What a wonderful world!

  

 

As I write about sensitivity, I am reminded of lines written by Pastor Martin Niemoellereer, theologian and resistance fighter,

First, they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

 

I have also realized that sometimes fear is inversely proportional to sensitivity. We are too busy in the comfort of our space, that it is difficult to look. We are afraid that as long as we find ways to protect ourselves by whatever means, the world out there will not harm us. Ignorance is bliss and knowledge is a liability. If we know we make a choice to do or not to do something about it. But what if we don’t know, or pretend not to know.

But today I promised something to myself. Normally Friday’s are those days when I share personal experience or observations on the issue that I am discussing. For example for mental health, I discussed my father’s dementia and for learning I spoke about people who have influenced mine, so on and so forth. Today I plan to work on sensitivity that is working for us right now.

Insensitive-sensitivity- Most standup comedians have an offensive vocabulary, but still can sometimes touch issues that make people think. I remember watching a set about a person talking about women issues and someone from the audience shouted ‘next’. This gentleman immediately countered and asked him to leave the show. The reason was obvious; he wanted to set an example, insensitivity to women issues will backfire.

Social Media pressure- I spoke about the insensitivity of media and its reflection on society. One has to take into cognizance their newfound competition, citizenship journalism. There are many conscientious citizens giving them run for their money. Prabhat Shunglu, a senior journalist himself covers a series of issues on his YouTube channel ‘The Newsbaaz’ to bring to viewers an unbiased and clear perspective of the latest news. He has close to 120000 followers.  These people are creating a genuine impact by doing responsible journalism.

Kindness towards self- There is a growing realization in a country like India to recognize ‘self’ as an important part of the overall scheme of wellness. Self-awareness, self-help, self-love are now considered an important part of the healing process and rightly so. Unless one is healed and sensitive towards their own need for a healthy and safe environment, it is difficult that they will be sensitive to others.

Sensible Power: In the world of snollygosters, it is sometimes difficult to find an effective example of sensitive leadership. I came across tons of articles on why being sensitive is an important trait in leadership but real-life examples were missing. I have worked with few leaders myself who were big on the relationship and reaching out to people. MS Dhoni is said to be a good example of relationship-oriented leadership. In fact, all the change agents even the big ones, work on the premise of sensible power. One should not underestimate one’s own power to impact people positively. I have recently become a part of women’s collective, Lean In, A2I, Bangalore chapter and the energy is contagious. Each and every woman has the potential to uplift the other and they do it with fervour.

 Sensitivity awareness: There is a growing awareness of the need to sensitize people. Organizations have T-trainings to sensitize employees, schools are working around culture-sensitive pedagogy, people are held accountable for their frivolous statements in public. People are asking for answers and are getting it. This change has been brought about only by acknowledging the need for change. Parents are actively choosing sensitivity as a new strength.

 The reason for this blog is simple. In the world of disdain and darkness, there is another which is full of sunshine and rainbows.  Despite the uncertainty, there is much to look forward to and much that makes it beautiful world.  Few lines from the song 'What a wonderful world' by Louis Armstrong that resonate with me at this moment. 

I see babies crying, I watch them grow

They'll learn so much more than I'll ever know

Then I think to myself, what a wonderful world.