+

Situation at home is less than ideal: my friends and family are taking +more and more unhealthy radical stances. I wanted to live a life of +writing Free Software only because I was convinced that it would bring +people together. It would be my way of serving humanity. But what good +is software going to do if the people around you are at each other's +are distrustful and utterly hateful?

+

What baffles me is why people in general are more prone to hatred than +love. If it is someone that one isn't familiar with, then it is possible +to brush such people off as, well, strangers. But it changes everything +when they are the ones you see everyday and deeply care about. A life +without them, which seems to be the only solution at these desperate +times, would be impossible and even unimaginable.

+

As mentioned, I could always choose to be alone, shun all friends and +family and chose a life of total solitude but what kind of a person +would I be if I abandon my folks at their most desperate times? Flight +is my goto solution for such cases, I avoid confrontations at all costs. +But I think, in this case flight will only make it worse: who's going to +be there to help them see better things?

+

A world of hatred and distrust wouldn't +survive very long. How can one live if they can't even trust their +neighbors? History is ripe with such unfortunate events and if they've +taught us anything is that, a culture motivated by hatred and distrust +will always seek a new scapegoat when the old one's disposed of. So I'm +confident that the situation will automatically resolve itself when +people are tired of living a life of total distrust.

+

But 50 years is too long and I don't wait that long to live in such a +world. So I'm lancing Project Manidhayam (Manidhayam is Tamil for +Humanity) in an effort to help solve some of the social issues that we +currently face.

+

I am in no way qualified to deal or even comment the social issues that +currently plague our little planet. But I am a +hacker and I refuse to believe +that there isn't a cheap and elegant solution that ratifies most +requirements while keeping trade-offs minimal. Project Manidhayam will +look at seemingly impossible social issues, document and analyze them +from all angles without bias and suggest a way out that is based on +love, trust and respect. It will not take sides with any party invoked. It is a +pursuit of a lone (keyboard) warrior, nothing more nothing less.

+

Interested folks are always welcome to join the project, it only +requires that one is willing to not fall for hateful ways.

+

Project Manidhayam will not aim to achieve any kind of publicity for its +work and will not accept any funding. Whatever resources needed will be +sourced and provided for by its members. In very simple terms, it is a +puzzle club that is also the last refuge/resort of those of us that are +hurting and not willing to give up just yet.

+

Like I said, I'm not equipped or even qualified to work such issues: all +I know is that if everyone were nice and kind to each other, we would +all live in a very happy and very productive world. I only hope that I +eventually gain wisdom to deal with such things eventually.

+

That said, despite my best efforts bias might still leak into my +analysis and suggestions, so let me state my background and identity so +that a baseline can be established:

+

I am a 22 old Hindu by birth but atheist by choice aromantic asexual +Indian male hailing from an upper middle-class South Indian nuclear +family living in the third-tier South Indian city of Coimbatore who +speaks Tamil, Hindi and English in the same order of comfort but with no +strong preferences that resemble forceful imposing tendencies. I am +politically liberal and generally when it comes to matters that concern +others' lives while choosing conservative ones for myself. For instance, +I believe people should be able to consume whatever they wish (drugs, +etc.) without having to commit crimes while being an uncompromising +teetotaller myself.

+

I hope to live in a world where Humanity's basic +needs are satisfied +and so are able to overcome materialistic needs. A world like that, I +imagine, would be one is focused on creative pursuits and +self-betterment goals. But I fully acknowledge this is only a dream and +would take centuries to achieve. So not planning/expecting a revolution +in my lifetime.

+ +