Light without gravity burns. Wisdom needs weight.

The coffee shop was loud.

Not with conversation, but with notifications.

Every table glowed blue from screens. Fingers scrolled faster than thoughts. Opinions flew like sparks, colliding midair and vanishing before they could warm anything.

I was stirring my coffee when Karma sat across from me.

No dramatic entry. No divine thunder.

Just a quiet presence, like gravity you only notice when you try to jump.

“People used to blame ignorance on darkness,” Karma said, lifting the cup.

“Give them information,” humanity once believed, “and wisdom will bloom.”

Then the lights came on.

Everywhere. All the time.

Search engines. Feeds. Podcasts. Courses. Opinions compressed into reels. Truth sliced into thumbnails.

And something strange happened.

Wisdom didn’t bloom.

It flooded.

“The problem,” Karma continued, “was never the absence of knowledge.”

It was the refusal to carry its weight.

Information is light.

Responsibility is gravity.

Most people want illumination without obligation.

Light without pull.

I watched a man at the next table shouting into his phone.

Breaking news. Half-verified.

Another woman reposted outrage before finishing the headline.

A teenager nearby quoted philosophy he had never practiced.

Knowledge everywhere.

Stillness nowhere.

“Information today,” Karma said, “is like a knife or a gun in the wrong hand.”

The knife is not evil.

The gun has no intention.

But when the hand lacks character…

Power multiplies foolishness.

A man with little knowledge can cause little harm.

A man with infinite information and no restraint can burn civilizations.

Once, skills created warriors.

They trained their bodies.

Their breath.

Their fear.

If they fought, they bled.

If they lied, they were seen.

Honor demanded skin in the game.

Today, capability builds war rooms.

No battlefield.

No blood.

No accountability.

Only dashboards measuring rage, reach, and reaction speed.

Wars are no longer fought for land.

They are fought for minds.

“We trained swords with discipline,” Karma sighed.

“But we handed information to the undisciplined.”

That’s how propaganda replaced philosophy.

Influence replaced inquiry.

A coward with Wi-Fi now defeats a warrior with courage.

Outside the café, the road was dusty.

Garbage spilled near a newly built flyover.

Traffic moved like a confused argument.

Degrees everywhere.

Civic sense nowhere.

Education increased.

Character evaporated.

“We built institutions,” Karma said.

“But forgot to build citizens.”

Once, cleanliness was admired.

Not envied.

Not mocked.

Not suspected.

A clean street was collective pride.

A disciplined person inspired others.

Then admiration turned into jealousy.

If everyone cannot rise, society lowers the ceiling.

Cleanliness became elitist.

Discipline became oppression.

Integrity became inconvenience.

So dust returned.

Not first on roads.

First in minds.

“People now hide identity for bread and butter,” I said.

Karma nodded.

“When survival becomes expensive, conscience becomes negotiable.”

Who am I?

Slowly changed into:

What can I afford to be?

Masks multiplied.

One for office.

One for social media.

One for survival.

None fully human.

Earlier, identity shaped capability.

Who I am → defined → what I can do.

Today it is reversed.

What I can do → defines → who I am.

If I can manipulate, I’m smart.

If I can escape consequences, I’m successful.

Capability became god.

Character became optional.

Gen Z didn’t reject skills, Karma explained.

“They were raised in a dopamine economy.”

Why master slowly when virality arrives overnight?

Why wait when shortcuts trend?

Skill requires boredom.

Algorithms punish boredom.

So quick wins replaced craftsmanship.

Sugar replaced protein.

“But quick wins don’t compound,” Karma said softly.

Skill does.

Skill builds spine.

Skill grants sovereignty.

Without skill, humans must perform endlessly.

That exhaustion you see everywhere?

That’s a generation running without roots.

The coffee had gone cold.

Around us, screens kept glowing.

Light everywhere.

No gravity.

“Dharma was never religion,” Karma said, standing up.

“It was weight.”

Weight that taught power to kneel.

Speech to pause.

Knowledge to serve.

When gravity vanished, information became weightless.

Weightless things don’t build civilizations.

They create storms.

Before leaving, Karma turned back.

“Darkness was never the enemy,” he said.

“Irresponsible illumination is.”

Too much light.

Too little weight.

And that imbalance,

is far more dangerous than ignorance ever was.

I finished my coffee.

Outside, the world scrolled on.

Still glowing.

Still loud.

Waiting—not for more light—

but for the courage to carry it.

☕✨