Nightwind’s home

I was taking a questionnaire from the British Council the other day when I stumbled upon a question that read something like this: “Who do you consider has influenced your way of thinking the most?” and then, a box to write some names. Now that is an interesting question, isn’t it?

It’s a fact that we as we are today, have been shaped throughout time by all the events, books, people we met and so on … everything contributed to what we’ve become, the Self we are today. But can we pinpoint a source of greater influence? I don’t think this can be done with precision, so I paused to think for a moment. Who would I name?

There are a few people that I can truly consider my mentors …

Mohandas ‘Mahatma’ Ghandi would definitely be the first on the list. I’m sure you all know something about him, his philosophy (the Satyagraha) and how he helped shape modern India and the World itself. His immense power, his non-violent ways have been an inspiration to many, including myself.

Next, there is the political analyst Noam Chomsky, which derailed into a strong leftist view, yet his power to see the things to come is yet unrivaled and I’m sure that if more leaders would listen to him, we would have taken a great step towards that mythical ideal called peace.

The former-everything (formed Irgun, former elite commando, former publicist and editorialist, former Knesset member and so on) Uri Avnery comes in third with his constructive principles for a lasting peace in the Middle East. There’s no greater expert in the failed policies of Israel than Uri Avnery, yet the media blackout around him is there to show how much of a threat his former Knesset colleagues consider him to be. His plan for peace includes building a true democracy in Israel instead of the jewish fundamentalist state, grating the right to return to the 1967-war refugees and withdrawal from the Occupied Territories to allow the formation of the new state of Palestine.

But … my last choice came a bit of a surprise to myself as well. The Game of Syree. Can a game like this have that much influence? Apparently so, since I was tempted to forwarding it to the first place. And why not? The best of my English was learned there. Much of my interest in D&D and fantasy sprang from there. I have learned a lot about people there and it definitely helped me to hang on to some of those human values that one can’t see in human right. Voluntarily or not, I began to believe in many things there and as I feel it, it was all for the best.

This is just the beginning but … it’s amazing.