'Kripya anjaan logon se dosti naa karen'... 'Do not befriend strangers' blares the PA system on the Delhi metro from time to time. I registered it the first time. When I heard it for the 3rd time, it got me thinking. It does strike as odd. Since I am not supposed to befriend strangers and everyone is a stranger to me at the time of birth, that implies I will be born and die friendless. If everyone was to take this sage advice seriously, the earth would be divided into 6 billion societies constituting 1 person each. I know I may be taking this arguement too far and the intention of the person who had this message written was just to caution people against trusting someone too much. The choice of words, however, is terribly wrong, which brings me to the point of this post.
What drives messages like these? Insecurity. In other words, the concern for security. It could be the concern for someone's personal security or the concern for the security of a country/society. In the last week, I have seen a friend cancel a trip to the North East and have seen another one feeling anxious about being locked in together with 3 unknown people in the 1st AC compartment of a train. I have myself not done lots of things over my life labelling them as 'dangerous' or 'not-safe'. We do that to drinking water all the time. Dont get me wrong. I am not criticizing anything or anyone. Infact, I do understand where the concerns stem from, which is why it is even more important to consider what this leads to.
Today, as we live in a world close to the one George Orwell vividly pictured in his masterpiece 1984, our thoughts governed by the mass media, we live in constant fear. Fear of being looted, fear of being conned, fear of being fooled, fear of being killed, harmed, injured, raped, taken ill. Infact, we keep inventing new fears all the time. While the fears in themselves are understandable because insecurity is the key to survival, the question is where is the line between being insecure for survival and being insecure in general. This question is important for it determines what we do with our lives.
I dont have a big point here. I am just wondering. How many times do we not have new experiences because our insecurity does not let us do so?
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Knowingly or unknowingly, whenever you try to befriend a stranger...its a wrong person. Murphy's Law....
ReplyDeleteI read your blog and liked it, but I want to state one thing that your point of earth being a place of 6 billion societies constituting single person each is completely vague..
ReplyDeleteThe message that splashes on the screen every three minutes means that when both the parties are unknown to each other or donot have any aquintance with each other then they should not indulge in some useless talks.
But the point that you pointed out doesnot fall in this category as one side(we) are not strangers to the other side(our parents)at the time of our birth.
Like if by God's grace I someday meet you in a metro ,I will aproach you and would introduce you as Mrs Mamta Ambardar's nephew then I would like you to accept me as your friend without considering the message "Do not befriend strangers" as you are not a stranger to me.....
Liked your post. It indeed is a dilemma when you think about the pros and cons of interacting with strangers! I think the station announcements are made with an intent to protect to be victims from the wicked friendly looking people who want to take away your valuables by tricking you. But if you listen too much to these announcements you might loose your chance to be friends with the next miss India. I think you should listen to your heart ..it knows what you should do. If you listen to your heart you won't feel sorry even if you make a mistake. On the other hand mind will always torment you even if you make the right choice.
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