Life is the long journey from Human Being to Being Human

         Ashok’s mother was looking at his sketch of a clinic that he wanted to open in his village. As she flipped the pages of his blue diary, she read about his struggles, about the beautiful moments of his life, about his dreams and plans. She read about his desires to sacrifice the comforts of life and work as a doctor in his village. One page mentioned his plans to combine the knowledge of ancient Indian medical science and modern medicine to provide holistic healing to villagers in a sustainable and cost-effective way. As pages turned, the diary started getting wetter with her tears. Who will fulfil these plans now? Will these dreams always remain a dream? Will her son be satisfied with the work he has done so far? She was proud of her son, but would he be satisfied with what he could do? She remembered looking at him as she held her baby for the first time. She looked back at his efforts and work to help the sick. She was anxious when her young boy worked as a warrior fighting an invisible virus. Sadly, the threat of infection meant she could not even bid her son good bye or see him one last time. From holding him as a baby to holding his ashes now, she reminisced about his life. The little human being she had delivered lived a beautiful life as a good human.  And all she had left was the sketch of his dream clinic.

Disastrous events since the beginning of 2020, deaths of many famous people, deaths of many - known and unknown - due to the pandemic and heart-wrenching scenes as the world fought the pandemic reminded us about death, an imminent eventuality of life. The uncertainty of life evoked questions about the essence of life and the purpose of our existence. Chirpy neighbourhoods, cleaner air, serene roads, fish filled canals, dolphins near cities, and animals on the lands their ancestors once occupied showed us what the earth would be with gagged humans. Misery around the world, only accentuated by the pandemic, reminded us of our role towards humanity. The ticking Doomsday Clock and the suddenly heightened concern for our loved ones, especially the next generation, reminded us of our responsibility towards the ecosystem. Increased consumption of content depicting realities like distressing visuals of hapless animals in Australian bush fires, melting glaciers and other signs of climate change made us question the mess we had created in the anthropocene era. Homo Sapiens, the self declared intelligent species that considered itself the ‘Custodians of the Earth’ was reminded about its falliablity by a tiny virus. Surrounded by threats of the end, confined within four walls many started looking within them and took steps towards a more spiritual life. Ancient teaching reminded them of the role that humanity ought to have taken, towards each other, towards other earthlings and towards the Earth. Various religious teachings and common beliefs place humans as the Custodians of the Earth. Anthropological destruction of the ecology, that has affected not just humans, but many other species, debunks this perception. 

Biologically, every species works to continue its survival. With crimes, wars, terrorism, and irresponsible environmental exploitation human beings act against their own species. Hence, biologically, working to preserve its species should be the primary goal of Homo Sapiens. The intelligent species that it is, should also understand that its survival depends on the ecology and hence preservation of the ecology is imperative for preservation of the species. Life should be this attempt of Human Beings to be true to their biological call and be Humans.

The birth of a child is a ray of hope for survival of humanity. Born as a blank slate with a mind as malleable as clay, a child is moulded by people and events around him. Education - both formal and informal, experiences, teachings from family members, teachers and friends, influences from larger social groups, and visions of the government shape the child as he grows. Values, information, life lessons imbibed in this porous mind contribute greatly in determining whether the small child becomes a doyen or a demon. 

In schools, children are taught about the various aspects of life. They are taught to socialize, develop relationships with fellow humans. They are educated about the history of the world, the science of how it works and the morals to live a good life. They grow up to exhibit their talents in various fields and strive for progress. 

Thoughts and actions, developed as a combination of these inputs from the surroundings, help write eulogies of the persons. While the world is happy enough to adopt unknown people as their heroes and immortalize their lives, it is also stern enough to obliviate even the known people who act against the conventions of humanity. While humanity hailed the altruistic attitude of the parents of a four year old who donated their child’s organs, they disowned the ones who placed explosives in the fruit for animals. Human beings are social animals and their actions determine whether the society accepts them as humans or denounces them as inhuman. To the erring humans, the society gives an opportunity for redemption and to mend their way to come back into the human fold. There are many examples of sinners who have turned saints. Life is this long journey from existing as a human being to being human. 

As the human race sped in its race to perceived progress, the Earth, as Gaia hypothesis postulates, sent out its defence mechanism in the form of a virus to tame the speed of one species to preserve other species. 

In this UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, the self-proclaimed custodians of the Earth need to reconsider their role and take up Trusteeship of the Earth. Contrary to basic survival instinct, the Human race is racing ahead in developing the best weapons to destroy itself. This species needs to fix the divisions between them or risk destroying the entire ecosystem with wars based on transient issues like territorial, racial, ideological conflicts that last less than 100 years but risk destroying the Earth built over 4.6 billion years. Once the world works on this source of suffering, it can divert its energies in ensuring sustainable development to solve issues like poverty, hunger, climate change, that threaten the very existence of the human race. The Trustees of the Earth also need to fulfil their responsibilities towards other species on the Earth. To preserve itself, the human race needs to act, it needs to sensitize the older generation about the perils of unsustainable development, educate the young about saner options, restrict the future generations from further exploring the space reserved for other species. The humans that made machines now need to go back to being humans and build on the human values of love, fraternity, compassion. 

From merely existing as human beings and extracting the most out of this earth, we now need to work on being human and using our intelligence to preserve the Earth. Life is this long journey from being merely human beings, to working on what humans ought to do, for itself, for other humans, for other species - BE HUMAN.