Simon Mol (For Metropol)
Krakau- Poland
One of my favorite Polish proverbs is ‘Guest at home, God at home’. It is profound and humanistic. On reflection it provokes an interesting question—‘If you don’t know the history of the world, how could you know the road that leads to God?’ Unfortunately, it so happens that history is often recorded with much bias. In recording history, ‘Information’ could be preserved in its original form, manipulated or obliterated. It is even tempting to say that were the last few hundreds recorded in fairness, most of the major conflicts that plagued the world could have been avoided.
Though we easily lapse into forgetfulness, slowly we are learning. But how we grow up to accept who we are and envision the future depends on the information and the collective experience left behind by our predecessors, and especially on how effectively the above-mentioned elements were recorded in archives and historical annals. One of the most powerful truth that a man rises to realize is how the world functions in practical terms.
While the ‘gravitational force’ is what assures physical equilibrium to objects on this planet, there is as well a ‘principle’ that holds the world in balance. This principle could be defined as ‘The Daily Trinity’ and is composed of The Economy, Culture and History. How these three elements are coordinated determines peace and social order. To manipulate them for good or evil requires power. In turn, they equally breed power. Sometimes it becomes imperative to exploit one of the three elements in order to enrich the others, depending on the demands of the day. In worst cases, and since accumulated ‘power’ has to discharge itself over a given sphere, when the demand exceeds the supply power explodes beyond its bounds. Then real trouble begins.
Since we determine our fate and future, it’s up to us to right the wrongs we have wrought to ourselves and others. And the most lasting solution is the fair recording of history. This isn’t easy though. Guilt, greed, cowardice and inner censorship battle with one another for supremacy. At the end of the day, how these resonate to create external effects is what puts one man above another and makes one nation greater than another.
Discrimination, racism, etc, exist everywhere. In fact in my homeland as well, otherwise I wouldn’t find myself in exile. These are some of the ingredients in life, (which I wouldn’t simply tag as negative) that create occasions and possibilities for our evolution. Since these elements exist in every country and society, what puts one nation above another with respect to neutralizing their negativity is the amount of sincerity, fairness and determination invested in restoring or maintaining social harmony.
About a fortnight ago I received a letter from Holland. The writer of letter Jeroen Marcelis, is a Dutch actress of Surinamese origin whomI met in Warsaw and later Amsterdam last May. This is what she had to say:
The reason I'm contacting you is that the theatre-group ISH, with whom we came to Poland for the Roots&Routes dance audition, have had a terrible incident on their tour through Poland. On his way to the theatre where they would be performing that night, one of the dancers - who was alone - was beaten up severely in the streets of Krakau and was thrown unconscious in a park. There he lay the whole freezing night and in the morning he woke up and walked back to the hotel because the taxi wouldn't allow him in. Of course he was totally in shock. The police first hardly reacted to the news and only when the Dutch embassy got involved, they took the matter seriously. Now that the group is back in the Netherlands, they are thinking about what they can do with this incident. Although nothing was said, they strongly feel that the appearance of the man who was beaten up (he is not a 'white man') has a lot to do with it. Now I am wondering if you, as an independent journalist and as secretary general of the Association of Asylum Seekers in Poland, see a way in which we can turn this bad example of brutality into something people can learn from. Perhaps through the media or in any other way. I hope this message reaches you and that you can help us think about how to react to this in a constructive way.
Warm regards.
Dear reader, these are not my words but those of a former guest of this country who left in pain. It’s worth citing that every single guest to a place later serves as an unofficial ambassador of that place. And bearing in mind the proverb ‘Guest at home, God at home’, you will agree with me that it makes sense to reconcile with the guest who was wronged for the good of the future and the reputation of this great nation. Turning a blind eye I don’t think is a solution. Bearing in mind that majority of Poles oppose such a barbaric incident and are ready to apologize to the victim, here is an opportunity too to start recording history in fairness for the good of the nation and the human race.
Comments