Giri at 1200 noon on Diwali day
As we celebrate the festival of lights, let's apuse for a moment and realize that we need to be both smart and wise if we want to be creative and innovative in our lives. To this end. I have created the following imaginary situation and I hope that you enjoy reading the same. As always happy to read your views and reactions.
A wise Indian and a smart Indian met at a street corner in an Indian city, and were debating. The conversation between the two was overheard by a street-smart urchin (who incidentally never had the time to think about either other Indians, let alone India, the nation). The two debaters turn to the urchin to settle their dispute. Reproduced below is the conversation between the two and how the urchin finally arbitrated.
Greetings to you O smart one.....Wishing you peace and plenty!
Hellos to you O wise one........Plenty of what? I already have a lot.
Hey would you two move away, this is the Urchin’s corner.....
And if I greet you both, would you pay me and leave even sooner?
Tell me O smart one....Do you know the answers to the 5Ws
Why? When? Where? What? Who?
Why
growth and development are difficult...and poverty so easy...to sustain?
hygiene is such an alien concept.... and rudeness is so common?
religion and caste continue to matter in a constitutionally secular country?
When
do human rights overshadow national security...or vice-versa?
do we become an innovative economy?
do we start preserving and showcasing our cultural heritage?
Where
can you spot ethical talent in public and private service?
does one find one find good quality infrastructure...say roads, energy, healthcare, transport?
do senior citizens find the dignity of participating...and children the carefree atmosphere to
play and learn?
What
delivery goals are needed for public-private partnerships?
governance issues should businesses urgently resolve?
educational reforms can ensure merit gets recognition?
Who
will take responsibility? the leaders...or those led? the governed...or the government?
can deliver better? Private sector?...or public sector?...or PPP?
should be trusted? The Fourth Estate and Wikileaks?..or independent judicial commissions?
Spare me the trouble O wise one....
Such dim-witted Ws you place in your questionnaire
Only wise old fools as you, can conjure!
Smart as I am, I can quickly retort
The answer to your 5Ws are hidden in
Statistics&Lies, Electoral Politics, Consumerism&Branding , Not Me Syndrome and
Who Blinks First.
O smart one, yours is a pure gobbledegook, the wise one rebuked.
And O wise one, so was yours, but let’s see what this urchin has to say.
(So saying he threw a few coins at the urchin, who having collected them concluded:)
In the many battles
between Smartness and Wisdom
Was the war ever won, and by whom?
‘Tis a question
Man will always carry to his tomb.
For where was the war, in the first place?
Only myopia placed them in a coveted race
And, I am sure
As civilisations survived...or even died
Wisdom and smartness in equal measure
Evolved and Expanded ....side by side.
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