We the Living by Ayn Rand- It’s time to sit back and question!!

One day, or it can be night too. You were just born. How?

Well!- biology defines it the meeting of XX or XY chromosome

But, chances are your parents tell you- child is a gift of god.

And, you wonder- who this god is?

They take you to the temple and introduce you to god!

Hmm..

And in the name of god- you are supposed to do everything without questioning.

Following blindly a set of beliefs

It all starts with just a drop of sand

But with time, it turns out to be mountain hard & strong

Beliefs that could have been questioned once,

Now is a living being, so obvious that there is no room left to question

Beliefs that only make you a blind follower

Follower of ?

Follower of a book with structures and rules mentioned in it

If you break the rules- you are afraid, you will be left out & suffer

If you follow the rules- you suffer, because you don’t know what’s happening all around.

I wonder,

Who gave this rule book?

Who is the author of this book of discipline & belief?

And you answer- its society , without even knowing – what is society!!

Well! To be honest- I too don’t know

But have a zeal- to question and find out about this society

And everything with in and out ,

Will you accompany me in this search?

Before you say Yes- stay aware-

You have to break the rules!!

 

We the Living- a book by Ayn Rand – Chapter 2- a conversation between the main protagonist Kira Argounova and her cousin just touched me for the brief moment, when I was reading that chapter.

Just a brief  background of the conversation-

It’s the time of Soviet Union where communism is in power in Russia, there is famine, poverty, revolution and all that dystopian situation.

Her cousin is advising Kira what she actually should pursue as her career being a girl and Kira mentioned out of nowhere that she wants to be an engineer , and according to her cousin- this is quite anti- social because a girl is supposed to be available in a more feminine capacity.

And the answer from Kira simply gave me a moment of smile-

Just taking out the extract here-

 “Frankly,” said Victor, “your attitude is slightly anti-social, Kira. You select a profession merely because you want it, without giving a thought to the fact that, as a woman, you would be much more useful to society in a more feminine capacity. And we all have our duty to society to consider.”

“Exactly to whom is it that you owe a duty, Victor?”

“To society.”

“What is society?”

“If I may say it, Kira, this is a childish question.”

“But,” said Kira, her eyes dangerously gentle and wide, “I don’t understand it. To whom is it that I owe a duty? To your neighbor next door? Or to the militia-man on the corner? Or to the clerk in the co-operative? Or to the old man I saw in line, third from the door, with an old basket and a woman’s hat?”

“Society, Kira, is a stupendous whole.”

“If you write a whole line of zeroes, it’s still—nothing.”

 

To me, it was a wonderful moment imagining Kira questioning- what is society ? To whom I owe a duty exactly?

I wonder- how many of us actually question when some kind of stupid nonsense belief is being thrown at us and that too since the day we are born.

Stand like this, dress like this, eat like this, speak like this, you are a girl, you are a boy- behave yourself and what not!

The little mind is just so overburdened with the rules.

And here is Kira- a young girl, who actually in the story- reflecting the values of author basically- mentions this-

“If you write a whole line of zeroes, it’s still—nothing.”

Wow!!

What are we waiting for?

Let’s break the rules and question.

Question at the cost that it will break us to the very core.

Let’s question to witness a new i which no longer remains I !!

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