Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the differences between what things are and what they ought to be.-William Hazlitt Standing at the crossroads of 2008 and 2009 took just the changing of the digit for nothing else changed for the masses. The aggressor became bolder and more daring and the timid became weaker. The poor have gone into the horizon where they are almost unrecognisable and insignificant as they were before the dawn of the new day. Religion is the scapegoat that shall be used to erase many from the brink of sight and hate will be the 'popular' word. Amidst all this hysteria we are expected to raise our children to be good human beings which is a difficult task. I want to tell my child this is a nice world but how do I do so when photographs of Israeli aggression against the Palestinians are aired on television along with the news that there is gross silence of the world over the 'brutal act of terrorism'. Moreover, I want to tell my child that this is a colourful world when all the colours I grew up with have been taken away from the city I so love. I want to teach my child to respect the environment but it is impossible to do that when filth surrounds my community and no one cares anymore. That is the simplest way of putting the 'truth'. Then one may ask: what is truth? A question, when asked by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea - struggling with the decision to send Jesus to crucifixion - received the answer from his wife, Claudia, that the heart sees the truth and if it does not then no one can help. This clearly implies that man's inherent nature wants to recognise the truth and support that is just. Yet men from time immemorial have glorified in their eternal quest for power and dominion and for this lust they have barbarically trampled everything in their way. And though it is nothing new, yet it never seizes to shock mankind whether it is the constant bombardment of the Palestinian people or the savagery in Kashmir. On day 13th of the Israeli aggression in Gaza death toll has reached at 700, out of which one-third are children. According to statistics, the death toll in Kashmir in 2008 had reached 47000. However, this does not include the people who disappeared during the insurgency. The question is: how much will it take to satiate the hunger and greed of a handful of men who have changed faces from time immemorial but their greed remains the same, out doing each other only in degrees of lust? Beginning with Hitler, Stalin and down to Bush, we have a list of blood sucking leaders to show us how the world suffers when individuals such as these are walking the earth. Whenever we think about this only one point remains certain that to counter the evil within man, the universe has created an equal opportunity for the other side of man to rise above the bestial self and reach the epitome of greatness. It only requires 'the purity of intent'. It asks for the submission of the self for the good of the multitude and not self-gratification. Is man ready for this test? The time is right and hardships are plenty. Its time to start caring for all we have and protecting the freedom we have been blessed with. This is the time to work so that we can leave a legacy for our children and not just misfortunes. The writer is a freelance columnist