"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Mahatma Gandhi
Today's paper (December 15, 2012) carried a shocking story. In Mumbai (India), a 37 year-old woman threw acid on a 4 year-old boy - her neighbor's child, for playing in front of her house. Please read that again, and let it sink in. The child was admitted into hospital with the left of his face and upper body burnt. The woman was booked - a small compensation for the hurting parents of the boy.
What is becoming of us? Is rage making us blind? Must we vent our anger on a child? Will it always be an eye for eye? Because we refuse to manage our anger we commit dark deeds and take the light out of other lives. That woman (I shall not refer to her as a lady) heightened her rage to a point that she did not picture what would happen to the child through her foul deed. If he is disfigured, his parents will not let him forget the one who made him so. He too may want an eye for an eye, when he grows up. The cycle goes on.
Mahatma Gandhi cautioned that the trend would make the whole world blind. We don't have to wait for that. It looks like we have already gone blind. And who is watching this blind rage? Our children. They will find sanction in our actions and follow in our footsteps. The story of a pampered teenager stabbing his teacher (in Chennai, India) for a remark she made in his diary, is still fresh in our minds.
How important it is for us to bridle our anger and behave in a mature fashion for our children to be edified!
Today's paper (December 15, 2012) carried a shocking story. In Mumbai (India), a 37 year-old woman threw acid on a 4 year-old boy - her neighbor's child, for playing in front of her house. Please read that again, and let it sink in. The child was admitted into hospital with the left of his face and upper body burnt. The woman was booked - a small compensation for the hurting parents of the boy.
What is becoming of us? Is rage making us blind? Must we vent our anger on a child? Will it always be an eye for eye? Because we refuse to manage our anger we commit dark deeds and take the light out of other lives. That woman (I shall not refer to her as a lady) heightened her rage to a point that she did not picture what would happen to the child through her foul deed. If he is disfigured, his parents will not let him forget the one who made him so. He too may want an eye for an eye, when he grows up. The cycle goes on.
Mahatma Gandhi cautioned that the trend would make the whole world blind. We don't have to wait for that. It looks like we have already gone blind. And who is watching this blind rage? Our children. They will find sanction in our actions and follow in our footsteps. The story of a pampered teenager stabbing his teacher (in Chennai, India) for a remark she made in his diary, is still fresh in our minds.
How important it is for us to bridle our anger and behave in a mature fashion for our children to be edified!
