friends, if they're wrong?
Would you be a Neville?