Tuesday 14 June 2022

Write... Edit... Publish... June 2022 : Please Read the Letter




Hello, is it June already?! Wowza, almost half the year disappeared in a puff of smoke!... This month the prompt at Write...Edit...Publish... is Please Read the Letter by Robert Plant and Alicia Krauss – and I'm really excited to see what everyone does with it, because in the previous two challenges, writers totally ROCKED the prompts! 

Here’s my interpretation…


Don't Return to Sender!


Dear -

Please don’t return this too, unopened like all the others. Or worse, tear it up without reading. It’s been just eight years but it feels like I have been sending you these letters forever, reaching far back into some earlier births aeons ago. I keep thinking what can I do to make you understand? -  to make you see things differently, to get us back, if not on the same track, at least on tracks close enough for you to appreciate where I am coming from. And where you are heading. How can I make you understand?!

 

Together, we are more beautiful, more resilient - more armoured in our love for each other - than anything else in the universe. And apart, we are just broken human beings, isolated in pain, unable to handle problems, unable to handle life. The weakest, the worst versions of ourselves. The past few weeks are proof of that. Please read this letter. I’m nailing it to your door and to every door around you. You cannot send it back this time!

 

Why must you so isolate yourself and make your home in a parallel world that no-one can reach? Many people would argue it’s not a real world at all, but a figment spiked with fear, greed and hatred. Step out of it once and see how easy it is when we do it together, how pleasant and right it feels when we work towards it hand in hand without conflict and without drama. Without the lies. Because that’s the world you’re in, the one you’ve created – imaginary, unreal. Another word for that is false.

 

At first I thought we were having teething problems, all relationships do - they will work themselves out. But no, that hasn’t happened. One lie was followed by another and another, one abusive action followed by more and more. A world built upon falsehoods can never prosper. It will sooner or later come down like a house of cards. Surely you know that? You will argue that none of those words are yours, the abuse isn’t yours. But that is exactly it! - you are quiet while your family run amok, your silence enables them, encourages them to greater heights of cruelty and hatefulness. Why do you remain silent when the crisis is so dire? Why do you just stand there and watch homes being wrecked and not say a word? Do you really care so little?

 

The past is history. Neither you nor I can change it. Who screwed whom, what was broken, what was built, what was converted and diverted with what intention – that’s a never ending loop of futility, because we can never know for sure. Human beings change over a lifetime. And their intentions and actions are often in conflict. Also how do you know what the intention was behind a particular action anyway, whether it was a thousand years ago or at this very moment? Was Shah Jahan the most romantic husband ever to build the Taj Mahal for his queen, so he and Mumtaz could be together for eternity? Or was he a sex-obsessed maniac who drove his beloved wife to an early death by forcing her to go through 14 pregnancies in a time when childbearing carried the very real risk of death?

 

If it is the thought that counts, then we can’t ever know the thoughts that created history. Sometimes we can’t even know the actions, because not everything is recorded. History is not exactly watertight, it's just a bunch of interpretations about this or that written phrase. And the historians are in a better position to analyse it, let’s leave it to them.

 

It is pointless to brood on the past, it ties up the brain in knots and keeps us busy holding grudges instead of actively finding tools to build our lives with. It only creates ill-feeling where none need exist, it doesn’t help. Far more productive to focus on what we can change and get on with that. And what we can change is the future. Not the past. Please let it go, I’m urging you.

 

This whole debate about who belongs and who doesn’t is completely specious. The entire world, every nation, except for maybe Ethiopia, has been built by migrations.  Out of Africa, out of Central Asia, and equally outward from here to further east and to the west. How far back do we go?

 

Several Mughal emperors had Rajput mothers and married Rajput women. Their bones and that of their family members, generation upon generation, are interred in the soil here, their sons’ blood spilled on this very ground. Home is not just where the heart is!  It’s where the bones of the ancestors are, it’s the land that they have tilled or taxed, the orchards they have grown and gathered from, the waters they have sailed and fished in.

 

A foreign individual residing here for 12 years is eligible for citizenship. Just twelve years. And here we’re talking of centuries. Sapta purush jethae manush se mati Ma-yer baRa Tagore wrote – where seven generations have been raised that land is greater than the Mother. And Rahat Indori said in more recent times - sabhi ka khoon hai shamil yahaN ki mitti meineverybody’s blood is an integral part of the soil here… How would you disentangle the soil, segregate and demarcate which grains belong to whom?

 

So come, set aside those grudges, the uncontrolled rage, the manufactured outrage and mindless criminality. It’s never too late. Let’s get back together. There is nothing to fear. All we need to do is pull together, use and share resources sensibly. Respect each other’s boundaries. Value and celebrate diversity. It makes us stronger, not weaker. Come, live a life  of freedom. Free from fretting and fear. From anger and greed.  A life of love, of inclusion, of justice. A stress-free, happier life.

 

Yours,

An ordinary citizen.


~ ~ ~


Tagline : An open letter that could be nailed to too many doors in the corridors of power right now. 

FCA

WC - 992


Please read the other entries here and join in with your own - 

49 comments:

  1. Hari Om
    This needs to be sent for real, Nila - you may nail it to doors because it nails the situation! Wonderful take on the prompt. YAM xx

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    1. Sadly, nobody's reading, at least not in my parts. Just violence and chaos.

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  2. Powerful letter and appropriate for the times. Good job on this prompt

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  3. An open letter that not only could be, but should be nailed to rather a lot of doors. Thank you.

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    1. There are hundreds in my country alone, unfortunately. But no-one checks their mail anymore.

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  4. Such a genius with your 'Letter' response, Nila. You nailed it along with the letter nailed to many doors. Wouldn't it be lovely if those in power took notice of the 'ordinary citizen'? Then we may indeed be experiencing: "A life of love, of inclusion, of justice. A stress-free, happier life" instead of the opposite.

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    1. The ones in power are just determined to cling onto it at any cost. They have no time to take cognizance of the ordinary citizens. A stressfree life for people isn't happening very soon in South Asia at least, sadly.

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  5. Powerful, Nila! That's a letter so many should read and take to heart!

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    1. The distance between 'should read' and reality and light years long!

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  6. Excellent message and take on the prompt! This is absolutely what the world needs now.

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    1. What the world needs and what it gets are two different things for most of us. Thanks.

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  7. I had a feeling there would be a twist. Excellent to see the twist was political. Very good. Most enjoyable.

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    1. The relationship between an electorate and elected so closely mirrors a romantic relationship, doesn't it? The temptation was too great not to utilise that..thanks.

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  8. That letter could be posted to any major news outlet here in the USA. I can't understand why people are so opposed to immigrants. Well written, Nilla.

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  9. A powerful, timely, well written and much needed message. Very thought provoking. I wish your letter could be nailed on not only the doors of the corridors of power but on a lot of other doors as well. Great take on the prompt.

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    1. Thank you. Lots of anti-immigration bigotry among the ordinary doors as well, so yeah it could be...we've got a serious door problem here :)

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  10. Hi Nila - your commenters have expressed my thoughts ... it reminds me of Martin Luther nailing his theses to the door of his church ... railing against the Papacy with its 'indulgences' ...

    Such an excellent take on the prompt ... really thought provoking and a letter I'd love to send to so many pompous, uncaring peoples ...

    Love the comments - cheers Hilary

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    1. Oh wow, Hilary! That's an exalted name. Pompous and uncaring sums it up neatly. Can't believe the depths of uncaring we are plumbing here truly. Just fed up of the whole horror show!

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  11. Hi Nilanjana. You took us where it was least expected with this prompt. An apt letter for our times, written to the point to the ones in power. An unusual take on the prompt with some pertinent questions.

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    1. With the current goings on in India there was nothing else I could have written, seriously. Thanks.

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  12. What a great sociopolitical manifesto. You're a brave woman, Nila.

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    1. Just what was routine life a few years ago, something we were taught to value - diversity, respect for others and the rule of law. I don't know how we have come to this situation where discrimination and violence have become completely normalised. It's unbearable!

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  13. This is definitey appropriate for the times. So well-written and thoughtful, a great take on the prompt.

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  14. Wonderful take on the prompt Nila. You always add such a great twist. Thanks. Certainly should be nailed to many doors world wide - but unfortunately we can't force anyone to read it - especially those who need to most!

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    1. Oops, sorry, forgot to put my name to it!

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    2. Not only that you can't force anyone to read it, in many cases you are prevented from writing a word in protest also. Any dissent is immediately suppressed. Insane.

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  15. What a powerful letter! A beautiful usage of the prompt.

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  16. Oh wow...this letter fits right in for this day and age! Well written....very powerful!

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  17. This is the collective voice of all ordinary citizens of the world, from various continents, crying out to the-powers-that-be, who are fixated on and driven by political agendas...
    Really powerful, Nila!
    I love this.

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    1. Isn't it strange how, world over, we have landed up with a system that allows the leaders to ignore the voices of the ones who elected them in the first place? Glad you liked it, Michelle.

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  18. I'd say Amen to this prayer of hope. "Together, we are more beautiful." -- why can't we use this as a tagline for all humanity? Lovely letter and as Yamini says-- you nailed it.

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    1. We are. But none so blind as those who will not see. Thanks.

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  19. Really beautiful how this starts as a one-on-one letter and then opens out to encompass so much more. A letter that everyone should read, particularly those in power. When will we learn that everyone should be treated with the same humanity and dignity? Perhaps one day. Probably not in our lifetime.

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    1. Thank you Nick. Given the situations right round the world, we will never learn. It's beyond tragic how human beings are bent upon their own annihilation.

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  20. A powerful piece. Sometimes I despair that humans will never learn to tolerate one another's differences.

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    1. Me too. It's hard to feel otherwise. The erosion curve of liberal values has been super steep. Thanks for reading.

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  21. Cleverly done Nilanjana! A heartfelt appeal to the deaf ones.

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    1. Deaf ones is so right. Deaf and blind. Just unbearable. Thanks.

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  22. What can I say that hasn't already been said. Just beautiful. You've captured the desire of every individual on the planet with a heart. It's just too bad that those who don't posses such an essential part of humanity are those that rule. This is award winning work! I am in awe!

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    1. Thank you, Renee! What is it that has sent all the right wingers round the bend I don't know. A shouty, hateful minority has hijacked the entire planet. We are on such a self destructive trajectory.

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  23. A perfect letter for any time when strife predominates. Well done, and I loved the "parallel world" concept.

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    1. Thank you for visiting and commenting. Haters do live in a parallel world, built on totally false stereotypes and revisionist history.

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  24. My ancestors lived on this area of land for thousands and thousands of years. My grandfather was the first to earn the label of "citizen." Citizen of a country built on the lands of our people. It isn't the same as what you've written about here, but the pain and sour feelings are relatable.

    I wrote a humorous piece for the June WEP prompt (it isn't adult, though some may mistake it as such at first, depending on your hobbies).
    And I'm contemplating my favorite book worlds for the IWSG July prompt (I'm co-hosting). Any thoughts?
    Over at Operation Awesome, we're gearing up for our Pass or Pages query contest with July's family saga genre. Know any writers who might want to enter?

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    1. My grandfather would have related to yours - he needed a passport to travel back to his own home which became a foreign country to him during the Partition of India. Dispossession in any form carries the same pain world over. And the collective pain lingers for generations.

      I enjoyed reading your fun, lighthearted piece. Your month ahead sounds good and busy. My favourite book world? Gosh, too many to count. :) All the very best.

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