I was about to topple over to the unknown world when my family, friends, and the medical fraternity pulled me over from the brink of an extensive heart attack and brought me back to the familiar surroundings. When I picked up the news paper after five days of news blackout, it is as if I have not missed out on anything. Mubarak is still holding onto power in spite of the 5th Feb ultimatum given by the people of Egypt, the ritual of killings and mayhem go on unabated in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, back in my home country a bigger scam of larger magnitude than the 2G spectrum has been unearthed involving my previous employer ISRO, an in my home state more and more corruption cases involving all shades and types of politicians have come out in the open, apart from the fact that the “ice cream parlor” case is getting “curiouser and curiouser". As against all these chaos and confusion in other parts of the world, my “non-home country” - UAE, my abode for the last 23 years - is a relatively stable and tranquil place.
What is the reason for all the disarray and unrest? Is there one underlying reason behind all? The book that kept me company during the five days in the hospital, “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle, I believe provides the answer. In it the author discusses the collective mental illness or the insanity of the human mind. This is probably what we are facing today in all the nation states.