Obama, Lend me your ears

Barack, you are almost on the verge of completing a year in Office as the most powerful man in the world. When you stop and look back, what do you see? Peace on shaky grounds? International violence on the rise ?
I know you can. But what we do not know is when you can. And it is this uncertainty that casts its doubt about .Yes, you are a man of peace. I believe in this albeit I am in the small minority. When you were awarded the Nobel Peace prize, there were skeptics gunning for those who decided. They sniggered and summarily cast aside the citation and called the whole exercise as politics. But I believed in the award and still believe that the right man has got the award at just the right time.
But when I read the story of the Lap Bomber, I was shell shocked. The timing of the whole episode reminded me of the video tapes emerging just before the presidential polls featuring George Bush. Even your clear tone seemed to acquire a slight Texan brawl. We all remember Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber," arrested on December 22, 2001, for trying to blow up American Airlines flight 63, coming into Miami from Paris. The issue set the stage for a massive screening of selected passengers at all airports and you specifically named fourteen nations whom you distrust. This skepticism alienates even further. Although a ridiculous exercise, you seem to be set to get the screening going which as per the CBS news, “ Bares All”. It's called a "whole body imager," and it can indeed see your whole body underneath your clothing”, according to CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.
Barack, we know that humans have a way of competing with each other. We know that there is always a war between the good and the bad. That is nature. That is why Law and the criminal are always vying to be a step ahead of the other. That is why crime still happens the world over in spite of great policing efforts. That is why we had the Oklahoma Bomber. You agree?
Barack, any amount of screening will not guarantee safety. This is because, you, a man of peace, is looking at the wrong end of the gun. You have tried to reach when the plant has grown into a tree. Reach when the sapling can still be moulded.
You, a worthy persona, is lamentably providing knee jerk treatment which is superficial. You are not reaching at the root cause. Barack, the Nobel laureate, may please take a leaf out of the original man of peace Mahatma Gandhi and do some “Gandhigiri”. No nation or community is inherently gun toting. When the environment instills insecurity, the instinct of survival moves one to measures other than peace. Let me quote from Psychology Today which proves my point, “Societal influences help foment violent behavior. The images that populate mass media actually have the longest-lasting impact of all contributors to violence. Prolonged exposure to violent images increases the of becoming a victim, desensitizes violence, and heightens the viewer's appetite for similarly engaging in violence”.
Barack, you are still in your presidential infancy. You have the vision and I have the faith. Yes, you can-replace the gun with peace and trust and propagate policies to weed out the root cause of violence. Lap Bombers will automatically cease to exist.

The world of 2010

A lesson learnt

As the 2009 Sun was about to bid goodbye

It stopped and looked at me

There was a smile alright

But it lacked in warmth and real happiness.

I smiled back with joy

And looked deep into the setting Sun

Why was it devoid of zest

What was amiss that saddened the Sun?

I was glad to see the setting of the year

I had lived with happiness and joy

There was pleasure and felt no fear

But perhaps the Sun had seen what I had not

My World was small

But the Sun had seen the World

It saw the flying missiles and passing bullets

It saw the slow dying of those who starved

It heard the cries of the trodden and old

It saw the helplessness of the weak

It felt the fear of the hounded

It cried when children were orphaned

This it saw over and over again

It saw each in his own little world

Oblivious of the sorrows of the rest

It never slept, joy was lost, it only wept.

But a small smile adorns the setting Sun

It sends a message of hope

All is not lost, there is scope

The early morning rays beckon

Now I see what the Sun wanted to say

Indeed, we forgot the weak and hungry

We saw our own small world and lived

Like the Sun, we need to live for the World.

It is time we felt and lived

Not just for our own small circle

But for humanity, the entire world

Let’s keep pace with the 2010 Sun.

Syed Abdallah Rizvi

Dammam/2010