The Partitioned World

- Ramanjit Singh

There are probably only few of us left who are trying to navigate through this hyper nationalist and divided world with some semblance of a clear conscience. Those of us who want to remain independent from the orthodoxy of religions or tribes. Those of us who do not judge others from the prism of some preordained belief, rather see them as humans just like us.

We are the ones who look at this world and think of the possibilities. Think of the what ifs, the endless possibilities that it presents to us, only if we have the courage to take a different path than the one that others have laid out for us. Can we think differently, can we question what we have been told all these years, question whether our own decisions have been right.

Yet we remain silent in front of the overwhelming odds that are put against us. Collectively we are in such small numbers that we alone cannot fight hate, ignorance, the biases that affect so many around us. Yet we live amongst them, we try to adapt with a hope that nobody will notice our silent disagreements. We continue to live with a hope for a different world that is free from fear, free from “what others would say”.

We pray for the world to become more caring for those who have been left out in this race to the top. I think of that child knocking on my car window and a tremendous feeling of guilt that I alone cannot change anything. That child reminds me of my son. I want to scream but I remain silent. Yet we continue to be part of this world. A world that is dividing us further into religions, class, and tribes. Each vying for a way to win, each trying to survive in this zero-sum war for survival.

Partition never ended; it continues in us. It is like a never-ending chemical reaction that keeps dividing us, morphing our identities into something unrecognizable. It has partitioned our spirits and our thoughts. It continues to divide us, and this process is now irreversible. Yet we continue to be part of this world and try to oppose, with some reluctance perhaps, the growing inequalities that have now become too common to ignore.

The people shown in the montage of photographs in this video are not different from us. They are us. And we are still struggling to find our voice in this partitioned world.