There used to be years of “Depression”. There used to be periods of “Recession”. But now we have a “Meltdown”! And as we usher in the year 2009, they say that the resultant chaos across the globe, is just the beginning. Sounds as if nobody could have helped this “Meltdown” - almost as if it were an inevitable step in the great “Ascent of Man”!!

One is left wondering whether to cry or to laugh at such terminological dexterity that seeks to explain away both man’s collective incompetence and helplessness, as he stumbles from one mire to a deeper quagmire, to an inexorable descent rather than an ascent.

What is humanity ascending to, anyway ?

Today, as the smart boys of the management world with glittering diplomas from famous schools across the globe stand exposed as experts at “mismanagement”, it is relevant to recall the wisdom of a “half-naked fakir” spoken half a century back – “the earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not enough for every man’s greed”.

It is a different matter that Gandhiji was laughed off imperial courts, built as they were on exploitative capitalism, selfishness and pride. But could it be that the creation and utilization of wealth, guided as it is by cosmetic morality at best, was bound to receive the shocks that we experience now ?

Today, if dirges are being sung in millions of homes across the world to a capitalism as they have come to know of late, let us recall that the very same mouths had sung blithely when communism ostensibly bit the dust along with the Berlin Wall a few years back !!

So what happened to the wealth of human knowledge and its “scientific temperament” that made us so proud of our capacity to perceive, control, manipulate and shape our circumstances, and our future? Why are the rampant social and economic evils that we face today, and on the level of the individual, our physical and mental ailments, always keeping one step ahead of the solutions we proudly flaunt ?

Maybe it is time man finally acknowledged and accepted the limits of his wisdom, and turned like the prodigal son back to the “father’s house”. Maybe life on earth is a passing phase after all, requiring man to live it differently, starting with a true “Metanoia”, a change of heart, a change of values and priorities, and a change of direction.

Maybe we have something to learn from a scribbled verse on the walls of a German concentration camp:

I believe in the sun
Even when it is not shining
I believe in love
Even when I experience it not
I believe in God
Even when He is silent