Fear is God

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."-FDR.

I think everyone here would agree with this. I also think that everyone here is a coward at heart. Some manage to hide their cowardice, some are defeated. And those who do not agree with me fear admitting this truth.

When did we start to fear and and who taught us to fear? Yes! Taught us! In my case, I believe it was mother, who always said," Look, the bogeyman's coming." whenever I used to do some mischief. And I see every parent using this technique. Perhaps, it is easier to manage a fearful child than a disturbing one. And look at the way a young boy and a young girl react to a lizard or a spider. The girl is terribly frightened at its sight while the boy laughs away. This is because the boy has been taught not to fear it while the girl has been taught to fear.

Fear is within everyone. Starting from a small child to an ageing man, everyone suffers from fear, anxiety and worries. Fear of socializing, fear of being ridiculed, fear of being rejected, fear of failure, fear of taking a risk, fear of death, fear of the dark, the list is endless...

Fear kills. And it kills you slowly. I used to fear rejection so much that I just avoided girls. I had become an undeserving person for myself. I had become a perverse, a recluse. I used to sit inside a closed room for hours and whine about why wasnt I as attractive as the guy at the mall or why wasnt I as tall as that girl's brother. The simple fear had instilled in me jealousy, wickedness, hatred and diffidence. I was not who I was.

They say theres only a forty percent chance that you will hit the goal in your maiden kick. But you will never hit it if you dont try at all. Still, people dont try fearing failure. I had a wonderful friend, with unique ideas and his trademark out-of-the-box thinking. But everytime, he used to sit in a corner, thinking that no one would like to hear him, thinking that he would be ridiculed as a Quixote, thinking that he was no-one. Fear is universal. I believe all of you would have your own fears. I would appreciate if you would be brave enough to tell them.

But are fears un-necessary? What would happen if we eliminate fears altogether? Would it be Utopia?

I remember a small incident from my childhood. There was a difficult question in our class test, which none could answer except one who copied it. When the results were out, I was angry at getting less marks than him and gave him a piece of my mouth. He looked at me with a baleful glare and said that I was a coward and feared the invigilator otherwise I would have done the same. I shouted back that I was not as bad as him.

Later in the night, I thought, what would have happened if there had been no invigilator during the exam? Wouldnt everyone have copied? Even if it was bad. Were we really giving our fears a name called goodness. And I realised that I was right.

If a big guy hits me in the face, I never hit him back. I say that I am good and its not in my nature to fight. But in my deepest psyche, I know that I fear him. I fear that he might hit me again.

What if the house owner had no fear and slept with all his valuables in the open. What if the robber had no fear of the police and robbed freely? What if I had no fear and kept a tiger as my pet? Would it be nice?

In a small story from one of Coelho's books, a village is inhabitated with dacoits,smugllers and robbers. Their leader, a dreaded dacoit himself is converted by a priest. He constructs a wooden gallows in the middle of the village, stands on it and asks everyone to forget their evil ways and start a new life. He never said why that gallows was erected but everyone knew. Whenever someone wanted to protest, the fear of the gallows prevented him. And soon, the village became home to farmers, traders and businessmen. We all have our gallows inside us. Whenever we are on the wrong path, this fear of the gallows prevents us.

Those in favour of capital punishment say that the fear of death will deter criminals from doing crimes. Fear of the law nips many a crimes at their buds. Sometimes, fear of God forces people to do good. Fear of being second forces one to try hard and be the numero uno. Fear of failure inspires someone to win. Fear of death inspires doctors to cure fatal diseases.

Fear saves. During heavy monsoons, a man feared the worst and asked the villagers to leave the village in due time. And true to his fears, there was a terrible flood but he was saved. His fear saved him. And others too.

Ask a son why he fears his father. He would say its respect. Ask a lover why he fears the day of separation. He would say its love. Ask UNO why it fears the Third World War. They would say it is humanity. Fear is good, fear is bad. Fear is everything, fear is everyone, fear is evrywhere. Fear is God.