WHAT STUDENTS' WHAM : MONUMENTAL ESSAY

 

German poet Heinrich Heine, drawing a sad picture of leprosy patients in Europe over long past centuries, said, ''Leprosy was a pernicious disease five centuries ago.

Therefore, anyone suffering from it was to live in a cave far from people; in case of hunger, he was to cover himself from head to toe for entry into the market area; and for the announcement of his presence, he was to buzz a bell so that people might get aside.

But later they were treated and embraced by their society for playing their due role.''

French novelist Gustave Flaubert's famous novel Madame Bovary is an epoch - making creation because its heroine Emma Bovary, despite being poor, dares to speak her emotions.

Ironically her desires get shattered after the collision with tradition, as Emma's wish for a good life is unable to face the sources of power in society.

Before the emergence of this novel, the literature would revolve around love stories of prince and princess.

But Emma brought it to the houses of the poor, where poverty and deprivation dominated the inhabitants, who were enduring them for a cause; even if they had none, they would explore it out.

IN THE SAME VEIN, Goya, the romantic Spanish painter, divided humanity into two classes : one deserves love and compassion; and the other is meant for punishment, and marked with hate and distress.

The artist, despite his inquiry into humankind, believed that the tragedy of a human being is not his fault, but is caused by others.

So, he once painted an image of a grave in black colour, and beneath its covering was shown a hand without flesh which was writing a Spanish word 'Nada' [ i.e. the extinct ] on it.

MATTHEW ARNOLD, a famous English critic and essayist, in the 19th century, confirmed the French masters' conclusions as such : ''We are breathing in two different world, one that has died and the other is so dull that it is taking time in its birth.''

It was said almost a century ago when a vague sense of change had begun to be perceived in the upper strata of the Western world, while the majority was unconscious of what was in the offing.

HERE it is pertinent to quote American author James Cooper who said, ''the lighter sorrows make noise, while the greater ones are quiet.''

Perhaps, in keeping with the American writers' contention, silence is prevailing in the developing world, whose pains are undoubtedly incredible.

One wonders whether most of the Developing World are sovereign countries, as claimed by their respective rulers.

So long as the rulers keep us away from the helm of affairs and life, the students will continue to live the life of the lepers. How long they could put a bar on their citizens from their circles of charm is anybody's guess. PERIOD.

The World Students Society thanks author Aftab Ahmed Khanzada.