When Fear Rules...

I was invited for a child's birthday party today. However, on learning that I had a mild cold, the enthusiasm from the invitation vanished. It was social niceities that prevented the host from openly telling me "please don't come". Reason ofcourse, being that they were afraid I might pass my cold virus to the child...I sensed their discomfort and politely excused myself...and felt terrible that I was missing the birthday celebration of someone very very dear to me...

When fear rules, reason vanishes...Today is World AIDS Day...There are numerous campaigns trying to educate people about this and about the need for including them in mainstream society...On the other hand, you also read about children being denied admission to schools, people being told not to draw water from wells etc because they carry the virus...In more "sophisticated" societies, this ostracising is more subtle...They will smile outside, cringe inside and then hurry off from the company of these people...

When will man overcome fear? I guess, no matter how many moons and planets we conquer, unless we conquer fear, we are always vulnerable...And this vulnerability will end up hurting our loved ones in day to day life, society in general and even mar the progress of human race in the long term...