Christmas is around the corner and Santa is making his good and bad list. I wonder how does he do that. I wonder how does he define good or bad. As a kid, I used to believe that being good means being kind and not hurting anyone mentally or physically. Then I grew up and had my things stolen, trust broken and ass grabbed by strangers and realized that sometimes you have to hurt someone to protect yourself, so I figured I would update my definition of being good “being good means being kind and not hurting anyone unless you are acting in self-defence“. I grew up further and was pushed and shoved in crowded lines outside a temple by people who were trying to go ahead and pray first. I started working and realized that you have to lie and deceive people, you have to push and shove and leave others behind to get ahead. Everyone does that and they respect you if you do it well. So basically life’s like standing in the crowd outside the temples, most people will push you to get ahead and you will have to push them back if you don’t want to be left behind or worse, get crushed. Not hurting others is not an option so you better think about not getting hurt yourself.

So, was being good a myth? Can you only be good to a selective few because to some you will have to be bad? Is that the reason that we create our small world in this huge world, we have our families, our people, our religion, our countries so we can choose who to be good to and not worry about the rest of the world getting hurt? So as long as I am good to my family and friends, it’s OK to hurt everyone else to get ahead? If I am true to my religion it’s OK to hurt those who practice their religion and thereby offend ours? As long as I am working for my country it’s OK to kill innocent people of other countries?

I find that very confusing. I am just glad I am not Santa trying to make a good and bad list. As parents, we encourage the idea of Santa so we can get kids to be good and by good we mean our definition of good, but then again we are human beings and our definition of good is often just as flawed as our dating choices. I wonder if that is true in life. Clearly when a country can’t declare marital rape as a criminal act but passes laws against watching pornography and consumption of beef, and when religious leaders encourage hatred for those with different beliefs, sexual orientation, eating or dressing habits, it’s safe to say that these are just human beings and their definition of good is often as flawed as their dating choices.

Or maybe I am looking at it all wrong, we all are. Maybe being good has nothing to do with doing good. Maybe it is only about elegance, about being easy on the eyes, if your actions and existence is easy on the eyes of those around you, you are good, if not, you are not. Or maybe there is no good or bad at all and life is only as meaningful as you force yourself into thinking it is. It’s so funny if you look at it this way with a slight sense of humor, it’s like a big practical joke that we are yet to get and guess who the joke’s on!

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Tell me, how do you define good and bad or do you think it’s pointless to even try?  I certainly am starting to.

-N

 

Daily Prompt – Elegance

Photographer Unknown
© Copyright 2017, Niharika Jaiswal

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