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The Venerable Third World
A critical stock-taking of how civilized we are
Ah, the confounded war — the badge of lesser mortals, of which and whom we wouldn’t deign to speak, with the high air of our own flatulence — is here at our doorstep!
Please, let us not flatter ourselves.
We live in duality,
among two worlds, we choose one or the other or straddle both, the worlds of the
haves and have-nots
liberal and conservative
left and right
men and women
black and white
north and south
ruling and the oppressed
Peeing all over ourselves, heeding to baser instincts — territorial and carnal,
unable to shed the barbaric past whence we come. Oh, our modern inventions and our refined languages! With which we make up and polish our appearances…The more the outward sheen, the more the inner rot.
Please, let us not flatter ourselves — yet.
In a third world that we so love to contemn — lies our redemption!
A civilized world at that, where
Men don’t lead
with their dicks,
where borders are mere demarcations, the walls in our minds torn down,
where we embrace a thousand shades, the extremes, and in-betweens, for the vibrance and variety they offer,
where he, her, and they — are sweet variations in language and serve as terms of endearment,
where we have learned not to cannibalize — from the most savage of beasts,
where our pride and opulence comes, not from plundering or standing over others’ shoulders and necks,
where notions preconceived and stereotypes have been gutted in a bonfire of acceptance,
where a thousand cultures thrive, with occasions to celebrate all around the year, a million tongues to wax eloquent on
what a true paradise the earth is!
The greatest of modern Tamil poets, Subramania Bharati, from a dreamy third world of his own, offered these fervent lines (the meek translation is mine) for what a civilized world should be:
இனியொரு விதி செய்வோம் — அதை
எந்த நாளும் காப்போம்
தனியொருவனுக் குணவிலை யெனில்
ஜகத்தினை அழித்திடுவோம்
Let’s issue an edict,
for us to enforce forever — that
we shall annihilate this world
should any one of us go starving
Here’s to a third world!
