Courage: The Cowardly Dog

With anniversary to 26/11 approaching, I'm still perplexed and befuddled by the periphery of an individual's courage.

I intentionally named the post "Courage: The Cowardly Dog" after an animated series on Cartoon Network. The series revolves around the exploits of Courage, a small dog who, despite his name, is ironically afraid of the most mundane things. His fears are normally justified, however, his masters, and Courage are constantly attacked by various monsters, aliens, villains, curses, experiments, natural disasters, and other forms of peril that Courage must face and do whatever it takes to keep them, and himself safe.

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's father (the dauntless soldier of NSG who reached martyrdom on 26/11) made a statement that "People want a Bhagat Singh, but in a neighbour's house". How appropriate, Sir. Today, and I resentfully admit, the Common Man is buried in clutter of social obligations. And when it comes to making a choice, and I completely agree, he is paralyzed by his vested interests.

As someone rightfully puts it - "Courage is not the absence of fear. it is the conviction that something is more important than fear". But the question is where do you draw the line? When do you tell yourself, "This is it, I will not take this anymore". Just the other day, in the untimely November Rains of Mumbai, my friend and I were waiting for a cab to drop us home. The cabbies, trying to make the most of the adversities people were in, refused to stop by. 30 minutes went by and we were all drenched, when I realized, this isn't going to happen just by standing alongside of the road, asking them to stop. It was then I took the courage to stand in the middle of the road to stop a cab, and have the balls to be prepared to knocked off - if the driver intends to do so. I jammed the traffic for 5 mins, on a rainy night and on a narrow mumbai road, but then, the driver stepped out and opened the door until I got in.

Courage, I think, is the ability to really stop and look fear in the face. But I'm afraid, you don't find it in many. I'm not trying to claim that a soldier at the border is the only one with courage. But the Common Man shouldn't believe that the daily struggles of survival are replaceable to courage. Your wife, kids and mortgage are your duties, but courage is when you stand up to defend them, and yourself.

I would end this post with an open ended question.. Does the periphery of your courage end at the point when it comes to you and your family?