The Year that is 2020

This is on top of a chest of drawers.  I woke up one morning around 3 am, and did not want to sleep.  So lit a candle sat up in meditation, --the best morning in a long time. 

An hour later, 4 am, and this was the view outside the window.  This was mid-May. I have so much to do and so much to think about, but every year, this still spells magic time for me....Now it is bright at 3 am!!  

What a year it has been!!  What can one say?

We have no lockdown and apparently there have been many more deaths in Sweden now than anywhere in Scandinavia.  An expert who proposed that theory felt 'remorse'. Most of the people dying were inhabitants of senior citizen homes.

'Wonder if he tested this theory on his own family members?' was a question posed to him on social media.  In that sense, India fared much better.  I am NOT gloating.  

Year 2020, it not where you gloat.  We are all in survival mode. 

But taking precautions is good.

And then there are the riots in the US right now. I do not even know where to begin. I was not going to address and even now I do not think I can write it in completion.

But news is an incomplete way to understand issues of the world.  

Is it all about George Floyd? It is definitely about anger that has been festering for decades.  But those looters spoiled it for those people who are genuinely concerned!  The movement was real and needed---

But are they looters?  

Were they paid? Was this mayhem planned? We don't know and I would not put it past the big powers who want to destabilise countries --anything is possible.

Then there is another thing.  Historically, till about 1950s, black families were the strength of that community.  But a combination of media focus on crime and criminalising blackness, focus on feminism such that state support in many ways became a way to keep the broken families broken, and many other policies have brought serious issues in the fabric of African-American families and communities. 

Much of the anger also comes from having to live half a life.

Not that broken families do not exist in other ethnicities, but black families are particularly broken due to all the issues mentioned above.  

I had an African-American student here from Georgia in 2014--he refused to return to the US. "Our media and govt are teaching our women that black men are their enemies, I stand no chance of a decent life there.'  He then became an English teacher and has not returned to the US.

Please read this article --watch all the links, click on all the links. It will take days.  But its important to understand the situation. To understand that context.  I have cursorily looked at it, but am familiar with most of it due to having studied it in classes and discussed and understood how the media works.  But please check this out.  It won't be easy or pleasant, so spread it out. But please be informed CLICK ON THIS. 

But now that I have written this, I must share that I have cried--over the news. 

I cried when I watched the US, and some of its beautiful cities being destroyed. Peaceful protests were definitely warranted.  Looting (and that includes many non-blacks--that is what I mean by things getting so muddied that no one will ever know what happened) not needed and messed up the whole point.  

But to quote a line from a Bollywood film' 'after things have burnt the only colour left is the color of the soot" It reflects no joy back, it proposes no solutions, it is just a mark of anger and it will be a while before you clean it up and if we are not awake while cleaning it up, anger can emerge again....

I am afraid it will tarnish the image of the community, and they will stil remain the most affected people.  

Yes there have been mass apologies, but what will eventually happen? Will they get jobs easily?  Will people give them apartments easily? Will they be trusted? Despite all the apologies?  Not sure. I hope it all changes. I hope this unrest works like a magic wand and our hearts are cleansed and we focus only on a positive future. 

I wish, I hope.

Let peace prevail. I wish you all a few moments of rest.  Leave television and news alone for a while. Check it only sporadically to care for your own safety.  This includes even places in Europe where violence has been witnessed due to this.

Keep safe, Corona is not dealt with yet.   

News only repeats the same images.  There can be quite a bit of harm done by watching the same images repeatedly. 

I, on my end, will definitely meditate more --considering myself a piece in this.  Can I generate positivity? Around me? That is where I can start.

I hope I am conveying my message, love and affection to the readers.  Look at the above image, the candle and the sky.  Look at the colors, let your life be the color of the sky, not things burnt out of anger.  We are all hurt.  Some more than others. Let us be containers and the contained for each other.  Carry each other through this crazy year 2020.

I believe in this world!

Thanks for reading!