She went for her daily walk. She was deeply disturbed by the recent events in our country and was filled with despondency, rage, and helplessness so didn’t feel like listening to any music. Suddenly she saw this old man walking with a stick – dressed in just one white cloth walking slowly was she having the same hallucination like Munnabhai? He suddenly stopped and sat on a bench. Looking at her as if calling her.
She went to him although she was having an anxiety attack something pulled her towards him and she sat
“ you look worried. She senses that you are disturbed by whatever is happening in our country. So she was “
After a long silence, she said, “Bapu she has been thinking for a long time about your 3 monkeys. They seem to be living in some ideal world or what. Because the people she sees around do not seem like these 3 “
“Are you like these three monkeys? ” Bapu asked
“No I am not ”
“so you are like others?”
“no I am not,” I said irritated.
“I am confused.”
Bapu smiled. How are you different from others and not like my three dear monkeys?”
“Bapu. Your monkeys do not see bad, do not hear bad and do not speak bad. right? They seem to be in major minority.
Our nation going down the drain. From where have all the other monkeys come who are mostly seeing, speaking, and hearing bad? She has some thoughts regarding your monkeys.
Bapu smiled and allowed her to talk.
1. One monkey doesn’t see bad but he (or she) is still hearing and speaking bad? similarly, the other two - one who is not hearing badly can still see and speak badly and the third who is not speaking badly is taking in everything from his/her ears and eyes so they are also taking negative inputs.
2. When good and bad is anyway relative then how do we apply this to the monkeys? At least at the micro level. In daily living most of us keep flowing with life by saying ‘point of view’ so how do we differentiate between good and bad at the very basic level? Which eventually grows at the macro level?
3. What if the bad is served with a covering of good and the good is misinterpreted as bad? When life is getting so complex with information being manipulated at so many levels then how does the poor monkey make his choices? Even at an interpersonal level most people have no connection with what they think, say and do, then how does the other understand what is good or bad?
4. Why should we not see, hear and say ‘bad’? Every situation defines the good and the bad for different people differently. According to her conscience if what she is saying is good for not only her but for many, then why can't she say it even though it may be bad for others? Girls were not allowed to speak their minds until recently. Even today there are many communities of this country which are asked to shut up. So if they start saying what they want, then certainly many will curb their voices saying what they are saying is bad…
5. Unless we do not know what is bad how will we understand it? How will we fight it? How will we go to the source of it? Each of us has so much bad inside us but we just want to cover it. We don’t make an effort to see the bad in us but we continuously see or search for the bad in the other. How fair is that Baapu? Kabir cried out
6. Is bad and good always so exclusive? How does anything turn bad? From what little she knows - most or maybe all the rakshasas in Hindu mythology have come from the devas or at least there is some connection between a rakshasa and deva or rishi or muni. Then why do we only curse the rakshasa and make them the epitome of bad? Others are also responsible for the growth of this rakshasa, if those people had handled their ’bad’ at the root level then this big rakshasa would not have become so big.
7. She has also seen that when anybody considers someone/something good, no matter what bad this good person does, we don’t see that 'bad' and the same way if she considers someone bad no matter what good they are doing doesn’t matter they stay bad in her eyes, so isn’t that dangerous too?
8. Is our goodness so weak that if we see bad, hear bad or say bad that goodness will go? Sometimes we have to say bad not because we are bad but to make the other aware of what is bad.
9. What about not smelling bad? Not touching bad? what happened to those 2 monkeys? smell and touch have such a deep impact on our mind, body and soul Baapu.
10. What about compassion for the bad? If the doctor doesn’t see the disease how will he cure it? Isn’t there any hope for the bad? She knows it takes a lot of courage and strength to face the bad, accept it and remove it. If we do not acknowledge the bad then how will we transform it into good?
Bapu I know with what intention you created these three monkeys for us but many parts of society are undergoing a lot of problems - problems which have grown and become more and more complex. She wishes you were here with us but she wonders how you would have handled all this. The crime rate has gone up, the divide between rich and poor is widening, the education system is being manipulated, law and order is going topsy-turvy, and religion is being used as a tool to exploit and misguide people. Let me not go on and on. There is a lot of good also and that’s why we are still surviving “
Baapu held her hand and gave her a small toy charkha.
“Dear kid be fearless. Always weave the TRUTH within you, around you and believe in it. Hey Ram … “ He slowly walked away. She was holding onto the charkha. Her talisman. Her hope.