Well I haven’t been blogging for while…(didn’t you notice? I don’t blame you, nothing has changed.)

I like the idea of the movie ‘It’s a wonderful life’ where the protagonist who is disenchanted with his life gets to know how it would have been if hadn’t been born at all. That’s an interesting thought isn’t it? If I look back and think and wonder what would have been different if I wasn’t born at all? Nothing, Zilch, Nada. What a worthless existence!

Anyway moving on from the existential anxts, I read about this ‘Great man Theory’ [wikipedia.com] according to which few ‘great’ men shape the history. Schomos like me don’t even get to clap in this grand historical drama leave alone taking part in it. Seriously, do few men shape our history? What would have happened if Hitler were not born? What would have happened if Gandhi were not born? (I personally believe that India would have gained Independence much earlier, so much for the non-violence crap). So if this was true our world’s future is at the mercy of few ‘great’ men. That’s a scary thought.

Lets analyze the ‘Average Joe Schmo’ theory, which contradicts the ‘Great men theory’. Suppose there is a society living on an isolated island and populated not so great average Joes. Each content on catching some big fish and feeding their families. Wouldn’t they have history? Would their (hi)story be as boring as after lunch philosophy lecture? Do they need a ‘Great Joe’ to spice it up by waging a war with a neighboring Island and killing and raping few people?

I don’t think so, I think each and every one of us play a very small but important role in this grand historical drama. We do influence the course of it. Few great men do appear once in a while in this show and do something so monumental and dramatic that they change the course forever and they disappear. Schmos then take over and carry on with the grunt work till another ‘great man’ gets ready for his gig.

Bismarck once spoke thus “A Great statesman always runs to catch up to hold the coat-tails of God who is marching through the history” or something like that. Something to munch on…