Nafarat karne walon ke

 Nafarat karne walon ke 

Seene mein pyar bhar soon

Arey mein woh parwana hoon

Patthar ko moam kar doon… 

I was just so exhausted today with social media packed with messages spewing hatred. In that moment I just wondered how anyone could function with so much hatred in the mind for extended periods? It’s just insane and exhausting! 

And spontaneously this song came to mind. Penned by lyricist Indeevar, for the film Johnny Mera Naam, brings to mind a very young Hema Malini serenaded by Dev Anand. 

Oh but the lyrics ! They made me laugh out at the audacity. It was a tall claim for anyone to make.

“ All the haters out there, I can fill their hearts with love. I am that lover who can soften a rock into wax.”

Wow! What confidence! It did not seem too much out of place coming from the mouth of a smiling charming Dev Anand. But c’mon! We are in need of magicians who can make such a thing happen. 

It gets too hot out there with all the hatred. My real curiosity lay in how could anyone go on beyond a few minutes or at most a few hours nursing this toxic feeling in the heart?

I was thinking of scenarios where one encounters someone who breathes venom with every spoken word for no good reason. A reasonable person listens with a cool head without reacting. But at one point the toxicity gets the better of the good person and he/she loses the cool. Over a period of time, such repeated encounters with one or more people begin to break down the good person’s original persona turning him/her into an equally toxic and angry person who confronts every angry person who comes along. How is this cycle sustainable? 

Just how? 

I don’t think I can deal with a constant challenge in a hateful environment. More than anything else, accumulated hate in my own mind. It’s just a bit too much to deal with. I’m glad I don’t have it in me. Just the social media exposure to it today turned me off. I can’t imagine how those who get caught up in those perpetual rounds of anger and resentment cope with it. 

I hope no one has to live that way. 

I remain immune to it as long as I live.