One would think the concept of equality would be very close to everyone's heart. But the prevailing climate does not indicate that. A great deal of gratuitous, unnecessary, and meaningless obeisance and fealty catering to officials' egos seems to be the order of the day. In a democracy officials are appointed by representatives of the people elected by people and as such they are employed by people and paid for by money collected from people by way of taxes or fees for services. As it is people bow and cringe before these officials to get the services they are due, and when they get these services they have a right to, they think they have been done some favors that they do not deserve. This is a clear example of a role-reversal where servants act as if they are the masters. I notice this especially after my return to India after about thirty-five years of living in the U. S. A few days ago there was a news item reported widely in the press about Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth of England getting engaged to some young lady. I certainly wish the young couple the very best. But this news report smacked of the remnants of pathetic colonialism of old especially in the context of so many important events that seriously affect the lives of so many millions of people in the world on a daily basis go unreported. A great deal of news coverage consists in what the so-called celebrities do in minute details – what they eat or wear or how much they bare. I am aware that the news media cater to this craving that ordinary people have to stay in business. Religions also have contributed their share. Sometime ago I went to a tailor who was stitching a shirt I had designed for myself. He did not very much care about some importance I was giving to it. He said: "Father, what does it matter? We are all mere worms". I knew from what kind of religious background he is coming from. I told him: "You may be. I am not". In fact Christians who believe in justification (salvation) by grace alone believes in the utter unworthiness of human beings.

             I made some casual observances/comments above about the present and the past state of affairs in India and the world. Does that mean that democracy has not yet matured? Does that mean that we are still under the psychological yoke of colonialism and imperialism? Do we live our lives vicariously through persons of glamour/celebrities? Does not that also then mean that we ourselves are spiritually bankrupt? Do we need to be scintillated by such trivialities and persons of no-substance? Does not that also describe our own mental state? We were and still are an oppressed and beaten-down people through ingenious caste and race systems that institutionalized inequality and oppression. The local kings and chieftains were not necessarily any better than the colonial masters and invaders. It is interesting to note that some Muslim rulers were notorious for imposing jizya poll tax on Hindus and custom duties on Hindu traders while Muslims were exempt even before the East India Company that developed into British Raj and Colonial Rule started. In fact the British did better than the rest in that they, for instance, abolished the evil practice of Sati (the practice of wives immolating themselves in the funeral pyres of husbands). It may be of interest to note that a Mughal emperor in 1717 was practically "bribed" by the East India Company for 30,000 pounds worth of gifts to receive excessive trade concessions. The native kings and war lords did not fare any better. The so-called high caste Hindus did not treat the so-called low caste Hindus and untouchables as human beings. While we are talking about the atrocious racist system, I have known Indians in the USA and in India to be racist or even very conscious of the color of their own skin and make vital decisions on the basis of that. When we are talking about immoral and unethical rulers or masters or so-called enlightened men whether Mughal, colonial (mostly British), or native, who had no regard for human lives or their rights, it is difficult to say who was the worst among them. It is only a question of degree. It is very difficult to assess the enormous damage done, say, to the Indian psyche or the psyche of most of the world that was enslaved in one form or another through centuries of subjugation and domination perpetrated by foreign or domestic/native rulers. An unhealthy servile and obsequious mentality may be an outcome of prolonged domination and mistreatment suffered by people/nations. These persons can often be passive-aggressive in that they keep on suffering or putting up with aversive situations until they reach their limit and finally end up in a big blow-up for something relatively insignificant.

             The preamble to the constitution of the United Nations says that all human beings are created equal. All come into this world naked without anything, and all are legitimate. All leave this world naked without anything. Birth and death are the greatest levelers or equalizers. No one is or should be entitled to any privilege or honor or position on the basis of his or her birth. No one is nobler solely due to one's birth. All are equal as human beings irrespective of their gender, color, creed, nationality, ethnic origin. Nobody has any choice in these matters. These are givens when a person is conceived. Nobody can be responsible for things he/she has not chosen. Therefore the idea of equality should be in every cell and fiber of every human being. We do not do any service to anyone if we do not consider our own and others' humanity as sacred.

             Equality means that we are equal in being human. We are equal in our uniqueness. We are equal whether we are men or women. We are equal whether we are Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists or of any other religion. I do not believe in any so-called chosen people, race, or caste. I have no use for a God who discriminates, who gives preferential treatment to some. We are all equal before God's sight. God's ways are inscrutable, and I would like to leave it at that. I do not want to make hair-splitting theological distinctions about God that at best can only be sharing of my understanding (knowledge or ignorance, depending on perspective) of God, therefore limited, partial, and certainly coming from my faith or belief system. We are all so heavily programmed in our life that we often end up believing what we are brought up in. If I knew why God did what He/She did I would be God myself. And I am not. Nobody is. Anything that we say about God is anthropomorphic, through and through human. We may be divinely inspired. I believe scriptures are inspired and sacred. I am very much aware that these are very controversial topics. But I do not think I would be burned at the stakes for saying these things though fundamentalism, fanaticism, and intolerance in religions are raising their ugly heads and trying to turn the clock back, and return humanity to the days of gross religious terrorism or persecutions. After studying scriptures, religions, and spirituality for most of my life I prefer and value some scriptures more than others. That is why it is very important that every human of age study scriptures and traditions of other religions and make their own choices. That is also the reason that I advocate spirituality beyond religions or a higher consciousness that can unite all of us into the oneness of humanity before we destroy one another.

             I believe that every human being is created in the image of God, and that is plenty enough for me to respect and revere every human being. I believe that we have glimpses of God in so many different ways in our everyday life. Gandhiji once said that God comes to the hungry in the form of bread. God comes in so many different forms: in freedom, love, truth, beauty, justice, fairness, peace, tolerance, smiles, spectacular scenes, physical and material glory… Here it is good to remember Paul of Tarsus, a man of great faith about two thousand years ago, said: "For now (in our earthly pilgrimage) we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face" (1Corinthians Chapter 12 Verse 13). We are all equal before God. The man in tattered clothes in the street begging for food might be more precious than you or I before God.

             Equality does not mean that we are equal in height, color, talents, intelligence, resources, or, for that matter, men have the same physical characteristics or equipment as women. It is not important how much money or resources that we have. It is very important what we do with what we do have. We do not need to be concerned about what others have or do. I am reminded of a little story of two kids given three ladoos (sweets) each. One kid was so preoccupied with and looking at what the other kid had that meanwhile a cat came and snatched away what he had. We do not need to be equal in poverty. We can be equal or more equal (generous) in sharing diverse, rich resources that we have been endowed with or acquire often due to no special merit of ours, but just because we happened to be at the right place at the right time with the right set of circumstances. In this connection I would like to make a special observation about women who are roughly half of humanity. It is sad that women in general do not experience equality with men. In this regard some cultures as well as some religions are better than others. In some instances women themselves growing up in a culture of inequality and patriarchy, unwittingly perhaps, perpetuate practices of inequality. In Kerala (India) for instance, some wives call their husbands chettan (an older brother or person) or ichayan (something equivalent to father). Sometimes some religions or their scriptures foster inequality. Orthodox male Jews, for instance, thank God for not being women. Incidentally while I lived in the U. S., I visited a synagogue with a female Jewish friend; I was asked if I (a non-Jew) would wear a skull cap or something equivalent and join the men who could only form the quorum required to start their formal prayer service. Women, I think, need to band together, arise, and awake and demand the rights that they are born with. Men who treat women as inferior because they just happened to be women need to be ashamed of themselves.

             Several years ago when I was working for the Missouri Department of Mental Health in USA a colleague of mine pointing to the executive director of the psychiatric hospital I was working for said to me: "Your boss is coming". I told her: "She is not my boss, the people of Missouri (a state in USA) who pay me are". Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest reformer and a great saint the 20th century had seen did the most in advancing equality. Even though he strived with might and main against the caste system in practical life he ideologically left it in tact. Shri Narayana Guru, also a great reformer and saint, and a few years older than Gandhi, did better in this regard. His famous utterance "Oru jathi oru matham oru daivam manushyanu (one caste/race, one religion, and one God for human) is very relevant. Over the entire known human history we have been deeply de-sensitized to so many injustices, inequalities, discriminations, violations of human rights, racial, ethnic, or sexist derogatory sayings and jokes that we do not mind or we are not aware of being unfair or having a laughter at others' expense. So an on-going rigorous conscientization and a thorough soul-searching are essential. Again the status of the world is better than it has ever been in the past with regard to equality. We still need to go a long way with regard to the equality factor. It is said that a community is judged by the way it treats its weakest and the most disadvantaged members. We are part of this world, citizens of this planet where every human being needs to have what he or she needs to grow and develop and feel safe and secure. We need to carefully look into our own inner self to see if we harbor even any subtle trace of discrimination and inequality. We have a lot of growing to do in the area of equality consciousness and behavior.