Once I was walking to work from the railway station. One of
my colleagues happened to join me. He looked all worked up. I asked him what
was wrong. I was in for an interesting narration of what had transpired. Apparently
there was a man caught doing something ‘inappropriate’ in the crowds. The rest
of the crowd, the self-proclaimed moral policing officers had taken it upon them
to bring this man to justice. A few man started beating him and my dear friend
joined them for the feast. It was a feast of peace. Everyone wanted a piece and
a pie of it. My friend explained how they girdled the man and had beaten the shit
out of him. They almost brought the railways to a halt. The pride with which
the narration was being accompanied was surprising. My curiosity got better of me.
I wanted to know what crime had justified such usurping of the judiciary. I
asked my friend what had the man done. Funnily enough he was not sure! Or
rather he did not know! He went “I think he must have stolen a mobile or
something”. Here I was standing before a man who just a few minutes ago had
acted like the judiciary and awarded some random man a punishment of
punches and kicks for a crime he assumed that he may have committed.
This incident left me wondering. My friend here had
something to take away from this event. Intrigued by his behaviour, I asked him
why he bothered so much; why did he shell out his precious time for this. I was
expecting an explanation which would contain more words like ethics, morals,
values, honesty. But his explanation had none of it. His answer was as naked as
the truth can get. He did not shroud it with the pleasing sounding values. He
said, “ I enjoyed it. I got rid of all the frustration that has been piling up
for weeks. I feel at peace!”
I am quite sure his truth is the truth which almost everyone
in that crowd shared unknowingly. The frustration and anger is at its brim and
there is no outlet. Hence whenever there is even a miniscule possibility, we
pour it all out in one go.
What remains to be seen is how far do we get..
