Column

A façade of skyscrapers facing a lake, and behind it, every type of dubiousness, said English novelist EM Forster. Going beyond the façade is an attribute few of us possess. Reams have been written about how one ought to look for the real face behind the veneer.

There may be an eerie chaos behind the curtain. So, take a peek. The curtain itself, endowed with all vibrancy, may just be a mask. Undo the mask and a brutal reality may confront you.

Take this scenario: if cats roaming in the vicinity of your housing colony are suddenly found to be turning unusually rotund, what would your first reaction be? That there is plenty of food for the cats to feed on? That there are many animal lovers in your locality to feed them to obesity?Think again. Isn’t it possible that the drainage system in your area is hopelessly infested with nasty rodents, feasting upon whom the cats have become a bit too healthy? If that’s the case, it calls for immediate remedial measures.

A rodent-infested drainage would spell two-pronged trouble: one, it might be the precursor of diseases, even epidemics; and two, rats are burrowing the foundation of your housing structures hollow. The malaise, if not dealt with at an incipient stage, could lead to disastrous consequences.

A few days ago, we read about the newly set-up National Security Agency (NSA) havingzeroed in on many people who have allegedly been involved in money transfers to terror suspects. Now, we often have the tendency to dismiss terrorism as being the illegitimate child of extraneous factors like jihad, illiteracy and religion. But the malady crouches itself elsewhere. Money is actually the root cause and motivator of all terrorist misdeeds.

The huge amounts of laundered money that seeps into the country to fund terrorism is the real cause. Even Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist captured during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has admitted how LeT promised to solve all the problems of his impoverished family if he did the dastardly job. Isn’t it avarice that triggers most crimes? The mantra should be to wring the neck of money-laundering — and terrorism would be crushed.

Somewhere down the line, our complacency is to be blamed for our myopia. Or perhaps, it is as much a part of human nature to be swept off the feet by outward appearances and jump to easily derived conclusions. In this generally messy and devious world, it would also help you recognise the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Try it and gain a new perspective on how the world operates.

N Raghuraman is an editor with DNA