Growing individualism is a sign of growth in the modern world. An oversized house, an opulent SUV in city traffic, a taste of art different from all other. Individualism signifies a social order which allows diversity to exist under a common rule of law. A big feat for humankind. What is often forgotten in the victory ballads of individualism, however, is the forced slavery to the idea of “good life” it creates.
In an unforgiving world where your mistakes define you, individualism has left a burgeoning death toll in its wake. While those at top tout the merits of self-ism, the race to pinnacle leaves many exhausted. The promised “good-life” has a dark underbelly that never surfaces in the glittery halls of media. It is sometimes written in the biographies of suicidal comics, the loner ascetics that chased the mirage. Sooner or later, the race of individualism either breaks down the individual or makes him the cause of disenchantment for thousands.
Humans society did not progress on the war cry of the irrational few. The movements, reforms and revolutions that brought us to the present are witness to countless men and women of valour who believed in an idea more than a person. Gandhi was not bigger than his cause, nor was Krishna greater than his teachings. Historians may have deified personalities for convenience of intellectual preaching and embedded it in the minds of the generations to come, the will of the people and their devotion to the idea always trumps the leader. The leader then, is just a symbol of the public will. He derives power from them. The charisma he commands is a reflection of the brightness that glows through society at such times.
Ours is a movement without leaders, without a name and without a holy book. The values of our people shine through the eyes of each of our members. The world will see a new dawn- a world imagined by many but one that existed never before.