First – year philosophers at the Loyola College Chapel.
Before taking a plunge into the water one needs to know its depth and also makes sure that it is safe to plunge in. Otherwise, there would be fatal consequences. Keeping that in mind, on the 17th June 2017, all of us first-year philosophers coming from different provinces of the Society of Jesus were taken for Chennai darshan, before we engage ourselves in philosophical studies, here in Satya Nilayam, Chennai. The purpose of this trip is not so much to avoid getting any ill-fated outcome, but it’s just an opportunity for us to be familiar with the culture of the people and to get acclimatized to the place.
During our day’s trip, we went to a few historical places within the city like; Little Mount (Chinna Malai), Anna Centenary Library, Gandhi Mandapam, Loyola College, Government Museum, Vivekananda House, Marina beach and Santhome. For most of us, this is our first time in Chennai. Therefore seeing all these beautiful historical places was indeed a very thrilling experience.
The morning schedule of visiting the Little Mount, the Anna Centenary Library and the Gandhi Mandapam was pleasant. In the afternoon because of the heat, it was quite uncomfortable to move around. By the time we reached the Government Museum, most of us were so tired that we literally dragged ourselves from one gallery to another. However, our time in the Vivekananda House was quite informative and refreshing. Our short halt in Marina beach was refreshing. We aptly ended our Chennai darshan with a half an hour visit to the tomb of St. Thomas.
Without an iota of doubt, all of us enjoyed the trip, though physically tired, yet mentally rejuvenated and enriched. And not to boast; we are now fit and ready to take on philosophy.
I happened to read an interesting book on Identity and Violence by Amartya Sen. This is not a review/critique of it, but some reflections on the topic and I happened to agree with most of the basic ideas of the author.
Identity
“I have many identities like human being, Indian,…and many more.”
It is not an unknown aspect that human beings are composed of multiple identities. I have many identities like a human being, Indian, Christian, Catholic, philosophy student, Jesuit and many more. These identities effectively make me what I am. Some identities are more powerful than others; one identity may replace another identity as the significant identity depending on time and space. All these are normal and natural processes and they are not a cause of worry in any way.
Identity & Violence
Now when we look at the major violence that has happened or is happening in the world, one of the major factors is that one particular identity of the people is used to propagate and promote violence. The British government tried to promote the identity of Indians as Hindus or Muslims and followed divide and rule leading to many forms of atrocities by one against the other, which is even promoted today by the followers of divide and rule. The wars between different nations are fought after the identity of members of that nation, forgetting all other identities which could be opportunities to unite them, which are means of dialogue.
Many of the perpetuators of violence manipulate people to continue their game of violence. The fundamentalists of any religion deify the religious identities so much that all the other identities of the people are forgotten. The nationalists forget the identity as a global citizen and many others in their search of power and glorify the national identity. The same happen with the identity of being a member of tribe or community or group and other identities are conveniently put on back seat.
Peace & Identity
“Peace is a desire of the majority of people.”
In the world engulfed with violence, peace is a desire of the majority of people and there are initiatives by people of good will to establish peace. It is important to see whether the peace efforts see the link between identity and violence and also see the essential aspect of multiple identities of each individual. For religious violence, inter-religious dialogue is a powerful anti-dote. There are also attempts to interpret different religious scriptures in an authentic way to promote peace. But our attempts shouldn’t be limited to these steps. All these are focused on the conflicting identity, which is religion in this case. But there are multiple identities (some of them are significant) and we should focus our efforts on these identities too to build peace. The cricket match for peace organized in various parts of the country where the teams has members of different communities is a shining example. Conclusion
We have seen how over-emphasis of an identity is channelized to perpetuate violence. For this violence to be tackled and to achieve peace, we have been trying to de-emphasize the overtly promoted identity and to promote other identities too. Promoting a single identity leads to exclusive communities with impenetrable boundaries; promoting multiple identities helps us to creative inclusive communities with porous boundaries. Inclusion can lead us to dialogue and peace.
Sch. John (L) with the former general of the Society of Jesus Fr. Nicolas Adolfo.
Each day, war forces thousands of families to flee their homes. The number of refugees displaced by conflict was estimated to have reached a global total of 75 million, a record high, at the end of 2016. An average of 24 people per minute were displaced last year, amounting to 34,000 people per day.
Every day, I listen to harrowing stories of people fleeing for their lives, across dangerous borders and unfriendly seas. But there’s one story that keeps me awake at night, and it’s about Nazi, a 17 year old Afghan IDP (Internally Displaced People due to war and conflict).
Four years of war drove the family into pieces and she lost her father in the conflict. One day, men on motorcycles tried to kidnap her and to sell her to a 47-year-old man to be married. Once an aspiring student thinking only of her future, now she was scared of her life and future all the time.
Mariam, Nazi’s schoolmate, and a close friend were to struggling in Afghanistan. Mariam realized that staying in Afghanistan would be a nightmare for any human being and she said to Nazi, “Let’s run away to Europe; seek asylum, safety. We will work and study together — the promise of a new life.”
To get to Europe, Mariam and Nazi knew they had to risk their lives, traveling across Iran, Iraq and through the Mediterranean Sea, putting themselves in smugglers’ hands, who are notorious for their cruelty. And Nazi was terrified of the water. She always had been. She never learned to swim since Afghanistan has rather limited facilities for women.
It was August that year, and already 3,000 people had died trying to cross the Mediterranean, but Mariam knew of a friend who had made it all the way to Northern Europe, and she thought, “Maybe we can, too.”
It was Saturday morning, Nazi begins her journey with her aged mother and two small sisters, along with Mariam. After 4 days of journey across Iran and Iraq, they reach Beirut coast. And Mariam and Nazi paid their entire life savings -2,500 dollars each – to the local smugglers to reach them to Europe.
They were taken then by small boats onto an old fishing boat, 500 of them crammed onto that boat, 300 below, 200 above. There were Syrians, Palestinians, Africans, Muslims and Christians, 100 children, including Nazi’s sister Sandra. There were families on that boat, crammed together shoulder to shoulder, feet to feet. Nazi was sitting with her legs crammed up to her chest.
On the fourth day in the Mediterranean sea, passengers were getting agitated. They asked the captain, “When will we get there?” He told them to shut up, and he insulted them. He said, “In 16 hours we will reach the shores of Italy.” They were weak and weary. But in no time, the boat began to capsize and began to sink. The 300 people below deck were doomed. Nazi was holding on to the side of the boat as it sank, and watched in horror as her sister, Sandra, was cut to pieces by the propeller. The sea swallowed as many people as possible.
Around 54 people survived initially, and many cried out for rescue. Finally, when the day went by and no one came, most of them gave up hope, and Nazi and Mariam watched each other, tears in their eyes, as they sank into the water.
Why do refugees like Nazi take these kinds of risks? Millions of refugees are living in exile, in limbo. They’re living in countries, fleeing from a war that has been raging for years and in some cases, decades. Even if they wanted to return, they can’t. Their homes, their businesses, their towns and their cities have been completely destroyed. The flee of Sri-Lankan Tamils, Afghans, Syrians, Africans and the Somalians have been distressing events in the history of the world. People continue to flee into neighboring countries, and we build refugee camps for them in the deserts and forests. Hundreds of thousands of people live in camps like these, and millions live in towns and cities. And the communities, the neighboring countries that once welcomed them with open arms and hearts are overwhelmed. There are simply not enough schools, water systems, sanitation.
To escape the violence, they leave everything behind – everything except their hopes and dreams for a safer future. UN reveals that more than 32,500 refugees and migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe over the two years.
One thing is for sure, that no refugee would be on those dangerous boats if they could thrive where they are. And no migrant would take that dangerous journey if they had enough food for themselves and their children. And no one would put their life savings in the hands of those notorious smugglers if there was a legal way to migrate.
He sat in the blazing Sun, high up on a branch just outside Kalwa railway station unnoticed and unknown; one end of a rope was around his neck and the other seemed more tangled than tied in the branches beside. The constant trickle of people came from the foot-over-bridge onto the road below. Many went by until one soul looked up. He saw him in this precarious state and started calling out to others. One by one the people gathered below. They waved and yelled, however, perched up on the branch he sat still. Then one man from the crowd went and called the cops.
The fire department had come prepared.
The cops arrived. They were more helpless than him. If they made a move he would jump and the rope around his neck would end it all. If the rope snapped then the fall would certainly kill him. The cops struggled to find a solution. There was no way to take him out of it; for the height ensured no words could reach him.
The sound of the siren was becoming louder and finally, they were there. The cops had called the fire brigade. The police spoke to the fire officer. After a brief discussion and surveying the situation they went into action.
The police called for backup to control the crowd. The fire department had come prepared. First, they laid a net, some people from the crowd stepped in to help. Another pickup arrived with something like a box covered with a cloth. A well-built, six-foot-tall man, with broad shoulders, stepped out of the vehicle. The cops and the fire officers knew him by name. As soon as he arrived they saluted Mohitey Saheb. He was an expert in handling such beings and situations.
Wasting no time, Mohitey got on the ladder and the fire officer gave the signal for the ladder to be raised. On seeing Mohitey approach, what all feared happened. He jumped; you could hear the gasp of the crowd, some even shouted. Those holding the net below tightened their grip and pulled it tight. They had made up their mind that they would not let him touch the ground. At first, it seemed as though he was trying to get away, then it seemed as a flight that would end up on the ground or in the safety of the net. However, all this proved wrong the rope pulled him back and there he was hanging. The rope started to strangulate him, in his desperation he shrieked crying for help. Then he showed great agility and got a grip of the rope and pulled himself up and got on the branch again attempting to move away from Mohitey. The cop never lost his focus, he seemed a true professional. He was close to the entangled end of the rope. He used the control pole that he was carrying with great accuracy and managed to get the noose around the waist. Mohitey then untangled the rope. He was finally caught, the control pole kept him from harming Mohitey and himself. All attempts to free himself from Mohitey were in vain.
He was brought down and when the cloth was removed the box like structure in the pickup turned out to be a cage. Mohitey brought him down and led him straight into the cage. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get away. Finally, he entered the cage; the cloth was placed over the cage and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the monkey had escaped from his handler and got stuck here in this tree. It had spent a lot of time trying to free itself but with the rope entangled in the branches, it could not. If left unnoticed it would have died of a heat stroke or starvation and thirst.
The Jesuits are known for their ingenuity. They have explored and experimented with almost every field of human life in their quest for the MAGIS. And so they could hardly be kept away from the Arts, both fine arts and the performing arts. Down through history, there have been so many Jesuits who have done remarkable work vis-a-vis painting, sculpting, architecture, music, theatre and other art forms. There always have
Fr. Saju George SJ, a Bharatanatyam exponent.
been Jesuit artists.
Therefore we have had great painters like Andrea Pozzowhose work at the Roman Church of St. Ignatius, the Gesu is a marvel. The musical achievements in the famous Paraguay reductions and the School for painters of the Jesuit missionaries in Japan already in 1583 are notable as well. The ‘Forge theatre’ of Fr. Jack Warner in Honduras and the Museum of contemporary religious Art founded by Fr. Terrence E. Dempsey are examples of Jesuit art in the modern world. In India too, we have Fr. Saju George, a Bharatnatyam exponent, conveying his message through dance. It is this last mentioned Jesuit artist, whose example created a Spark in me about my own artistic abilities and interests, after I joined the Society of Jesus. I was said to be artistically gifted by God by my family and friends. But it was all packed up and kept out when I decided to be a religious. I could not, like most others, make any connection between my talents of painting, designing and dancing, until I read about Fr. Saju George in a magazine. I was absolutely surprised and happy, too. Here was a religious order that gave her men all freedom to use their talents in the Service of God and his people. Fr. Saju inspired me profoundly and I felt, I too must make use of my talents and reach out to people more effectively. There is, moreover, a quest in me to show the world that there is nothing a Jesuit cannot do, if it be for God’s glory and the service of his people.
But why are Jesuits artistic? This outlook and appreciation of art, of beauty, comes from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius itself. The art historian E. Male writes in his book on religious art: “In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola invites a Christian to meditate the Gospels as an artist might…”The exercise of ‘the contemplation to attain love’ enables the Jesuits to see God in all things – in Creation, in people, in painting, music, theatre and dance as well. Moreover, they saw it as an effective medium of communication. The Jesuits have always taken to arts to reach out to people and convey to them the good news of God and their own heartfelt lived experience. ‘Artists are the conscience and Soul of the world’ said Fr. Wendell D’cruz, SJ during his course on ‘Art appreciation’. Jesuit artists, therefore, I say are the conscience and soul of the spiritual world and the world of Jesuits.
However, the Church and people have not always been encouraging in this venture of Jesuit artist. Lack of manpower, arising from decreased vocations and their need for other direct works creates more obstacles, today. They are forced by situation or people to suppress their talents. Even today, many consider arts and more so the performing arts as the occupation of the jobless, and religious are considered too holy to be engaging in them. This mindset has to change and openness and encouragement on the part of the church and people are required.
Nevertheless, the Spirit of Jesuit art continues to thrive among some Jesuits who going by the Ignatian principles of ‘Seeing God in all things’, ‘MAGIS’ and ‘Creative fidelity’ believe that anything directed to God is Prayer.
Sitting through hours and hours of philosophy classes is not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. It was during one of these never ending sessions that I came across the phrase: “One is not born a woman, but becomes one”. These words were of the controversial French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir.
As I sat reflecting on these words, I was reminded of all the women who were a part of my life starting from my mother and the impact they had on me. My professor explained that Simone was famous for a book which was named “The Second Sex”. In this book, she looks at the whole idea of being a female from a completely different perspective or shall we say a feminist perspective.
Simone feels that most men generally treat the woman as the ‘Other’ and by the virtue of that treat her as a second-class citizen. Personally, though I don’t quite completely agree with Simone’s views, I do see some truth in what she is trying to say. Women do get objectified in our society and the abundance of advertisements which use women to sell products just proves that point.
The second perspective that she presents is that girls are conditioned right from the beginning about how they have to behave. A girl’s role is defined by society and therefore she is not supposed to shout out loud, she is not supposed to be out late, she is supposed to dress in a particular manner yada yada yada. Well, let’s just stop and think for a while… why do we tell our girls to do the things we tell them to do? Is it because it is good for them or is it because that’s the way things have always been said and done?
As I look at the women in my life, I am left wondering…did they do what they did out of instinct or out of being conditioned to behave in a particular manner? We do make tall claims of treating our boys and girls equally but then why do we expect them to act differently? Why should a girl behave in a particular manner and a boy in a particular manner? Is it right to curb the natural instincts of a girl if they do not conform to the societal norms?
Considering that Simone was writing in the late 1940s when women were still fighting for basic human rights, she proposes equal education and other basic rights. In today’s context, however, the issues are quite different. Why do women suffer in the corporate world due to the glass ceiling? Why don’t women have the right over their bodies when it comes to the use of contraceptives and abortion? Why should only the woman sacrifice her career to look after the children?
It defies logic that a man should decide how a woman should live her life. How many would accept a woman’s view on how a man should live his life?
United Voices 