A journey to the place called Inspiration

Who deserves being an inspiration? A book, a verse, a man you know, or one you read about or an idea that changed a thousand lives? I think the roots of inspiration lies in everyday observations, in the basic emotions of love, compassion and the humanity that lives within us. It is the urge to reach out, to love and help those in need. Inspiration in its true sense lies in the call to rise above oneself and shoot out for the far away goal. True inspiration does not constitute of personal ambition and gratification alone. However, sadly enough, that is what we have made out of it.
Inspirations mostly are confined to either a celebrity, living or dead or a family member who lived a life of righteousness/ideals/values and helped us stand tall the way we do today through his or her contributions. And why is that so? I guess the answer lies in the ego boost we get out of associating a train of thought similarity with a big name or raising a familiar figure on an altar. Especially in the world and the times that we belong to surely the group of “ those who Inspire” could be a bit larger. What do you think of the farmer who fights sun, rain and oppression, middlemen and landlords and eats lesser of his produce, just so that we could pick up those fat bags of grain and cereal, bunches of leafy greens and fresh produce to adorn our dinner tables every night and may be even throw away some unconsumed. Well, some would say, that is what he is supposed to do. For sure he is, but consider this: he does something that contributes to one of the most basic and essential of human needs – food. Should he not be paid and treated better than one of us? One of us who designs advertisements, or manage stocks or help the rich grow richer by diversifying their investments and are considered successful? Now think of coal miners and oil rig laborers and the base category soldiers – they give us our light, our gas, they protect our borders and yet live a life of toil while others enjoy 152 channels on the slimmest of the TV screens.
A lot of people I know would quote laws that govern economy or establish the sad but true facts about disproportionate division of wealth and then all those discussions over coffee and wine would ultimately culminate in another night of peaceful sleep. Sometimes I wonder, are we getting numb by the ages? How do we eat and sleep and throw thousands out for a weekend party, when the people who provide are dying out there of floods and famines? They are getting killed and killing themselves, there are women getting raped and children being trafficked, there is no food and no houses and no medicine for millions dying. And yet they are resilient, and yet they keep doing their job, and yet they do not stop tilling the fields or sweating it out in the cramped factories! Could there be a better example of passion at work or integrity than in the millions that toil? A business leader creates wealth, an actor weaves magic through his emotions but somewhere we must realize that all of this somewhere affect only our intellectual portion or maybe our lifestyle too but for sure not our life. Well again, not in terms of “Get a life dude” kind of life, but just the life where we can feel the world around because we breathe and eat and can cover ourselves.
Find this depressing? Even I do as I write it. But let us face the facts. Human history has always been a tale of humanity and greed that went hand in hand. There were people who rose to the occasion and did their bit in propagating in either and earned an altar for themselves. I think somewhere after all these years of history the time is on us to put the common man up to the altar. Not the lover who died, not the man who created a castle from the dust, neither the soul who took millions of lepers in her arm, let’s get together and give a chance to elevate not just financially and socially but also image wise - the “Common Man”. I would like to believe that his time has come! Lets stand up together and draw inspiration from within – internally and around. Let there be a niche deserved for art and literature and all that which is avant grade. Let also build a niche for something that has been far too common, far too mediocre, and far too plain to be given an elevated significance. The toil of the common man has to break the shackles of text book quotations and literary sympathy to be crowned as the attitude that helped us come so far. I am not a socialist, neither a social worker, I am not the down trodden , neither am I just a raped/oppressed/killed entity. I am what I am – the common man. I have seen struggle, and felt hunger, I have seen people die and cry and today I yearn to be the “one who inspires” . I don’t want money, nor do I live with a hope of a world free of troubles, toil and oppression. I know the rain will lash and the sun will scorch me as I till the land or dig the road but all I ask for is the respect that I have been denied. I claim my chair in the seat of those who inspire. I deny being a figure in the book of statistics, I deny to subject of a sad short story that wins an award, I deny to be the character the stars play to earn more fans and accolades. I am what I am and will always be. The one true fore bearer of the most strong of human feelings- the will to exist. My time has come – bring me my altar!