It is not a real world

In this world, the treachery and betrayal of people is now done without shame and pity. Mothers are no longer mothers. Fathers are no longer fathers. Uncles are no longer uncles. Aunties are no longer aunties. Brothers are no longer brothers. Sisters are no longer sisters. Cousins are no longer cousins. Wives are no longer wives. Husbands are no longer husbands. I can simply say that relatives are no longer relatives and friends are no longer friends.

Many people are sick or depressed and going about their normal work or duties every day and even the closest people around them barely notice their depression and worries because people no longer care about people anymore.

We all seem to be chasing one thing so much that the other person's wellbeing or wellness does not concern us until they depart from the world then we suddenly realise how much we loved them and wish they were with us forever. We shed crocodile tears and give fanciful speeches at their funerals as if we cared about them when they lived.

This hypothetical lifestyle of most of us has made life somehow not interesting to live and we all now almost believe that everybody around us is fake and may just be around us because of what they gain or stand to gain from us, hence we also fake our love towards them and it is baffling because it happens between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, brothers, sisters and other closely related relatives or friends.

I always get shocked anytime I see or hear stuff like this happening which I keep seeing and hearing every time. I mean a brother truly hating his brother for no apparent reason and sometimes even wishing death on each other. A mother not caring much or at all about her sick daughter or son.

A father abandoning his own children and not caring whether they are taken good care of or not. Aunties and uncles maltreating their nephews and nieces or whoever is under their care or household. Brothers and sisters not caring about their siblings.

You have friends trying to woo or sleep with their friends’ girlfriends or wives. You have wives cheating on their husbands and presenting them with other men's children as theirs. Thank God DNA has come to expose many of such characters and those who can afford and are doubtful always do the test on their children to find out if they are truly theirs.

What at all has come over us that we no longer have morals and all we have left in us is emptiness and the desire to get-rich-quick through any means possible? I know money is important in our lives because without it we cannot live a comfortable life, but we must place ourselves first, not money. If you respect me merely because of my riches then it means that you do not really respect me because the day I lose my riches is the day I lose your respect.

How are we raising our children for the future? Are we raising them to respect money more than human beings? Are we raising them to selfishly love only themselves and not care at all about others or even their own siblings or family? I want my son Mankudivi to grow up as a hard working man who will succeed in life and support humanity with his success, but not be too boastful or arrogant about his achievements and become disrespectful to people around him.

I am teaching him virtues like respect, love, kindness, generosity, sympathy and above all, confidence in himself. He needs to grow a vagina to face life challenges, not balls. Balls are too sensitive. We all have to develop a positive hope and keep fighting the right battles to make life easy and humanity free.

This world is not real even if you gain all that there is in it. Those who have do not want and those who want do not have. And life is just so unpredictable that the rich man can become poor in the blink of an eye. The man with good health can fall ill. The man and woman with good looks can lose their beauty through an accident or anything else. The man with power and I mean political power can lose an election and become a 'common floor' member just like the ordinary people he once led or controlled. You can lose your whole family just in a day. Anything is capable of happening in this world as long as we live in it and have breath.

Sometimes we feel too powerful merely because we have breath, hence we think ourselves greater than others, maybe for one or two things we may have achieved in life. We forget that our achievements are merely things that will not live with us forever.

I value peace because I have known war; war, maybe not in its literally sense, but the war life presents to us every day. I value good health because I have known illness. I value respect because I have given and received it. I value great friendship because I have had both good and bad friends. I value family because I come from one. I appreciate everything and ‘trust’ everybody. Yes. It is my nature. We must not take every little thing personally. We may lose our wisdom or sense of judgement if we tend to always read meanings into whatever people around us do or say.

It is a terrible world because we have all contributed in making it so. We lie. We cheat. We disrespect. We disobey. We destroy. We kill. We hate. Just name them. We are capable of doing anything and we even barely show remorse or regret our actions because we have become too egoistic and pompous.

Let me draw the curtains here by saying that life is just meaningless and purposeless and only those who have reached the high realms of knowledge and wisdom discover the true meaning of life which in itself is still not meaningful.

It does not matter your achievements or status in society, nobody has ever lived beyond themselves. We will all eventually wither and leave behind everything we once thought meant the whole world to us. Nobody is anybody.

Somebody is somebody. Everyone is important and we must all respect people as we deserve respect ourselves. Take your time and be patient with time and people. Be kind and generous. Be forgiving and be more tolerant.

Waterz Yidana

Playwright/Poet