Yes, it’s about creating a family! We have
become so accustomed to ‘belonging’ to a family which we did not create, that
CREATING one appears preposterous! But, come to think, historically we tend to
move away from a family and relatives we did not choose, towards the ones we
have some degree of choice about. Today most of advanced humanity makes friends
with mostly those that they did not grow up with. Why can't we create a family
– a Family of Thinking People – with every member choosing each other? Let some
brilliant, largely unattached, courageous and considerate people of different
ages and genders get connected, evaluate compatibility, and then consciously
decide to constitute themselves into a family, so as to share the pains and
pleasures collectively. A family of choice, is thus born. Didn’t we create a
Republic that way? Don’t we create joint stock companies where we entrust our
wealth to people we know not, based on principles and bound by common law?
Isn’t the biological family becoming archaic, a legacy of our distant
evolutionary past, not of the future? Humanity will have to find new
conventions and morals to coup with the challenges of rapidly transforming
science-scape of biotechnology where bionics will produce machine-men, cloning
will produce duplicates, in-virto fertilization blurs hierarchies and
relationships, biological bonding will become irrelevant and parenting will
give way to foster-parenting. Eventually a child will become the society’s
august member and collective responsibility. If you think, like I do, that it
is possible for strangers to intelligently choose compatible souls and create a
family bound by trust, love and well understood covenant, come, let us explore.
I would be glad to lead such a family that needs a 60+ year's dashing
middle-aged patriarch, that never hesitates to question and experiment.
Incidentally, I am a workaholic that can match the young on a few rounds of
badminton or tennis, as well as log over 12 hours at a stretch, on the
computer. Financially I am sound enough to provide for necessary
infrastructural support for our lifetime. However, this idea is not conceived
as a social service project. On the contrary, it is an alternate, trustful
experiment in happiness, love and humanism. It is a celebration of life itself.
Obviously there are several material considerations we have to sort out.
Together we can discuss a code of conduct and commit ourselves to a charter of
privileges and responsibilities. The family may include the following
additional members: - 2-3 young teenage or adult boys and girls, specially orphans
- 2-3 very young kids - specially orphans – who will grow as the family’s kids.
- An outstandingly gracious and accomplished lady, the matriarch of the family
- A completely sane and healthy, elderly, lonely woman or man or couple, with
no one to take their care - Even an experienced house help All of them
necessarily come from cultured, secular, liberal and informed background. They
are physically normal and healthy, respect social niceties, are
hygiene-conscious, have little or no active attachments and filial obligations
that will impede their commitment to the family, do not carry any legacy of
crime, debt, hate or violence. And they all need - and value - love. They are
also exceptionally interested in the pursuit of knowledge and of excellence. They
are completely truthful, honest, trust-worthy and transparent, hygienic,
efficient, organised and disciplined. They would be unquestionably secular and
liberal, with leftist leanings and an unflinching commitment to global
citizenship and rationality and productivity. They shall bear allegiance to the
common law of the land, and to the universal human rights. They shall possess
an innate sense of justice, truth and fair play. The family members may come
from various religious, regional, national background. But, for practical
purposes, they shall all know functional English and Hindi. They will be okay
with non-vegetarian food and carry a strong sense of self-respect, so as to
remain productive and play their part constructively. ----------------- I have
promoted a NGO, SPRAT, some 16 years ago. We are working hard to set up an
innovative, integrated, green, digitally powered campus for a PG Academy and a
digitally powered social services institute, some 30 km from Ahmedabad, at our
own farmland, near the Vatrak river. We call it the Tarkik Sadan – or the House
of Reason. I might add, “of love and understanding” too. The construction of
the First Phase is on. An introduction of SPRAT appears in this short file
which you may safely download: https://www.facebook.com/download/2188247151209315/SPRAT-Introduction-Aug18_2.pdf?hash=Acp_S601Gueela84
We can make this a picturesque abode, filled with creativity, purity, peace and
joy. There will be plenty of creative, intellectual, financial and social
service opportunities for each member of the family to learn, contribute, earn,
impact and serve. In 3-6 months we shall start working from the Phase-I with a
20+ residential team of talented young and middle-aged people from various
fields of knowledge. In three years, on the completion of the project, we
should have over 150 students, interns, professionals and support staff
enlivening the place. Thinkers and scholars will visit the Sadan regularly to
address the students and also to video-record their angst and messages for our
times. Since it is mandatory for the Academy to adopt and serve chosen rural
neighborhoods, we should be having a working relationship with the local
population, even as we guard our independence of thought, practices and
creativity. If you carry a strong empathy for the downtrodden, and a deep
seated urge to make an impact for the better, you are even more welcome. Come,
join me in creating an intimate family of our choice that betters the best of
blood relations, and redefines the words ‘love’ and ‘family’ themselves. Since
we have a choice to make, and we are doing no charity to anybody, let
compassion not substitute for clarity, and confound our decision-making, at
this stage. Let all members of the family inherently command dignity, as of right.
As everyone choose all the others, each new member has to be accepted by all
previous members of the family. Your critique and comments are welcome here.
But please address your personal messages to my inbox.
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