I am sorry!

How often do you get to hear this?

Sorry is a kind of a unique word in English - for it implies whatever damage the sorry is for, is already done. So, how the sorry is handed out makes enormous difference. It can be a formality - then it means nothing. If it implies that the person saying sorry has kept his or her pride aside in the process, it has tremendous implications and possibilities for healing past wounds.

Conscious leadership can bring a lot of change. It is a rarity, but I remain hopeful because of ad hoc happennings across the globe. One such event happened on 13-Feb-2008. It is wierd, I track such useless things, that when this happened, it went over my head. I learnt about this very recently only. This day ("sorry day") was when the PM of Australia, Kevin Rudd, apologized to aborigines, especially the "stolen generation", for forcefully separating thousands of children from their parents in an attempt to erase their aboriginal roots. As always, there were dissenting voices - but listen to the video below and make your own decision. A movie called "Rabbit Proof Fence" (there certainly must be other similar movies) depicted the real life story of an aboriginal family that suffered the stealing process.

I wish Obama offers a similar apology to the Native American tribes. The crimes against them were much more incisive. Anyway, the video below happened and is on record!