An Interview with Thomas Easaw

1. Why do you sing?

I sing because I believe that for whatever I am worth, I should try to change the world around me to the extent  I can. World peace cannot be thrust upon anybody like it is trying to be done today. It should come out of a realization that justice has been done or at least that it will be done at a future date. There are certain unpleasant truths that, both the oppressors and the oppressed, the terrorists and the terrorized need to realize and correct in order to achieve this. So I sing.

 2. If what you expect is change, why sing?

As a humble and unknown citizen of the world, I doubt if I could reach you through a book. But I am given to believe that you will never close your ears to stop yourself from hearing me through a song. I believe that a song, as a combination of ideas, words, music and voice is a medium, which is the most effective to introduce the thought process for change. So I sing.

3. Why a song about a war which actually does not concern you?

My writing a song on the Iraq war is a request demanding justice without giving up self-respect, and also without hurting the aggressor to the extent he deserves. Rather than being pained by the audacity of the US President, making obnoxious statements after statements, claiming divine approval for his actions, I am more puzzled by the subservience exercised by most  other nations sitting through this condescending ordeal of threats and insults fearing action or sanction. So I feel it is my responsibility to grope the opportunities and resources that I lack, to circumvent the obstacles that are naturally inherent and to bring out my deepest voice in a holler to support my deepest beliefs. Who knows, my songs may change the perception of at least a few. 

4. Are you Anti-American?

Till the 1st of January 1863, the United States of America was like any other selfish western nation who believed in killing & displacing natural inhabitants around the globe, for the sake of gain and supremacy. But since the Emancipation Proclamation, America has been a great beacon of freedom & liberty, even though they have taken almost a century to really start treating people equally. However their contribution to mankind, during this period of transition, in terms of ideology has been considerable and for decades America has been a destination haven for a lot of free minded people from around the globe. When things are thus, how can I be anti-American? But of late, the fact that one father & son duo, as Presidents of the United States, having tarnished the great American image to a shape beyond recognition, is painful for a person like me, an unknown citizen of the world.

As far as I am concerned I am neither for America nor against it. I am trying to speak up for justice especially for those who can't speak up for themselves or for those who are misunderstood and misinterpreted when they try to do so on their own.

Even though, I strongly defend America's right to work for the betterment of mankind, I also wish that America would respect every man's right to work for the same or at least leave a little room for debate as to what is really better, than unilaterally impose itself on others

5. Do you support terrorism?

No, absolutely not. Neither solicited nor unsolicited terrorism. Terrorism in any form is deplorable.

6. What do you mean by solicited and unsolicited terrorism?

A group of people, with or without much of an ancient background, bogged down by a loss of family values in their loose lives of excesses and vagaries, wanting every other citizen of the world to be similarly bogged down in an effort to justify themselves, attacking other civilizations tens of thousands of years old with sexual immorality and materialism as the principal weapon, appealing to the basic instincts of the ordinary man with the utterance of words like freedom and liberty with no mention of  justice, enslaving him in corrupt practices for life and intimidating the cultural values & survival of every other civilization on earth are the real terrorists, and this cultural conquest of the world is real terrorism. This is the real terrorism theory.

A group of people with no mandate, trying to resist this invasion in the interest of their beliefs (whether right or wrong), which they believe they are entitled to in their part of the world, and trying to impose them on the majority or minority in many ways, with terror as the main ingredient is unsolicited terrorism.

An elected government of some country in some part of the world, imposing their ideologies (right or wrong) on an unsuspecting innocent majority or minority, in their own area or elsewhere on the globe, on whatever intentions, and unilaterally using awesome military power based on the dubious intelligence recommendation of some of their own home maids/ home guards, killing millions of people without the slightest regret and all the elected governments around the world refusing to raise even the littlest of their fingers against this mother of all terrors nicknamed as the "War on Terror" is what I am given to understand as solicited terrorism.

7. Are you trying to justify Muslim terrorism?

No, I am not. Man tries to justify whatever he does. If he boozes, he claims that it is the right thing to do and enumerates its merits. If he womanizes, he has even more reasons to justify himself and prove that he is doing things more rightly than anybody else. If he is corrupt and takes bribes, he proves with his ill gotten wealth, how money can speak clearly and loudly for him. If he is born outside wedlock, he tries his best to justify and propagate it, than to consider it as unfortunate.

But one thing that we seem to forget is that a wrong thing done or repeated or voted in favor by a hundred thousand people will not make it right. But it is the ordinary man's tendency to justify his actions with the knowledge and resources that he has.

How many of us can look at the event, detached from it, and honestly admit that a certain thing was a mistake without justifying it? How many of us can humbly say that it is my weakness that is making me do a wrong thing rather than justify it?

Ever since Jesus Christ's teaching, "Let the one who has not sinned, stone" was misinterpreted, man has lost his freedom to make mistakes. If he makes a mistake then he loses his eligibility to take the speck out his brother's eye (with or without the log in his own) and this is slowly turning the whole world blind.

That somebody else is wrong cannot be a justification for our wrongs. The actual truth is that both are wrong. That some Muslims are fanatic in one way cannot justify the West being fanatic in another way.

This viewing of things, detached from the event, is the "Detached from the Event Theory".

8. In your song why have you accused the President of the United States of considering the dollar more precious than honor?

That the dollar is greater than honor, is the "Pseudo Economic Theory".

Like the rich and intelligent have used the stock markets to loot the unsuspecting common man, America has used the dollar to conquer the world, and now conquers the world to protect the dollar.

Even though many may disagree with me, the stock markets are actually a venue for government sponsored gambling and the trade goes up and down on speculation & manipulation. But since this has been a baiting trick of all aggressor nations of the last two centuries, this particular form of making money without working, has become popular and acceptable among the lazy rich around the world, and has been nourished by every man's basic instinct to earn a quick buck even at the risk of losing everything. Even the people rated as the richest on the worth of their stock holding, will not be worth even a hundredth of their ballooned image, if they really wanted to sell it. But somehow our entire economy runs on this fallacy. And I am sure that this will continue only till such time, the little boy makes the king realize that he is naked & what a fall that will be.

Similarly the American economy thrives on the sheer fact that the dollar is the international currency. The huge borrowings from many countries and the budget deficits clearly indicate to this fact. If it were not to protect the dollar, why would some country in some northwestern continent on the globe want to have military bases around the earth? Why would they want to police & interfere in the internal administration of every other country, send their military on false intelligence reports around the globe, even take the risk of sacrificing their own personnel, if it were not to protect the dollar? I believe that Iraq was attacked only to scuttle their attempt to trade oil in Euro. I challenge, that if the international currency is changed to any other currency, the American economy will burst like the balloon it is.

9. Your song "The Request" sounds more like a threat. Is it really so?

No. It is only a request. But somehow, hundreds of years of unjust rule on this planet has given a general impression that a request should be always on its knees. Most people do not understand that the right to justice is as fundamental as the right to live. I believe that sometime during the course of this century, it will become common parlance to quote that justice is my birthright and the least I will do is to demand it rather than beg & plead for it. My song is only an honest, straight & humble request, but without bending my knees. 

10. Are you not a fool to believe that your songs can change the world?

Indeed I am. But I am sure that I am not alone.

11. In your album you have spoken a lot about justice. Why?

What man needs is justice and nothing else, is the "Justice Theory".

He does not need capitalism, communism or communalism and when justice is in place, everything else will be in place.

Justice for only the rich is capitalism and justice for only the worker is communism and justice for everybody is the Justice Theory.

From time immemorial, man has been in the pursuit of food, clothing, shelter, security, love, faith, comfort, knowledge, recognition, fame, wealth, supremacy, equality and freedom - when what he actually should have pursued was justice.

Justice and not freedom, as popularly believed, should have been a man's birthright - for my freedom ends where your freedom begins.

Justice, as I define it, is my freedom, rights and responsibilities peacefully co-existing with yours.

For centuries, we have remained divided on the basis of creed, greed and freedom. For once let us all unite for the sake of justice and for peace ever after.

But if justice has to be delivered properly and promptly, some fundamental changes  are required to be implemented because the Law around the world as of today is an evolvement of the law of the kings and feudal lords, which always had an unjust favoritism to help the rich and the powerful. This is what the songs "The Lawyer" and "The Judge" is trying to convey.

Just because corruption is everywhere, does not mean that everybody is corrupt. The very fact, that the earth still spins on its axis without fail or falter, is reason enough to believe that the good forces are still in command. I believe that the propriety of the judiciary should not only depend on the goodness of the judge, but on the goodness of the system, so that justice can be expected of it as a right. The same applies to the executive and the legislature also. But my intention is beyond pointing out corruption. I am trying to suggest a solution and the Justice Theory offers it.

12. Why have you spoken about the judiciary?

Let me please make it clear that I have no intention to hurt the judiciary. My very statement that an accountable judiciary has to be held supreme is clear indication of how highly I respect it. As a citizen of one of the greatest democracies of the world and one of the freest countries in the universe, I have every right to believe that justice is my birthright and in an effort to establish this I am standing and speaking up for it, fully aware of my fundamental duty to work for reforms and the betterment of mankind. I believe that we have to redefine our justice delivery system in its purpose and function and so I have made these propositions on justice and liberty with a firm belief that these proposed amendments will touch every facet of the law and every facet of mankind. I believe that the Justice Theory would be the right solution.

13. What do you think is the greatest injustice?

Adding law after law to evade accountability for the legal profession, thus making the Law unimaginably complex and incomprehensible, then expecting even the commonest of men to know all the aspects of this complexity and holding him responsible for the ignorance of it, while excluding the legally learned ones of accountability, is indeed the greatest injustice.

14. Your other songs are more philosophical than political. How do you think it matches with your "Justice Theory"?

My Justice Theory has evolved from my basic, elementary, unsophisticated and straight thinking. Most of us seem to complicate our lives with unnecessary sophistication. My original endeavor was to teach myself and to teach the people around me, to think straight and simple. And so I have penned my simple but different points of view on every subject that has disturbed me.

15. Do you have any political plans? And do you believe in any political theory?

No, I don't have any political plans and as the author of the Justice Theory, I believe in the Justice Theory than in any other political theory. In today's context to be political means to be regional  and I refuse to be regionalized.

I have always believed that I am a citizen of the world. But more than a citizen of the world, I am an Indian. More than an Indian, I am a Malayalee. More than a Malayalee, I am a father, a son, and a family man. More than a family man, I am I, I am Thomas Easaw and I take a lot of pride in it. I hope that someday everyone would similarly take pride in themselves and the world would definitely be a better place.

Love yourself first and then love your neighbor like yourself. This is the crux of my philosophy. 

16. What do you mean by "Love yourself first"?

Love yourself first and then love your neighbor like yourself, is the "Love Yourself First theory".

It is the world's most fundamental and basic fact. Everybody loves themselves and loves themselves the most. But only few admit it. If everybody had the courage and sense to humbly admit it, the world on its own would have been a differently better place.

I believe that if Jesus Christ had himself written the Bible, he perhaps would have categorically stated, "Love thyself first and then love thy neighbor like thyself." But unfortunately, the Bible being written from hearsay, by people claiming to be followers, with no surety of guidance from the Holy Spirit, and the Bible being a compilation of whatever books and letters that were available at that point of time, cannot be taken as the last word on Christ, but only as an indication of the essence of his teaching.

The Bible was used by most western nations, to belittle the people and philosophies of most other nations and was used as a title aid to conquer the rest of the unsuspecting world. How could a wrong interpretation of Jesus Christ's fundamental teaching have anyway conquered the souls?

Unfortunately, not just the Holy Bible, the Holy Koran and the Holy Gita have also fallen into the hands of unscrupulous elements as a tool for the attainment of their goals. How these people interpret the sentences of the holy books with emphasis on various punctuations, creating crusaders, jihadis and karsevaks, for the sake of power and profits is clearly depicted in the song "The Trap"

We often have a feeling that happiness is achieved at the end of a strenuous effort or suffering. This has been because right from ancient times there has always been a perverted tendency to compare most things to sexuality. Happiness is not a climax. It is a continuous feeling and a state of the mind. Most philosophies and religious streams project sacrifice and penance as the central theme and that is why we have very few great people like Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Theresa. But when projected on the "Love Yourself First Theory" and when given the freedom to admit that simple truth of self love, loving one another becomes as easy as loving oneself and every man would be a great man.

17. If loving yourself is the right thing to do, why are you complaining when America goes to war for the love of itself?

Loving yourself only is different from loving yourself first. Why it becomes mandatory to love yourself first is because you are expected to love your neighbor like you love yourself. Not loving yourself and then trying to love your neighbor like you don't love yourself is the root cause of all evil.

18. Do you believe in God?

I do believe in God. But I do not know who He is, how He would like to be addressed (as Father or Master), what pleases Him & what He expects of me, if at all He expects anything. I have no idea if there is heaven or hell, whether there are angels, whether the crooners of Hallelujah will be rewarded more than the doers, whether the flatterers of God will be punished for sycophancy, whether it is duty or morality that counts more and how the selection process works, if at all there is any.

In short and total, I do not know God. But 40 years of life on this planet, gives me reasons to believe that He probably knows me.

"I do not  know Him, but may be He knows me" is where my understanding stands today and this is what I call the "Factual Ignorance Theory".

Somehow, something as simple as this has been complicated to somebody's convenience/gain like all the other  things of today.

19. What do you think is the role of religion?

Religion is a methodology of worshipping God. This is not to be confused with belief or faith in God, which is mostly a personal relationship. Like we talk on the same subject in different languages, we worship the same God through different religions. This is the "Methodology Theory of Religion".

Why this understanding is important today is because, what started out as a war for oil or against terrorism is now on the brim of the Last World War between two great religions. It is high time that both the oppressor and the oppressed, the terrorists and the terrorized, realized that it is not really worth killing or dying for the sake of any religion.

20. What is your song "The Search" trying to convey?

Most people have a tendency to look outward and around for help, in times of need or otherwise. This song asks them to look deep inside themselves for strength, courage and the answer.

When you ask somebody for advice, even though his experience helps, his decision will be based on his own strengths and weaknesses which may not match yours. Moreover, his involvement in your problem will be for a few minutes, whereas yours is 24X7. The advice should only be taken as a different point of view while the decision should be yours. Where are you heading without exploiting your own infinite source of strength and courage?

21. In "The Search" you say "Expect the worst." Then follows the song "The Optimist".  Isn't this contradictory?

Expect the worst and the worst will never happen to you, is the "Expect the Worst Theory".

The first step of being optimistic is to assess the situation at its worst. Once at home with the worst, everything else will be an improvement. Then onwards you will have only one way to go, i.e. up.

Pessimism, of course is a retardant, but optimism is a killer. But when you have already assessed the situation at its worst, praying and hoping that the worst will never happen to you - at the same time enjoying the sunshine of today, waiting for the dawn of tomorrow, fully aware of the fact that life is running short - then you are an 'expecting the worst optimist' and it really works.

22. What does the song "The Beggar" say?

Written against the tendencies of suicide,  this song is a clear demonstration of the "Expect the Worst Theory". The crippled beggar and his zest for life, is enough material to out shadow anybody's problems and inspire them. 

23. Why do you call the song "The Reminder", as unusual?

Because, unlike all my other songs, which are requests, this is a threat.

More than a love song, it is a guiding beacon for people devastated by unreciprocated love. Life is not worth giving up for somebody who will not give it up for you. This is what happens when you love somebody more than you love yourself. So love yourself first and you will be promptly reminded.

The Justice Theory, The Pseudo Economic Theory, The Real Terrorism Theory, The Detached from the Event Theory, The Factual Ignorance Theory, The Expect the Worst Theory and The Methodology Theory of Religion are authored by Thomas Easaw  & The Love Yourself First Theory is an explanation of the teaching of Jesus Christ as comprehended by him.

Copyright Thomas Easaw