Is it déjà vu? Is it an illusion? Is it a knee-jerk? Is it real? Is it happening? These are all the questions that arise the minute the word “change” is uttered. Amidst the domination of dooms day predictions doubting any good is natural.
There has been serial scary events in the last few years. The killing COVID. The job insecurity. The unbearable inflation.
The wars. The economy. The politics.
All around is a sense of hopelessness. Laws have become a joke. Rules are non-existent. Safety is fragile. Inhumanity is naked and ugly. In these oppressive times, talking about a ray of hope becomes a cynic’s favourite ridicule target. The more the things are the same, the more the urge to change. And that is why the air has a draft, a sniff of some freshness at times that belies the overwhelming stuffiness.
Global sentiments are not quite what they were. There is anger. There is rage. There is prolonged reaction from quarters that the West does give a damn about. There is more information than disinformation.
There is scrutiny that is embarrassing and continuing. There are revelations that are inconvenient and unwanted. There are stories that are being told and retold beyond censors and shut-downs.
There are songs. There are poems. There are cries. There is a heartbreaking weeping that cuts the body and stirs the soul. And it is not subsiding. And it is not fading. And it is not ready to stop.
And it is gathering force. This is a war of the voices. The traditional VOA (Voice of America) and VOI (Voice of Israel) are struggling to keep........