Individualism

Does it make any sense at all to talk of individualism?

For a certain period I was obsessed with the idea of individualism. It seemed to me to be some kind of eternal truth that had thankfully dawned upon me. But in this semester, while doing the 'infamous' course RDL340, my views, which had already begun to sway away from the charm of individualism, now seem to be testing the strength of the foundations of this lonely building of individualism. I see myself roaming around in the basement of this building gently hitting and testing the pillars on which it stands. I am excited by the possibility that all these pillars, or at least some of them, might be hollow and may fall at the slightest touch, bringing down the whole of the building with them . (Hmm it seems like I am turning to violence talking of destroying buildings and all!)

See, it's very simple (pretty much like everything in philosophy is). Relations cannot be avoided. We do not (yet) have a choice in that regard. Humans are not born out of a void. They are born of other humans. The fact that I exist in this world (if I exist that is, and let us assume in this article that I do exist) necessarily implies that I have an indestructible relation with at least some other humans (viz my biological mother, father, and via extension, to their biological mothers and fathers, and so on). Scinetifically speaking (and assuming that Biology is correct), I derive my nature, my charactersitics, features, traits from my parents, and they from theirs. Then how can I be an independent entity if my very existence depended on the existence of some other human? For I could not have been born if my parents did not exist. One could argue that it is only for my arrival into this world that other humans are needed, and that after a certain age I become an independent being. But is that a correct claim? Even if I were to assume that I could spend the rest of my life after that initial stage without coming in contact with any other human and  without taking their help in any form, I would still have to interact with other living beings (at least plants) and nature in general. I cannot live without breathing in air and drinking water either. Don't they relate me to nature?

But one could further say that I have digressed from the topic, and that I should talk only about relations between human beings. And then I would say that let us take the example of our lonely human again. Is he free of relations? Is he independent of any other human being?

(To be continued...)

अज्ञात

पलक आँसुओं को पकड़े है
हवा ग़म से महकती है
ज़मीन सूख सी गई है
ख़ुशी के अकाल से
बरखा भी अब रो-रो कर बरसती है

अभी तो भीनी सी खुशबू थी इक कली की
कल जब फूल खिलेगा तो क्या होगा
रात की अफवाह भर से साँझ ने मुँह ढक लिया
जब रात आएगी तो क्या होगा

अपनी पलकों से कहना
जकड़े रखें आँसुओं को
उनका दामन न छोड़ें
कि ये आँसू तभी गिरें अब
जब ख़ुशी की बाढ़ में मिलकर
ये मीठे हो जाएँ

(It's a poem that I must have written in the 4th semester; found it at the back of a notebook)