A New Faith: Part 3: Chapter 44
The megaphone crackled and the sound of someone clearing their throat cut through the murmurs of the dissipating crowd. Everyone turned around to see who was talking. Kaija’s face came into focus on the sides of the buildings.
Most of them knew who Kaija was. After all, it was her beneficence that had brought them the opportunity of building a new life in Sequoia. When she decided to move to Sequoia herself, they had appointed her as the mayor of the city. A lifetime appointment even though it was symbolic in nature.
Not many had seen her in the public as she was a private person. Few had heard her speak as she preferred to listen. She did participate in the city council meetings. Those who had been part of the city council had gotten to know her through those interactions. And now there she was, standing in front of them all for the first time.
She knew that she had everyone’s respect and she had never abused that privilege. In fact, she had chosen to largely stay out of any limelight despite her stature. She would reluctantly agree to serve as the special guest for a few city-wide events. But there too, she preferred to be brief in her remarks if she made any in the first place. For her to speak publicly, especially, on this particular day was something totally unexpected.
Earlier that day, as the riot was about to spin totally out of control, her simple and quiet manner of addressing them from that platform was sufficient to pause the mayhem. The pause had been long and peaceful enough for Alia and Sara to confess. Kaija had hardly said anything beyond introducing them. Now they all stared at her as she started speaking in that solemn way of hers.
“May I have your attention, please?”
She waited for the last few whispers to die down and the entire crowd became silent.
“Thank you. I appreciate your patience in allowing me to speak to you. Again.”
She looked around at the crowd. Then as if she was satisfied with whatever it was she was hoping to see, she nodded her head absently and began to talk.
“I think, most of you know who I am. But in case you don’t, let me introduce myself and tell you a little bit about myself.”
“My name is Kaija. I was the one that invited all of you to come live here in Sequoia.”
Clearly, there were at least some who didn’t know about her at all. There were quite a few expressions of surprise at that statement. Those who knew about Kaija but had never seen her in person let alone listened to her speak, were also surprised. The volume of murmurs went up. Kaija raised her left hand and asked them to be quiet.
“Same as you, I permanently moved here when our city was born five years ago. Although, I am sure, no one would stop me from leaving Sequoia and going back to my former home in Oslo, I have no intention of ever doing so. I love it here! I want to spend the rest of my life with all of you in this new world that we are building.”
For the first time, she smiled at them. It was a tentative smile. Shy, like a young moon trying to peek from behind clouds. Not yet ready to step out fully. As if not sure how it would be received. Or maybe like a child hiding behind the parent. Darting out briefly to check out the strangers before retreating behind their parent, safe and sound. Kaija was just not sure what to expect from this particular gathering.
As she saw many faces light up, her smile turned even more radiant as her cheeks took on a reddish hue. Her grey eyes shone with joy. Then suddenly, as if a cloud covers up the sun, her smile faded away as she grew sad.
“But the developments of the last few weeks and especially, what happened here today makes me wonder if we are ready to embrace our new life.”
She sighed. Then finding some resolve within her, she continued.
“A few blocks from here, there is a small park. Right in front of the city council’s office. There is a rough-hewn grave in that park, next to the pond. A beautiful old Rowan tree provides shade for the grave.
It is the grave of my best friend, Jaska. He died during that tragic heat wave. Many of you may have also lost someone in that heat wave.
In a moment of clarity, as I grieved for Jaska, I decided that I shall do my utmost so that no one has to suffer again in a similar way. I knew that the places from where many of you came from have become uninhabitable.
I knew that the rich countries were never going to send the money and resources that would enable you to adapt to the changing climate. A change to which you didn’t contribute. In fact, it was the rich countries who have been the biggest contributors to climate change. They were directly and solely responsible for your plight.
So I decided to invite all of you to the land of my ancestors on the same day when the nations that had occupied my ancestors’ land were finally returning it to the stewardship of my people. Instead of looking back, in that moment of clarity, I decided to look ahead to the future.
I did the right thing!”
Again she looked all around her. Some knew what she was talking about. They had read about her. But for most of them, this was new. A wave of gratitude moved gently through the crowd. She was heartily thanked in many languages. She raised her hand in acknowledgment and then continued.
“I wish it was not just one moment of clarity, though. I wish that my perspective about life had changed permanently in that moment. I wish that I had continued to focus on the future of humanity instead of being pre-occupied with my past. I continued thinking about the friend that I had lost.
I would like to think that I could have done more to ensure that far more people were rescued instead of only ten million. As of now, more than a couple of billion people are in harm’s way with nowhere to go. And in another couple of decades, that already large figure could easily double.”
A hard look came in her eyes now.
“But all of you know that. You also know the compromise that allowed the creation of Sequoia. And, of course, you know very well the terms and conditions that you agreed to before being allowed to settle down in Sequoia.”
People were indeed being patient. Sonia had begun to wonder where Kaija was going with all this. She was not yet worried, but was starting to get a bit concerned about her friend’s state of mind. Instinctively, she moved closer to Kaija on the platform as Kaija continued with her soliloquy.
“Most of you may not know this. Even I didn’t know about this until I talked to the people involved in the negotiations around the compromise.
Almost no one believed that we would survive.
Psychologists said that lack of families would doom us to chronic loneliness and depression. Sociologists said that lack of anything cohesive - for example, culture or religion - to bind everyone together would lead to distrust and eventually, anarchy. Economists said that we were so ill-prepared and unskilled that we would never be able to become productive enough to pay off the loans let alone generate a surplus. It was all doom and gloom except for a few pinpricks of positivity.”
Kaija had been looking into the distance as she was describing all these things. Now she looked at the crowd standing close to her. She even made a conscious effort to look at the camera-holding drones so that the audience that was further away wouldn’t feel left out.
“And they were right, those doomers. For a while, at least. Things looked quite bleak during that first winter in Sequoia. Most of us were indeed lonely. We were missing our family and friends and those familiar surroundings that we had grown up with. We were miserable in this cold and dark place where we knew no one. We were depressed.
It is not that the places we had left behind were nice places. Those families and friends may not have been nice either. In fact, those places were downright horrible for many of us. And many times, the so-called families were the primary abusers.
But we knew all that. There is a certain kind of comfort in the known. The unknown scares us. We gravitate toward the known even if it is harmful. We tend to resist the unknown even if it could be incredibly beneficial for us. It seems that is our nature.
I admit that I too was quite sad and simply going through the motions of being part of the city council. I think, if I had not been assigned that work then I may have spiraled off into oblivion. That task anchored me to reality exactly when I needed something like that in my life. Do you remember those days?”
She saw many people nodding. Their expressions were clouded as those memories rushed back. Then in a quiet voice, Kaija said, “but soon, a miracle happened. We snapped out of that funk. Individually and collectively. I think, for the first time, we actually saw each other. Not just as another re-settled stranger who happened to be living in the same building as us or trying to work with us. We saw each other as potential relationships with wonderful possibilities. Remember that?”
A few smiles perked up. Of course, they remembered the friendships they had formed then. Remembered how they had fallen in love with someone for the first time in Sequoia.
“We started caring for each other. And that made us want to do things that would bring joy to each other. We started looking out for each other. This… this sense of community… this sense of camaraderie and fellowship is ALSO in our nature.
We didn’t even realize it, but the fact that we didn’t have to endlessly worry about the basic necessities of life had liberated us to focus on the things that make life beautiful. Worth living, in fact.
No more fear of being molested or getting killed. No more scrounging for food and water. No more suffering from unbearable heat. No more living through the agony of untreated diseases. Suddenly, daily life had become mundanely safe for all of us.
Of course, all of you knew that subconsciously even before you moved here. In fact, that was the reason that you had chosen to come here. You had dreamed of these things. And those dreams had indeed come true. You could finally sleep peacefully through the night.”
Kaija was grinning from ear to ear. She hadn’t realized it herself. Such is the infectious aspect of joy. There were many broad smiles in the crowd now.
“Another thing that used to create a lot of stress in our lives, had vanished when we moved here.”
“Correction - at least receded in the background!”
She looked questioningly at them. Silently urging them to guess what she was referring to. No one said anything. Many looked confused.
“The social structure that we grew up in, no longer surrounded us.”
The confusion continued. But revelation seemed to be dawning slowly on the faces of a few.
“You see - our place in society was defined right from the moment of our birth. Because of our gender. Our religion. Our race… caste… color of our skin. The unique family in which we are born. The money that the family had. Everything was already defined for us.
No one asked us how we should be treated. We were supposed to simply do what we were told to do. May it be by another person… starting from our immediate family all the way to so-called leaders from far away. Or it may have been written down in a book… say, a religious text. Or the laws of that place. We were told again and again that we were not supposed to think for ourselves. We were supposed to simply conform to whatever the so-called tradition was.
If anyone refused to do so, then the cost they paid for that rebellion was extremely high. Either they were punished or outright killed for their transgression. At the least, they were cast out into a life of loneliness. So… most of us put aside our brains… our hearts… our minds… and did what we were told to do.
The problem is - the idea of not thinking for ourselves, is NOT in our nature. Living our lives by the rules written by others, sometimes centuries ago, even millennia, is NOT in our nature. In fact, it is completely unnatural!”
Without missing a beat, Kaija triumphantly said, “in Sequoia, that entire oppressive social structure was absent.”
Her eyes were alive with a fierce energy.
“For the first time, in our lives, no one was telling us who we were supposed be! Especially, us women.
No man was controlling all aspects of our lives!
No traditions imprisoned us!
Even for the men, no authority figure was telling them what to do and how to think.”
She beamed at them and then shouted out as loudly as she could, “for the first time, in all our lives, we were truly free!
Free to think for ourselves!
Free to do as we saw fit!
It was not just that the physical quality of our lives had improved drastically, but more importantly, our emotional lives had been transformed so much that they were unrecognizable!
All those years of being told that freedom meant anarchy… remember that?!
That was all lies!!!
With our new-found freedom in Sequoia, instead of hurting each other, we did the exact opposite. We saw each other. We collaborated with each other. We commiserated with each other. We loved each other. We found joy together. We managed to chase away our worries and sadness by drawing on each other’s strength. We protected each other from harm.
We did this all entirely naturally. No one told us to do this. It was not described in the constitution of Sequoia. We just… did it. On our own… entirely voluntarily… without any coercion whatsoever… we were nice to each other. This IS our true nature!
It is because of this that I am not surprised that crime is very low in Sequoia. And there have been no murders at all for the first five years. Not a single murder in city of three million souls. Do you see what we have managed to achieve?”
There was an urgency in her voice now. Even some anguish as she repeated that question.
“That is until the last few days when many of us seemed to have lost our heads and reverted back to the absolutely vile behavior that we had left behind in the places we had grown up in.
Two of our fellow citizens had succumbed to the age-old impulse of avenging the wrongful deaths of their families by themselves committing a crime. You see, if their respective societies had not failed them first, then Alia and Sara wouldn’t have any reason to do what they did. The places where they grew up - Iran and Sudan - allowed villains like Qasim and Nadeem to exist in the first place. Worse, those societies did nothing to protect themselves from those villains. And to top it off, they allowed those villains to get away with horrendous crimes.
I am not justifying the actions of Alia and Sara. Taking the law in their hands was unequivocally wrong. I am glad that they voluntarily confessed to their crimes. I believe that their contrition is genuine. But they will be punished for their actions. Because that is how a society thrives. It looks out for everyone. It holds everyone accountable. I am simply pointing out that the societies we left behind were very different from the one that we have created here in Sequoia. Until that is, some of us decided to take a hammer to it.
And all for what? For those long forgotten religious identities, you chose to commit violence against each other?!
Instead of seeing each other fully as complex and unique individuals who have free will, in just one moment, so many of us decided to reduce each other to a mere religious identity that was assigned to us at birth. An identity that had forced us into servitude for life. We voluntarily decided to return to the prisons that had caged us since our birth. The prisons that we had broken free from when we chose to come to Sequoia.”
Her frustration and anger was spilling out now.
“Imagine if life had been stagnant instead of ever evolving. The world would still be full of single-cell organisms. We wouldn’t even exist!!
Imagine if we had not migrated in harmony with nature. Our species would have long ago become extinct. Luckily, our ancestors were not hung up on stupid ideas of owning land. Or drawing artificial boundaries on them that decided who can go where.
Imagine if scientists had not continued to experiment with new ideas. We would have never developed the technologies that make our lives comfortable.
Imagine if artists had decided that they would simply regurgitate the art that already existed. Where would all the wonderful new creations have come from?
It IS in our nature to change… to evolve… to create… to innovate.
It is NOT in our nature to stagnate.
To hell with traditions. Of all kinds. Whether they be religious or national or familial.
Do we really want to imprison ourselves all over again?
Or do we want to be free?!
Do we want to hurt each other?
Or do we want to thrive with each other?
It is time to decide what we want from our future!
What do YOU want?!” she, literally, yelled.
It was muted at first, but slowly and surely the wave built up from all parts of Sequoia.
“Down with all the traditions!”
“Freedom!”
The declaration reverberated throughout the city.
Kaija raised her right hand again. She had more things to say.
“That moment of clarity I had years ago was the first one. I had a second similar moment last night as I listened to Alia and Sara wrestle with their feelings.”
The faces in the crowd were flushed with passion.
“I realized yesterday that when we came here, we signed a formal contract with the UN about the dos and don’ts. Then we discovered this wonderful way of life that brought us so much joy over the last five years. But, in confronting the first crisis, we promptly fell back into our old ways of thinking. Alia and Sara let their old emotions and familial obligations overrule their affinity with the new way of life in Sequoia. Many of us who decided to take up arms acted similarly - they allowed their religious identity to wipe away their individuality. That same individuality which had enabled them to care for their fellow citizens.
In order to prevent or at least try to make such a de facto retrogression from happening again, I think, we need to formally affirm - both individually and collectively - that we shall always prioritize this new way of life that we have established in Sequoia. That instead of allowing the past to dictate our present and future, we shall do all the thinking ourselves.
Are we ready to embrace this way of life?”
“YES! YES! We do!” the first tidal wave of affirmation crashed all over Sequoia.
“That instead of reducing our identities to some family name or religion or gender or race or caste or color or place or anything like that, we shall respect each other as we are! Shall we do that?”
“YES!” and a second tidal wave swept across Sequoia.
“That instead of looking out for our individual selves, we shall always ensure that we don’t cause anyone else any harm. Rather, our actions would benefit others all over the world! All of humanity. All the creatures on earth. The Earth itself!”
“WE DO! YES! YES!” a third wave raced across Sequoia.
“IT IS DECIDED THEN!”
“YES!”
The echoes continued long after the crowd dispersed that day!
In that moment, the people of Sequoia had formally and for the first time in their lives, embraced a new faith. A faith that was based on the core of human nature. They wouldn’t be afraid to change… to evolve. They would care for each other. They would care for all of humanity. They would care for the whole earth!