So, this is what I cannot understand.

When people chose a leader what is their qualifying priority? Do they look for someone who is good, proper, decent? Or someone who will benefit them?

What are the qualities that define the person who gains their vote?

Earlier, I believed most people simply voted along party lines, or along their preference to change the status quo. Now I realize people vote according to who they are. And the elected define what our society is ready to become.

Ideally, we must expand our thinking and consciousness beyond a petty ‘me’. Picking a candidate for your taxes or something personal is just wildly selfish. This is the President of the country you are voting for. We need to see the big picture. We must think of the communities in need of change, the future and growth of the nation, and our standing in the world.

I understand some people cannot look or feel (or even know of anything!) beyond the narrow confines of their own homes. And well, ignorance is not a crime. So they vote on ‘I will get this break with this guy’s policies.’ That is fine too.

Where that stops being acceptable is when with the break you get, some other person is being victimized. Or when that candidate is dangerously inept or morally bankrupt (or, in the world we live in, both).

I will support the candidate who is knowledgeable, who uses his resources to bring people together, who tries make the world safer. In the worst-case scenario – who at least appears to.

When I moved to the US in 1999, I chose to be a democrat, simply because I liked Bill Clinton. I voted for Obama; well, who wouldn’t? (apparently plenty, sadly). I voted for Hillary of course. And I was so sure that even people who disliked her could see the thing she was running against. Wrong again, though she did get the most votes.

I remember one of my cousins saying stupidly that I was a democrat only till I became ‘rich’ because the taxes would make me lean republican. I am not going into the economics of the different parties because I am not qualified to make a judgment based on that. But I don’t need to, because that is not a part of the criteria for choosing my leader.

 I make a judgement on WHO the person running is. Period. And whatever party it is, whatever your benefits are, whatever your faith is, you cannot condone what that person presently sitting in the White House does. God cannot be approving of that. God does not need help to do what He wills. And we on earth certainly don’t need the hate and divisiveness brought about in the last four years.

It is important that we have a leader who does not mock the disabled, who does not talk like a lecher, and who can string together a coherent sentence. This is the very basic necessary requirement of anyone standing for office. It is not up for debate. It should not even have been needed to be addressed. We have eliminated people from the political stage for misspelling words, for inappropriate celebratory shrieks.

How much lower have we fallen that basic civilized propriety needs to be asked for?

 The still morning

The splash in the lake
The symphony of bird calls
The day promises
A renewed pursuit of hope
With the peaceful unity
Of sound and light.

Home is where....

We have all heard it, and known it. Home is where the heart is.

But the heart is very fickle. Our ideas and our needs change as we traverse the rough roads of life.
So where is home? Does it change as we make new friends,build new relationships, identify favorite stores? Can we be at home in more than one place? 

I sometimes envy people who have had the privilege of living their whole lives where they were born. It must be so easy to feel at home always, to grow with your city, suburb or village, to continue with old hangouts and old friends. How comfortable it must be to belong so unconditionally, to be rooted so strongly. 

I am torn at times because I love both my homes, India and the US, equally. And I miss being in one when I am in the other for too long. It is a privilege I am keenly aware of and grateful for.

But today the political climate in both homelands is unstable. Intolerance encouraged for political benefit has, as always, created strife and instability for the general population. Hate sears all in its path, it scars even those who are not its target. Unleashing injustice against one community or one particular section of society makes everyone insecure and unsafe.  I cannot even begin to discuss how very wrong it is to selectively oppress one section of the country's people. I am only pointing out one practical ramification .I notice that evil people are also stupid. They cannot see that history shows that every time hate or oppression or aggravation motivates action, entire countries suffer. Or maybe that is exactly what they want. 

Home is eventually where you feel safe. Safe in your person and property of course, but more importantly safe in your beliefs, values and priorities. Home is where you feel comfortable expressing yourself, learning and growing to be able to contribute to society. If that security is not being provided to a community in my country, it is definitely, eventually, whether I accept it or not, going to make me insecure too.

And that makes me wonder- do I need to look for another home now?

COVID co-care

No, we are not all in the same boat. But in this world where nothing and no one is independent and isolated, our boats are affected by the troubles, and joys, of others. As we face a common foe, each one of us is in a predicament all our own, yet we each have capacity to help make things better.

Without her job, Jane in New York does not know if she can buy milk for her children next week, while Shahana in Texas is fighting boredom by checking memes and munching muffins. Akbar in Hyderabad has no way to go to city to buy stuff, let alone earn a living from his autorickshaw, and Vicky in Palm Beach stands on exhausted legs bagging groceries for others before she can pick her own drastically budgeted groceries. Big Tomato Farm is burying onions and tomatoes by the tons and is eligible for the government handout, and John stands in line for hours to get a warm meal for the day. Helen, 43, is struggling to breathe in England while Lin, also 43, recovers slowly in Singapore. David in Orlando must stay home because of his COPD and heart disease, while Peter from next door must get to work at the hospital even after a night up with a colicky baby.  A leader in Europe puts the comfort and safety of her people first, another on another continent postures moronically, and another elsewhere distracts with mindless clapping.

The enemy is hitting us all and we don’t have the tools to fight back. What we do have is the ability to support each other with our most important strength – being there for each other. Don’t play the blame game. Don’t let ‘news’ dictate your feelings and negate your better principles. Stay home to support our front lines, reach out to neighbors in need, spend a little more to help others. Be unselfish, be strong. Now, more than ever, it is essential that we don’t lose our basic humanity. Whatever our differences –economic, intellectual, or social status – let us lend a hand wherever we can, even if must stretch a little.  (I will not even qualify religion as a category of difference – that is not a human situation. It is the same as categorizing people by the colours they like!!)

 We don’t have to be in the same boat to be there for each other. But in this roiling sea where balance is key, our boats will collapse too if we cannot keep others afloat.