Enemy

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

I have often wondered about the word  enemy, especially the meanings, interpretations and uses of the word. If someone is a vegetarian he is the enemy of the beefeater; the temple goer and the mosque goer are enemies of the church goer; the mountain dwellers, treetop dwellers are the enemies of the plains, the Kali bhakts and the Durga bhakts are enemies and a Tamil speaker is an enemy of a Hindi speaker: the list is endless. But what really bowls me over is the war scene, the battle field where enemies face each other for mutual destruction. How is the soldier on the other side my enemy? If I am a patriot fighting for my country the soldier facing me is a patriot of a different country, yet we call each other enemy and kill. The Tiger is not our enemy yet we kill the tiger. The deer is not our enemy yet we kill to eat it. A tired soldier calls a flute player nincompoop and asks him to stop because he is fighting to protect him.  I hate a person because of his complexion, ideas, dress, language, food habits even the size of his house. Gandhiji was killed because he wanted the Hindus and Muslims to live together. The victor, the successful man are seen by the failures and the defeated with enemical eyes....

So what is this enmity? I fear the tiger, the soldier on the other side, the more successful corporate entrepreneur, a true lover, a powerful politician and think ill of them. Is it only fear of losing your self- glorified importance? Jealousy, rivalry, psychological inferiority also give rise to the feelings of antagonism. If the wife becomes famous as a dancer, her engineer husband gets jealous and entertains  ideas of divorce. If a politician becomes popular his rivals lose sleep and plot for his fall. If a lover is devoted and poetically elevates his love to divine heights, the beloved shrinks and protests trying to bring him down to the mundane levels of physicality or turns into stony unresponsiveness. If a mother is possessive the daughter revolts. If someone is honest and truthful he is friendless. People spread canards only against honest and hardworking men. If a country gets rich, neighbouring countries conspire with richer and stronger countries to block its progress.

In the mythologies too we see enmity which is irrational . Vishnu has his enemies, the gods too fight between themselves for ego or jealousy.  The sages meditating in the forest are attacked by the demons. Ram the apostle of virtue kills to protect others. Krishna in the name of saving the noble Pandavas causes the destruction of a  civilization. Family Quarrels continue beyond generations. For Rama's love Hanuman kills people who are in no way connected with his life. In history we have evidence of kings killing men and animals for mere entertainment. A man is asked to fight a lion for public fun; the people clap and cheer when the king's lion kills a brave fighter. Who is the enemy in these cases?  Mountains of a country never consider mountains of another country as enemy. But man attacks the other country. America sanctions smaller and weaker countries  when they  refuse to accept the supremacy of America. China treats India as enemy as it aspires to be the most powerful in the area. India and Pakistan are sworn enemies for no reason at all. Strangely your enemy's enemy is  a friend and enemies friend is your enemy. Turkey and Malaysia are India's enemies as they are Pakistan's friends. Why ? What logic can explain this idea of enemy/ enmity?

Perhaps  there is nothing called logic acceptable to Man for all time. Today's friend is tomorrow's enemy. Mutual suspicion in political relationship, business, religion and even  Marriage / Love is the only logic which motivates man and explains his enmity. Suspicion is the result of not only trust deficit but also the fear of extinction. We kill the tiger out of the instinct of fear and after killing we are proud of our achievement. Man is perhaps the only creature who is easily jealous, intolerant, unaccommodative and uncompromising. He hates almost everything that distracts him from his self conscious ego.  Hubris is built into human nature and everyman plays God in his life. Hence if his godhood is challenged, or mocked at or ignored he pushes himself to the brink to prove his godhood. If  he is destroyed because of his silly self pandering logic he does not care. He defies defeat and prepares himself for revenge. He cannot perhaps tolerate heights which make him look up. He must stare down at everything.

D. H. Lawrence famously said , "Tell me how many enemies you have  and I will tell you how great you are" fine,  for only  a great man has enemies, a minor man is always ignored. But why don't people gather around a great man in celebration of human greatness? No, that's not in a man's DNA. If he is too weak  he will throw expletives to the lonely walls  or dream of fighting lions like Santiago. But he will never accept greatness of body , mind, imagination and inventiveness for it makes him a beneficiary not the benefactor in the society. We hate the hand that feeds and gets  inside our weak minds. All this is true because man is not capable of true love. And we have to accept this bitter truth with humility.