A story of two cities

 

- 3 min. read (by Pratik Badgujar) 

There were once two places named Hikalu and Pikalu situated hundreds of miles away. Hikalu was situated in an arid region- a desert. The water availability was very low. Dust storms, the limited possibility of agriculture, scorching heat in the day and chilling nights were the norm. Pikalu was situated in a forest. There was no shortage of food and water and was blessed with pleasant weather round the year.

One day, the elders and great thinkers of Hikalu sat around and thought about how can we make the lives of our people easy? How can we ensure the prosperity and might of our people?

So, after a lot of discussion, they thought of an idea to identify the best practices of survival and thriving and write it down- pretty much like a constitution. They decided to name it “The Great Hikalu Manual”. The manual contained instruction on do's and don’ts. Every resident of Hikalu, started following the manual and hence the lives of the residents became better. There were less chaos and more prosperity.

Similarly, the residents of Pikalu also followed a similar strategy and came up with “The Great Pikalu Manual”. Since both the places were having different climates, weather, available resources, expertise were different, the manuals also differed significantly. But the places were isolated from each other, and hence there was no conflict. Peace and prosperity reigned in both civilizations.

After a few generations, came the era of expansionism. The armies from both the places started marching out and capturing other cities. As they captured cities, they started natives making aware of their best practices i.e., the manuals. And since they themselves followed manual, they logically implemented the same manuals in the captured places also 

One day, Hikalu's army invaded one of Pikalu's territory. Consequently, they got to know about each other’s manuals. Since both the manuals were different and sometimes contoradictory, discussions started as to which manual should be implemented? Discussions soon turned into debates and there was a lot of intolerance between the proponents of both the cultures. Since there was no common acceptance, people followed as per their origins. This also led to clashes and acts of intolerance many times and there was no peace and cooperation between two groups. Generations passed and yet there was no solution. The manuals were created to ensure peace and harmony and now, the manuals themselves are the point of contention.

One day, a wise person came to know of the conflict and offered to give them a solution. He studied both manuals deeply and tried to understand them. After reading them for days and contemplating on them, in plain, cold words, gave his verdict- “dump both the manuals”.

He suggested them to identify practices and rituals which suits to present times. It does not mean that everything in the old manual was obsolete and useless. He rather suggested a critical analysis and revision in the light of new knowledge and situations. The new common manual would include the treasure of past as well as the knowledge gained recently. This way, another best manual would evolve which would benefit all the people and ensure prosperity of all.

And then they created a new one, full of best practices, suitable for the present time. And at last, when the new manual was finally complied the wise man read it and said "Oh! Its not complete yet, let me complete it" He then took a pen and added one sentence. A sentence, to ensure that there was no such conflict ahead.

He added - ‘To be revised and updated regularly’.

Replace the word manual with religion, and Hikalu and Pikalu with the places where those religions originated and read again. I am sure it would add a new dimension to your thinking!

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