The Modern Man

by Maryam Taufeeq

You see him standing before you, a middle-aged man in a stylish business suit… he
looks composed and lively enough, but despite his almost entrancing charisma,
there’s something missing. Looking closely, do you notice someone who’s
surreptitiously staring into space talking to himself, disregarding you, so as to
be almost offensive? You don’t notice it at first sight, but his mind his
elsewhere, maybe pondering over why he turned down the business deal he got so
close to embracing? Or maybe wondering whether his wife had left enough money in
his bank account, from her latest shopping expedition, to suffice a month’s
expenditure should a financial crisis surface? This, among many, is a persistent
fear he harbours. Despite possessing much more wealth than he needs, an unknown
fear always lurks, something he just can't fathom. If you are a keen observer,
you’ll notice how his reply to your greetings is almost automatic, empty and
lacking in the warmth he so carefully tries to assert. You’ll notice how he,
almost unconsciously, glances at his watch every now and then, how his hand
reaches to his pocket every five minutes, to check if his cell-phone’s vibrating,
heralding an important call he’s been expecting.

Disappointed, disillusioned, are you? Being a young man, fresh out of the
university, trying to find your way in the world, does your very first encounter
with the fast-paced world bedazzle you, or does it spur you , sweep you in with
the tide? You are 25, the only son, pampered and cared for… uptill now. Are you
braced to ‘take the bull by the horns’? Worry not, soon you’ll walk shoulder to
shoulder with the very same people who seem so alien to you. You can’t help but be
a part of the rat race, can you?

This, is the modern world. And you, are a part of it, its product. Only now, will
you assume a role entirely different. You have left the backseat, to assume the
driver’s place. Prior to this, your life was nothing but one big party, wasn’t it?
Did you ever get time enough from all the fun and frolic to sit down and think
what life is all about? Did it ever occur to you that the world you live in, is
artificial? Its artificiality has so penetrated your being, that everything, from
your thoughts, perceptions, aspirations, demeanour, apparel is not your own. That
your entire life is a mere fabrication? The beliefs engendered in you, were over
the years, hammered into your consciousness, by your parents, peers and
undeserving role-models: pop-idols, football heros, or movie stars.

You might not realise it, but you live among a sea of painted faces. As T.S.
Elliot says: ‘ To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet’. Like a skilful
artist, you paint a face to blend in with the crowd, you create masks to suit the
varied settings you encounter. Are you daring enough to take off the fake masks
and reveal your own true self? Do you have the courage to go against the stream.
Ask yourself honestly, do you not articulate your speech with the accent everyone
would get impressed with, lacing it with unnecessary and often, foul-meaning slang
just to appear cool ? Are you not plagued and enslaved by fashion, which George
Bernard Shaw so rightly terms an induced epidemic? The people who painted this
fake picture of the world, and who feign their own identity, are like cattle, but
even worse, as the Holy Book says, [ Or thinkest thou that most of them listen or
understand? They are only like cattle;- nay, they are worse astray in
Path.(25:44)]. Their shepherd is their own passions, they are shackled by the
chains of this modern, enlightened world. [deaf, dumb, and blind, they are void of
wisdom. (2:171)]

Yes, this is the 21st century, the era of the modern man. This is the age where
knowledge has reached a peak as never before, but at the price of wisdom and
humanity, of respect and rationality. When you’d rather follow the crowd than
follow your conscience, when you’d rather listen to your friends than heed your
parents, when you prefer fleeting relationships over something as pure as
marriage, when words of wisdom are nothing but old wives’ tales. When you’ll read
a myriad self-help books and never bother what the Sages or the Scripture says.
When religion is reduced to a set of rituals to one’s convenience, when love is
reduced to a bunch of hollow words and empty gestures, when a child is anything
but innocent, when you can't remember the last time your family had dinner
together, when you label someone with morals and values as old-fashioned and
dimwitted, when you know what's happening in Africa but not what’s going on in
your child’s mind. When you attend every other rock concert and check out every
new restaurant, squander your money to get the latest designer clothes and shoes,
but never once think of the less privileged. When you trample upon your voice of
judgement, and feel content in following your conscience. When you live in a
crowded world, with few people you can call friends. When a friend in need might
just be having a hidden agenda. When you live in your own island, loneliness
getting the best of you, while the world boasts of being a global village. When a
man is judged by his economic status and not his strength of character. When
you’ll set a mental alarm of your favourite TV show, but conveniently forget your
dad’s appointment with the doctor. When you much rather watch an interview with
the hot new movie star and get inspired, than listen to the timeless wisdom of
your elderly, who by the way, only come to your mind when you need their prayers
before an exam.

Isn’t it always difficult for you to come to terms with the Divine message, but
you never question what Science says, much of which is mere hypotheseis? Don’t you
always justify what you do with the ruling of your conscience, never bothering to
find out what the Truth is? You would never admit it, but you worship many gods:
the god of materialism, of your temptations, of the media, of the West, of your
own ego. You will go to any length to appease these gods, won’t you?

You take pride in calling yourself the modern man, in tune with the fast-
progressing world you dwell in. But search your soul and ask yourself, are you
really in tune with your own inner being? The pride and satisfaction you claim to
possess is only factitious. It does not stem from a deep feeling of self-
contentment, from a sense of identity. You do not feel at peace with yourself,
because you strangled the pure self you were born with. But as they say, hope
floats. Hope is alive as long there’s breath in your body. Come, there’s still
time, time to throw off your disguise and wash off your painted face. Time to
reflect, to search for answers to what this life is all about, to re-enliven the
spirit of your true being. This is an invitation, for you to think, and take a
step in the right direction.

There Is A Candle In Your Heart

There is a candle in your heart,

ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul,
ready to be filled.
You feel it, don't you?
You feel the separation
from the Beloved.
Invite Him to fill you up,
embrace the fire.
Remind those who tell you otherwise that
Love
comes to you of its own accord,
and the yearning for it
cannot be learned in any school.

~ Mawlana Rumi