The Great Equalizer – 2

This story is the concluding part of The Great Equalizer – 1. Please do not read further in case you haven’t read the first part. Please read the first part and return…

The Deads have successfully conceived The Great Equalizer. They were optimistic, delighted and content, the Passionates on the other hand were occupied with their work. During the same period (late 1860s), an outfit of Scientists was engrossed with colossal calculations, research papers and rock minerals. These scientists were computing the age of earth and they were close to making some breakthrough revelations which will attract response from everyone, including the Church.

The Origin of Species (1859) was published during the papacy of Pope Pius IX, who defined dogmatically papal infallibility during the First Vatican Council in 1869-70. The council and the Churches in Europe were furious with the Passionates as their research and calculations (on age of the Earth) were intrusive to their faith. The Gods-men were furious with Passionates and this proved to be a divine sanction for the Deads. Deads could not have asked for a better arena … The Great Equalizer was now endorsed by the Vatican. A brand endorsed by an upset Pope, promoted by furious clergy and followed by desperate Deads could have never failed.

The most crucial meeting before the massive propagation of The Great Equalizer was held in Dublin in 1870s. All the records, notes and logs of the meeting were to be burnt after it was over. The meeting was attended by Pope, representatives from various churches in Europe, Planning and organizing committee of The Great Equalizer and a few eminent men from clergy. During the course of this meeting some strategic decisions will be taken and they will change the future of mankind …forever. The Great Equalizer was to be positioned as an ‘institution’ and ‘necessary evil’. The Great Equalizer should be fundamental to every one’s life and it should eventually determine one’s society worthiness. For the first time in the history of mankind so many men were agreeing to a doctrine unanimously. The meeting that lasted for over nine hours saw forty-nine drafts being sanctioned with no objections whatsoever. Every soul present sensed victory, the atmosphere was jubilant and the air smelt of celebrations that evening. Every one returned home, burnt the logs and notes from meeting and raised a toast to Marriage. Yes, Marriage was the name given to The Great Equalizer that evening, and it still remains unchanged in its essence, values and positioning.

Today, more than hundred years later The Great Equalizer has delivered what was expected from it. Many a passionate men get converted into a regular married guy once they enter this ‘institution’. The ideas of travel, adventure, instinctive decisions get transformed into EMIs, planning, organizing and savings for future. Married men sure become homogeneous; they have the same ideas, the same fears, the same aspirations, the same joys and even the same body language. They spend their time reading magazines on how to prolong excitement, how to fight hair loss, how to keep the spark alive in a relationship, how to tackle demanding wives, how to maintain a work-life balance, how to stay fit without going to gym, how to surprise your partner with a romantic getaway, how to manage your household expenditure without compromising on quality of life and so on. These magazines have become their literature, their wives have become their world, their 2 BHK flat in suburbs is their biggest dream and a visit to the nearby mall is nothing less than a romantic getaway.

The Great Equalizer - 1

‘They look so dead to me’ was my perpetual complain, and the reply was permanent too -“everyone is special in his own way” or “you shouldn’t judge people like that, there is something special in every person”. Twenty years hence, a lot has changed but their answers still resonate in my mind. I still wonder where did all this - 'everyone is special' came from. I seriously think that the world is pretty homogeneous right now in terms of consumption habits, environment issues, resources and most importantly – quality of population.

The human-race as I see it divided into two parts: Dead Men and Passionate Men. I know passion is the most abused word in English Dictionary these days (after Love and Attitude off course). To make it simpler for everyone - passion is what makes Peter Jackson accomplish LOTR trilogy, passion is the reason why Bhagat Singh died for his country, and passion is the reason why Rock makes you head-bang (and so much more). The Dead Men however, are exactly the opposite of passionate people. They form 90 percent of the human race and it’s not hard to spot them actually.

My research led me to two statements, and one of these was correct for sure:

1) If everyone is special in his own way, the world can’t have so many dead men.

2) If the world had so many dead men, then everyone can’t be special.

My research now needed some hardcore primary research. And I did it; most of the research was done on the internet though. Sample size was very close to a thousand men. The sample was not homogeneous by any standards. Research covered men from various nationalities, religion, financial backgrounds, states, race, and continents. The results of this year long research didn’t surprise me at all … the world indeed has 90% population as dead men. So it is safe to say that everyone here on earth isn’t special.

This blog entry however, wasn’t about proving Dead Men > Passionate Men. I strongly believe that there is some truth in the quote – ‘every man is special’ and there would have surely been some time when the world had more Passionates than the Deads. So what went wrong? How come the world is reduced to what it is right now? Why is the species of Passionates on a decline? How did the rise of Deads started and what triggered it? What is it that converted this world into a homogeneous world? I have been living with these questions for years now, and fortunately I am getting close to finding the answers. In order to understand it, we need to go back in time …

In 1864 Herbert Spencer coins a phrase after reading Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. The phrase was true and curt, the phrase — ‘Survival of the fittest’ was first published in his Principles of Biology (1864). And it did invite a lot of attention and reactions from academicians. The phrase however, was also a warning bell for some people in the society. Within days the world was full of secret societies and underground associations of frightened men. These men were scared for a number of reasons, but the most important reasons were- these men knew they are ‘unfit’ (mediocre and non-passionate or deads) and they feared their extinction because they were in minority.

Most of the celebrities in those times were scientists, photographers, artists and film-directors (unlike Paris Hilton, Rakhi Sawant and Rahul Mahajan of these times). These people were really passionate about their work and therefore got the best of women. This made the Deads (unfits) even more paranoid. The Deads craved for these women, they had to win them over but there was just no way they could have done it. Passionates on the other hand, kept doing what they did best and were never so bothered about women actually.

After months of brain-storming and strategizing the Deads finally made a breakthrough. This indeed meant a lot to them, since this can ensure a future for their future generations. They came up with something which will be ‘the great equalizer’. This will change the future of human-race and make it homogeneous. It will soon bring in times when ‘something different in every man’ will be obsolete …

Evening by the bay ...

I lay there – unmoved and docile,

feeling the sand beneath my feet,

being washed away every while.

The sun decides to call it a day,

horizon turns into a messy color pallet ,

from blues to reds and then grey.

The Cimmerian shade takes over,

waves sense their moment of freedom,

and become raucous and louder .

This show full of plentitude and exuberance,

is an everyday spectacle at the bay.

How can it give me so much peace?

I wonder as I walk back on my way …