Beyond ‘Us Vs Them’: Why Kindness Must Anchor Human Coexistence
Amid rising individualism and identity-based divisions, this reflection argues that empathy and kindness are essential for human survival. Drawing from philosophy and poetry, it urges moving beyond narrow identities to embrace shared humanity and collective responsibility.
Beyond ‘Us Vs Them’: Why Kindness Must Anchor Human Coexistence | Representational Image
“Vaishnava jan to tene kahiye, je peedh parayi jaane re…” This verse by 15th-century poet-saint Narsi Mehta is perhaps the simplest definition of what a good human being should strive to be. In a world where “I” has become the centre of the world, and the individual reigns supreme, a dwindling minority spare a thought about the consequences of their actions even on their friends and family, let alone feeling the pain of another.
Where are we headed if all of us start identifying with a limited identity? An unwieldy world map perhaps, 7.9 billion islands all vying for the extremely limited space and resources on this planet, which is trying its best to keep us alive. There are only so many outcomes that can jointly co-exist, and if as a people we fail to have at least a basic common minimum programme, we are heading towards suspicion and strife, marked by war and human suffering.
As overwhelming as the problem might seem, like most problems, it can be broken down to its building blocks. It is the deep-set divisions in our hearts and minds that breed the Us vs Them syndrome and manifest as the walls and barbed wire to keep the others out. And it is our fierce and blind quest for differentiation and one-upmanship that creates these divisions, striving for exclusivity in imaginary microcosmic bubbles that we call by many names.
Whether we are of the Big Bang persuasion or Creationists, at the end of it, we emerged from the same source, and to the same source we shall return. And these bodies, be they of any colour, gender, race or religion, will also return to the same 5 elements that combined to create them.
Famous American psychiatrist Theodore Isaac Rubin wrote, “Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.” So the choice is rather straightforward. Do we want to confine our limited identities to a drop or a wave or a river, clashing at every moment, and pretend to ignore the existence of the ocean? Or do we forsake the rush and frenzy of being a river, be kind to one another and elevate our existence, embracing the magnanimity of being the infinite ocean?
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