25 April. It was a cloudy morning as I walked into the medicine ward of the hospital, and I was greeted by a rather usual scene.
An old woman was sitting on the floor towards a corner, crying hysterically. Beside her there was a young woman, about her daughter's age, whose face looked very sombre. There was a middle-aged man next to them, who was also weeping while talking on his cellphone.
One needed no further explanation - it was clear that someone had died a short while ago. However, apart from the three of them, the rest of the corridor appeared absolutely unconcerned about it - it was, like I said, a usual scene there.
Now, contrast it with the death of Nelson Mandela last year. Mandela, I believe, needs no introduction - he was a father figure to the millions he had liberated from discrimination. His funeral was attended by most of the prominent world leaders and about 80,000 other people. It was declared a national holiday; and it is certain that he shall be remembered for a really long time after his death.
Both of them were humans of flesh and blood, and both of them were given a resting place beneath the earth where they shall be reduced to nothing but bones - yet one was mourned only by his immediate family, yet another was given a farewell by the entire world. Why, may I ask, does the world show this brazen duplicity?
We humans are a funny lot. All our lives, we strive for ourselves to be more accepted. Does that girl/guy like me? Do people think I am weird? Is my facebook profile picture going to get enough likes? Yet, what's going to happen when I turn my back? Everyone knows that in the end, one thing is absolutely certain - we're all going to be reduced to ashes or bones or something else - depending on how our kin and customs choose to dispose of us.
Then what was the fundamental difference between those two people? When you die, would you like the aftermath of your death to be described as a usual scene, or as an event which a sizeable number of people are going to remember?
In the course of our existence upon this planet, we meet a lot of people and do a lot of stuff - some for ourselves, some for others. We make varying impressions on a lot of people. You don't have to be a world figure to do that. A doctor who's saving lives. A construction worker who's building houses. A comedian who's giving people a good laugh. A writer who influences people. A bus driver who slows down so that the man running behind can get in on time and won't get fired by his boss. A brother who gives his sister a warm little hug when she's down. A mother. Some of our impressions on certain people are so deep that they become an integral part of our lives - most are not so profound, but still good enough to make a change.
In the end, life just boils down to the people whose lives you touch - small or big, whichever way possible. Make sure you're not the one mourning at your own death. Make sure you don't end up with a lifetime in which you're lying all alone on your deathbed and wondering 'dude, people are gonna remember me, right?'!
An old woman was sitting on the floor towards a corner, crying hysterically. Beside her there was a young woman, about her daughter's age, whose face looked very sombre. There was a middle-aged man next to them, who was also weeping while talking on his cellphone.
One needed no further explanation - it was clear that someone had died a short while ago. However, apart from the three of them, the rest of the corridor appeared absolutely unconcerned about it - it was, like I said, a usual scene there.
Now, contrast it with the death of Nelson Mandela last year. Mandela, I believe, needs no introduction - he was a father figure to the millions he had liberated from discrimination. His funeral was attended by most of the prominent world leaders and about 80,000 other people. It was declared a national holiday; and it is certain that he shall be remembered for a really long time after his death.
Both of them were humans of flesh and blood, and both of them were given a resting place beneath the earth where they shall be reduced to nothing but bones - yet one was mourned only by his immediate family, yet another was given a farewell by the entire world. Why, may I ask, does the world show this brazen duplicity?
We humans are a funny lot. All our lives, we strive for ourselves to be more accepted. Does that girl/guy like me? Do people think I am weird? Is my facebook profile picture going to get enough likes? Yet, what's going to happen when I turn my back? Everyone knows that in the end, one thing is absolutely certain - we're all going to be reduced to ashes or bones or something else - depending on how our kin and customs choose to dispose of us.
Then what was the fundamental difference between those two people? When you die, would you like the aftermath of your death to be described as a usual scene, or as an event which a sizeable number of people are going to remember?
In the course of our existence upon this planet, we meet a lot of people and do a lot of stuff - some for ourselves, some for others. We make varying impressions on a lot of people. You don't have to be a world figure to do that. A doctor who's saving lives. A construction worker who's building houses. A comedian who's giving people a good laugh. A writer who influences people. A bus driver who slows down so that the man running behind can get in on time and won't get fired by his boss. A brother who gives his sister a warm little hug when she's down. A mother. Some of our impressions on certain people are so deep that they become an integral part of our lives - most are not so profound, but still good enough to make a change.
In the end, life just boils down to the people whose lives you touch - small or big, whichever way possible. Make sure you're not the one mourning at your own death. Make sure you don't end up with a lifetime in which you're lying all alone on your deathbed and wondering 'dude, people are gonna remember me, right?'!
Thanks a lot to Scintilla Magazine for publishing this article of mine in their November 2015 edition. You can read it here.
© Scintilla Magazine
I really like this post, especially the second last paragraph. We all have so many opportunities to touch people's lives, and we take them so lightly, because it's one person and not a million. But that one person is important too!
ReplyDeleteHaha yeah. Glad you liked it :)
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