Bird that flew away but still singing...

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I had heard about Father Stan but did not know much about him. Yesterday, attending his funeral was a challenging and encouraging time. Challenging because, listening to his life over last two years, I was wondering how an 84-year-old frail man with Parkinsonism can be considered as “dangerous” and imprisoned.  One knows that such a person with multiple comorbidities have no reasonable chance of survival in Indian prisons!

Encouraging because, here was a man who intellectually analyzed situation (Social analysis) and lived out a life that makes a difference in the lives of the people who had come to adopt as his brothers and sisters, or in one sense his family!

Last year or so, the information about his life and what he shared prior to his imprisonment, was very encouraging. A man who had the clarity of thought, convictions that moved him, courage to live out that convictions, and compassion that drove him to the very end, despite being labelled as a criminal!

Why were the powers that be afraid of him? Why did thy have to put together false information to implicate him? They were trying to silence him. From what was shared about his life, I understand  that he studied the challenges of the tribal communities (Social analysis), studied the legal provisions enshrined in  the constitution and made known these options to the tribal communities. He accepted the community as his brothers and sisters, lived and engaged with them, supported them in their life journeys, and fought with them in their struggles. Though constitutionally right, he was a threat for the powers that be….

But as he said – caged birds also can sing! His incarceration, imprisonment, made his voice and story louder, and the issues became more public. He continued to sing from his jail and the hospital bed…

But I do realize there is a majority out there for whom, this is yet another 'criminal' who died a natural death! 

I hope, I will have the discipline he had – to analyze intellectually, live out a life of engagement, rooted in the reality of the pain of people, journeying with those in pain…

I realize that it is easy to get caught in my small "pain" and "personal spirituality" and be comfortable with that. My natural tendency is to return to the comfort zones of my small life, this being the default mode...

Thank you, Father Stan, for reminding me that I need to go beyond this! Not only caged birds, but birds that have flown away too can sing and remind us. Your song still reverberates….



Alok Rai writes: Who is guilty — Stan Swamy or those who kept him behind bars? (indianexpress.com)

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