Living paradox

There are few words that we know well but seldom put to use. For me, oxymoron and paradox are two such words. I have a good connect with the word paradox due to nostalgic reasons, courtesy a college friend who was very paradoxical in his observations.

Let us assume that the friends name was Vikas. His statements were so bizarre that a term ‘Vikasian Paradox’ got coined. The term was applicable not just to his statements but to all contradiction laden statements made by anyone, inside or outside the college premises.

Vikasian paradox is still remembered fondly in the form of statements like “Jabalpur station bahut bada hai lekin chhota hai” (Jabalpur railway station is so big but it is small), or “Priyanka mast hai lekin chatu hai.” (Priyanka is an interesting girl but she is so boring). Another legendary statement, though not made by Vikas was uttered by a friend who said, “Mera baap mujhe kabhi nahin mara. Ek bar belt se mara tha” (My father never hit me but once he hit me with a leather belt).

Vikasian paradox was fun. It made us laugh. It still makes us laugh but is fun no more because paradoxes in real life are not so amusing. If we look at the world around us then the root cause of most confusions are the inherent contradictions in our own being. We seem to have abandoned our own beliefs.

Here is a list of few people I know, or I assumed that I knew, who validate the assumptions about our paradoxical existence. I have assumed that most of them are ‘he’ because that’s where it all begins.

A is a land activist.
He is part of the CSR team of a mining company.

B is a Gandhian.
He makes his living from the stock exchange.

C is a Government teacher.
His child studies at a private school.

D is the brand manager of an international Cola brand.
His family only consumes Nimbu Paani and natural fruit juices.

E is an eco-tourism stalwart.
He earns his living as a land broker.

F is a homeschooler.
He runs a private school and a coaching centre.

G is a professor of English.
He is a Hindi poet.

H is an Ayurvedic doctor.
He prescribes allopathic medicines.

I is a leftist socialist educationist.
He works for a non-profit that wants to privatise education.

J is a health freak.
He thrives on nutrition supplements.

K is an agriculture expert.
He has never cultivated anything.

L is a spiritual leader.
He campaigns for a political party.

M is a nationalist.
He loves creating enemies, within the nation.

N wants to change the world.
He is an intern with an international corporate foundation.

O is a wild life activist and naturalist.
He is illegally building a resort in a forest reserve to bring people close to nature.

P talks about love and peace.
He is star hatemonger of a political outfit.

Q is a benevolent dictator.
He loves to seek opinions.

R is a painter.
He is a completely apolitical.

S is a peace loving communist.
He wants to forcefully enforce peace.

T is a climate change activist.
To save nature, he imports his organic detergent.

U is a rationalist.
He gets irrational only while talking about irrationality.

V is a designer.
He has not used any design tool in a decade.

W is a loving child of God.
He hates everyone who is not.

X is a public servant.
He serves his political and administrative bosses.

Y is a acclaimed writer.
He is opinionless and writes what people want to read.

Z is your friend.
You would know better.

Don’t know why, but I am feeling like a member of the peace keeping force. What an irony!