When arrogance subsides and humility returns

Since the economic recession in the US began and spread around the world, I had a strange feeling. I could not explain it then, but it represented that something in the world will now come back to order. When I told this to a friend who counter-argued, I couldnot explain it well, but over a period of time, now, I can.

For me, the last decade, post the era of Bill Clinton as the President, America stood out for arrogance. There were two major catastrophes that marked the era of Bush Junior. The WTC and the Economic recession. People in the US might deplore what I am saying. Prior to the WTC, the US was considered the unpenetrable. They condemned the terrorist acts in India, but did they ever feel what it meant to be living in the constant threat of terrorism? I guess not. But with WTC, things changed. They came to know what terror is. They felt it. They realized the pain of being violated with deaths of innocents. A new order came into being. A new jargon developed. War on Terror. However, the arrogance remained. They entered Iraq while the threat was holed up in Afghanistan.

They violated the UN call, not to invade Iraq as there were no weapons of mass destruction found. Another country succumbed to the arrogance of the United States. The US has always been involved in another country's war. But now the war has shifted into the country, Now the war is within. But the economic depression has a lot of positive impact. It brought Americans together, with each other as well as the world. The threat of personal security, emotional and financial is the biggest threat to all. And now the US of A, realized this, that they too can succumb, no one is invincible. Life is a great leveler. What can go up and come down and humility is the only way the world will keep up your honour. The election of Obama as a President is only the first step towards a better world order.

During the deluge in Mumbai, I had seen the entire city come together. The class difference did not matter. Everyone on the road was the same for the torrent of rain that swept Mumbai. Be it a man in a Merc, or a beggar in the corner. Everyone came together to help each other, for a common cause. To live, and to help others to live. An unknown bond of brotherhood had developed in an instant. That is what tough situations do to you. And I hope it does to the US too.