Oft hearing of the poem ‘The rebel’,  I was curious to understand the meaning of the word and the context in which it is used. This is a word that I have heard being used extensively by people, to attribute the ‘rebellious trait’ to an individual who is thought to be displaying it. What the poem says made me think if everyone who does things differently, is a rebel.

So who then is a rebel?

– He / She is a person who doesn’t obey rules / authority / law  and thinks and / or acts differently than most people in the society.

– They rebel because they want to change things

(Dictionary meanings from Google aunty :-))

Coincidental or strange – whichever way one looks at it.. The moment thoughts of penning a blog on this topic emerged in my mind, quite a number of people I conversed with,used this word in the conversations (and I didn’t initiate the usage of this word in the conversations:-)).

The more statements I heard, the more I thought that this is one word that was being used by different people, that does not conform to the meaning of the word. Unknowingly it may be but thats also rebellion ain’t it!!

Some statements I heard, with the word rebel being used..

– I don’t go to the temple and I don’t do puja but I believe in the super power. I believe in the power of the universe. People call me a rebel for not following tradition.

– I keep saying that I don’t want to get married the traditional way but would like a simple marriage. Some relatives and friends say that I am rebelling for such small things. Small for them and big for me..

– I can’t eat the previous day’s food because the thought of it makes it unpalatable for me. Everyone in my house eats it. People tell me that I am refusing it for the heck of it and not to be a rebel.

– Some of my friends go for a movie – first day, first show.. I think it is too much of a noise and too much of a crowd and don’t want to go. Rebel is what I am called because I don’t do what the others are doing..

– I work in a corporate house and there are days when the ladies in my team decide to drape a saree. I am not comfortable draping one and when I choose to wear a traditional outfit, I am chastised for not following the ‘code’.. ‘Rebel’ is the label I get..

When I heard these statements, I thought that many of these statements don’t follow the definition of a rebel. That is also because there is no law that is in place that determines how to get married or belief in god or going to a movie or following a dress code.

What is not legally binding or authority binding is based on the desires and wishes of people wanting to do it in a certain way. Just as some people want things to happen in a certain way, some have a different way of doing it or not doing it at all. There may be no intent to rebel or better still no reason for not doing it; just that they want to do it in the way they would like to. It isn’t easy to accept that people want to be different from ‘what is the code’!!! It also isn’t easy to accept why people want to be, ‘what is the code’

I was doing some reading up on the word rebel, when I came across the term ‘passive rebel’, meaning – opposing what is laid down but peacefully. This reminded me of  many people I have met who don’t follow what is laid out as a wish and desire. They will not overtly say that they won’t do it; but will either covertly or diplomatically not do. Some smilingly don’t do it. Many times passive rebels go unnoticed :-).. In fact, these are the ones who need to be noticed and not those vociferously saying that they won’t do :-).

In one converation, someone said it beautifully, “If we look deep down into ourselves, each one of us will know that we are a rebel in our own way – sometimes overtly and sometimes covertly. It may not be against law or authority. It may just be to establish ourselves and to do what we like to do; and nothing else. Because we aren’t doing what most others are doing, we are labeled a ‘rebel’.

If what we would like to do becomes the ‘law’ in the space we are in, everyone who doesn’t follow it, is a rebel..

If others decide that what they say is the law in the space they occupy, anyone who doesn’t follow it, including us, is a rebel.

And each one of us is a law unto ourselves!!! And each one of us is a rebel unto ourselves, silently or loudly!!