It all started with a small conversation with my father as a young girl of ten, on my way back to the boarding school. Dreading that a new semester would begin and so would my saga of love & hate with books. I chose to brush aside the thoughts of studies for a while and enjoy the mischievous wind that seeped in through the car’s window and softly played with my messy hair. Driving through the curvy roads of Assam was a treat in itself! Just as I had started to relish the road trip,my father decided to burst my carefree bubble dream and said to me ‘we have just one life to live and thus we must work hard to make it a memorable journey.’ I turned my head down and softly whispered ‘I will try.’ It continued to stay with me.
With years I had undergone a series of changes. I welcomed every change in to my life with an open arm. I recall names from the pages of books in college - Marx, Plato and Aristotle seem to call out from a distant land. I had grown to be dainty little brat who detested family occasions, the stupid pseudo political discussion popular among Uncles. Family tagged me as the ‘Wild child’ but I couldn't care less. There was a ball of fire burning deep within me and it irritated me. Life looked like a giant roller-coaster, there were highs and lows. While ‘high’ points of life ensured peels of laughter, the ‘low’ points would grab and strangle me. Life looked wasted but time tossed me out of that phase and I was happy to be alive and kicking.
As individuals we all go through the dark phase from where life looks like a mere joke and curse the very existence of it. Crazy as it may sound but life is like a spider’s web - intriguing, meticulous, difficult yet attracting us towards it all the time. The sacred Hindu scriptures of ‘Bhagwad Gita' has a mention of something similar "Every day, men see creatures depart to Yama's (Death’s) abode and yet, those who remain seek to live forever. This is the greatest wonder of life."
I do not want to contest the truth about ‘Life and Death' as it can bring incalculable joy yet potentially be malignant. However, I do know that each day I want to wake up to see the sun rise, feel the dew beneath my bare feet, the lady-bird quietly rest itself on my palm and then see the night take the entire neighborhood into its fold. These little bubbles of happiness does not cloud out the fact that there might be times where life can smack you hard. Indeed a Wonder!!!
2 comments:
It's been a long time since we communicated. I agree with this completely. I am impressed by your deep insight in matters of life and death. It shows a vibrant mind acutely aware of her surroundings. This profound questioning and seeking answers to the various abstractions make us the higher animal in God's world. The more we see, the more we learn and this generates a happiness which transcend the limitation of space and time.
Keep it up.
Rumadi
@Ruma di - Thank you so much. Though as mortals we may never find answers but it is our basic nature to keep prodding.
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