On distributive justice!

 

A walk into the garden around our cottage is a delightful experience which offers sights that represent history and stories. 

The last photo is of new shoots appearing in the rose bush after the pruning in April. It announces the beginning of another season of flowers in the next month and beyond. I felt moved by the sight of this on a day, the results of the national election were trickling in. 

The opposition parties had an alliance, which denied the ruling party the majority to continue. The ruling party might need an alliance  to rule. 

Th architect of the opposition alliance was Mr Rahul Gandhi, who undertook two 'journeys' mostly on foot, covering over 4000 kilometres in the last one year to connect with people. It was during the two journeys, he articulated the dream of social justice. The majority in the bottom of pyramid need attention as a priority, as unemployment,  farmer distress, economic distress of medium and small business and widening inequality between those who are rich and disadvantaged are leading people to distress. This message along with focus in 'saving democracy' caught the imagination of the electorate, The result derailed the ambition of the ruling political party to continue its autocratic rule and practice a biased approach towards wealth creation for the rich. 

Th farm pictures above, announce abundance with trees bearing fruits and plants flowering. 

Our domestic worker took leave yesterday to watch on the television, the election news. He told me,' We need a change'! He having failed to return a loan taken for constructing his house faces legal action. He might loose the house in lieu of the default to pay. His comment was, 'those rich people who take bank loans, find escape routes through litigations that give them a respite from legal action'!

The rose bush was a symbol of a new political climate in India. It certainly announced that new beginning of a revised approach towards social justice is in the offing!

Anna distributes the fruits from our garden to our neighbours. We find this as a valuable experience of remembering others.

Those who of us who live in plenty need messages to remind us that 'to love our neighbour as yourself' is a vocation introduced to us through the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. 

A political system based on that ethos, is what the nations of the world would  need! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)