Support System

A support system is like a trampoline. It supports and enhances the performance. While doing so it does not interfere with the choices we make. In the event of a mishap it minimises the risk of serious injury. In so doing it allows us the freedom to try out dangerous adventures. It is like the safety net under a trapeze artist.
In nature the earth under our feet, the atmosphere all around us, the water bodies, the forests and all the other species are together our support system. Because they operate unobtrusively we do not recognise their value to us. Ancient societies treated these as gods and worshiped them. The modern man ignores, exploits, and abuses them. This has come to a point where the ecological balance and our own survival is seriously threatened. Even today there are a large number of people who think that the issue of global warming is being hyped up unnecessrily.
In our individual life, the family, the neighbourhood, the comunity and the various social and professional bodies are our support system. Because of our misplaced focus on the individual and his/her rights we have over the years distroyed these. We have tried to replace them by statutory agencies constituted by the government or by profit seeking corporates. These are impersonal by their very nature. As such over time their services become poor and unreliable.
In my capacity as a counseller, I come across a lot of people who are lonely and lost. They are groping in the dark to find a sustainable anchor. They end up attending a series of self help programs, one after another, to no avail. A large number take up religious and/or spiritual rituals. The increase in violence and cheating at the local and global level shows no sign of abetting.
Where do we go from here? What is the way out? We need to start reflecting individually and collectively, not as an intellectual excercise, but as an in depth exploration of the source of the present malaise. There shold be no fingers pointing outwards. Let us turn inwards to find genuine and workable answers. Let us begin our day, everyday with this exploration. The questions, "who am I?", "what is my place in the larger scheme?" and "what am I doing to nurture my environment?" have become urgent and cannot be postponed anymore.
To take care of ourselves we have to take care of our surroundings.
Ganoba