Title: "To My Children, From a Witness of 54 Years: A Message of Truth Amidst Chaos"
By Akshat Agrawal | Born 8 August 1971
Dear Children,
As I reflect on my 54-year journey, born in the year 1971—a year soaked in the blood of Bangladesh’s liberation, Cold War rivalries, and India’s fragile awakening—I realize how much of my life has been shaped by the great tides of history, even when I didn’t recognize them at the time.
I write this not just as your father, but as a witness to a slow-burning struggle of dharma (truth), ahimsa (non-violence), and manasik shanti (inner tranquillity) against the temptations of hate, chaos, and control.
A Timeline of Struggle: My Life in the Flow of History
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1970s: My childhood in post-Indira India was lived under the shadow of Emergency. The air was thick with control and silence. We grew up learning to obey, not to question. But quietly, I watched the world change—the end of the Vietnam war, Nixon’s fall, and the arrival of color television. Somewhere, the seeds of silent observation were sown in me.
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1980s: My teenage years saw the fire of Punjab, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the cries of the 1984 riots, and the slow unraveling of Nehruvian ideals. My mind was still young, but my heart asked—why does peace always bleed first?
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1991: My father left this world the same year India liberalized its economy. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, and India opened its markets to the world. I was 20. The silence within became deeper. I saw dreams of a better life sprouting in every middle-class home—yet something sacred seemed to be slipping away.
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2000s–2010s: I worked, raised a family, moved across nations. Like Arjuna on the battlefield, I often stood frozen between duty and despair. Wars raged in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria—America’s grand chessboard moved without pause. At home, I saw the slow rise of a loud, muscular nationalism. As someone rooted in Gandhian simplicity, I often felt alien in my own land and time.
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2020s: The pandemic became a Kurukshetra in disguise. The world stood still, and yet political machinery roared louder than ever. I saw the fractures deepen—between communities, within nations, and inside families. Truth was called treason, peace was ridiculed, and the cults of war and identity rose from every corner.
To My Children: A Message for the Next Decade
"हे संजय, 2020 के दशक के अमरीका इजरायल प्रेरित विध्वंश काल में कौरवों और पांडवों ने किसका साथ दिया, सत्य अहिंसा धर्म जो स्वामी महात्मा दे कर गए थे, या नफरत हिंसा टुकड़े टुकड़े गैंग का?"
My dear children, the war we see around us today is not just of bombs and borders. It is a war of values—whether we choose the path of division or unity, of ego or empathy, of noise or stillness.
You will be tested. The coming decade may appear as a dark tunnel—of ecological crises, economic disorder, cultural wars, and information overload. You may see people close to you fall into extremes. You may be tempted to pick sides not on the basis of truth, but on fear and survival.
I implore you—do not. Take the side of truth. Stand with non-violence. Even if you walk alone.
The Modern Dhritarashtra and the Dying Empire
"महाराज धृतराष्ट्र आप 75 साल के हो गए, अब आप संन्यास ले लें, युद्ध का परिणाम देखने से पहले ही। आप से हिंदुत्ववादी कौरवों का वंश नाश देखा नहीं जाएगा।
'नहीं, मै देखकर ही जाऊंगा।'
जैसी प्रभु की इच्छा !! राम रसिया, मोरे मन बसिया।"
Just as Dhritarashtra in the Mahabharata chose blindness over truth, I see today’s empires clinging to power even as they decay—be it in Washington, Jerusalem, New Delhi, or Moscow. They do not want peace. They want legacy, control, and grand funerals.
But the world is changing. The cries of "जय श्रीराम" and "अल्लाह हो अकबर" have turned into angry echoes. They no longer heal, they divide. Even the gods look down in silence.
What Should You Do, Then?
- Don't numb your heart. Feel deeply, love freely.
- Speak only when your words can build, not break.
- Cultivate stillness in this noisy age—meditate, listen to music, walk in nature.
- Be useful—to your neighbors, to strangers, to those who cannot return the favor.
- Write. Record. Resist. But always with dignity.
In Closing: From My Heart to Yours
"तुझे क्या सुनाऊं मैं दिलरुबा। दिल की बाजी जीती या हारी।
युगों युगों से चलती आ रही गाथा, तूने नजर क्यों न उतार दी।"
Children, my life may not look extraordinary to the world. But it has been a sadhana—a spiritual labour to hold on to what is right, what is kind, what is gentle.
I gift you this legacy. Not money, not properties, not power.
But peace.
And the courage to preserve it.
With all my love,
Your Father
Akshat (b. 8 August 1971)
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