One Life

-
"I don't take things for granted, because everything feels more fragile. It's made me wonder about mortality and how long you've got somebody in the world. I'm more fearful than I used to be." ~ Robin Gibb

     Over decades and centuries mankind has progressed, socially and culturally. And now, we question God's prowess through our actions, empowering ourselves in decisions pertaining to life and death. I've not turned over a new leaf by re-organizing my faith or delivering sermons. It's just that the past few days have left me disturbed and distraught.
      For over a month, my access to the newspaper and news channels were limited. Initially, it left a vacuum from my daily activities, but I was at peace with myself. Since the time the services have resumed, I've made it a practice to read the news as soon as I'm up everyday. And everyday, I read about my fellow beings taking their own lives. Is the human life following suit with the Indian Rupee?
     I've not been a farmer in rural India, indebted to wolfish money-lenders. I wouldn't understand the pain and grief that runs through their veins or the moment of madness that results in handing over the dues to their family. But by ending their lives, do they render a favour or complicate things further? In the pursuit of achieving greater heights in their next birth (in India, everything is associated with previous or next birth), don't they cause sacrilege for their current one?
      Quite recently, even the previous illustration seems old-fashioned. The current trend is to commit suicide with the pretext of having lived a content and meaningful life. In short, to avoid further hassles in life, choose the path of cowardice. A couple, educated couple end their lives in Goa. Adding a note, "We have lived a very eventful and happy life together. We've travelled the world, lived in different countries, made more money than we ever thought possible, and enjoyed spending as much of it as we could on things that brought us joy and satisfaction. We believe in the philosophy that our life belongs to us and only us, and we have the right to choose to die as much as we have the right to live."And it makes the news in style. Someone writes about a resemblance to Darwin's theory of evolution.  For their parents who are alive, it's a blemish that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. We fight against feticide, to grow up a generation that doesn't respect the value imbibed in their lives.
      Before I end this post, I wanted to introspect. About a sexagenarian unable to find a kidney donor. About the millions who fight every second, minute and day of their lives in order to live the next one. Wouldn't suicide be the easiest option for all of them? Are we setting the right example for our future generations? Perhaps, they might not even look up to us as the ideal role models.

"If all human lives depended upon their usefulness - as might be judged by certain standards - there would be a sudden and terrific mortality in the world."

P.S: I intended to add about a 12-year old who set herself alight for an argument with her mom.

P.P.S: A reminder that Corruption is not our biggest worry - about a 15 year girl who was impregnated by her classmate.

Comments

  1. RamakrishnanDecember 15, 2011 at 1:56 AM

    IMO suicide is not so easy. It too needs a lot of courage. When you don't see any chance of comming out of a trap/bad situation you tend to think of ending at all one go rather than being hazardous to others.
    Only when you experience the situation, you would be able to agree to a persons decissions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Travelling TimesDecember 16, 2011 at 11:12 PM

    @ramu - Sure, it ends for you, but what about the people who have lived, cared and sacrificed everything for you? Do they follow your steps?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Travelling TimesDecember 16, 2011 at 11:14 PM

    @ramu - how do u define a 10-year old's actions? An act of courage?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Time and Tide – Sorry, I’m late

-
Image
     “Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.” - Evelyn Waugh.      Someone once remarked that IST was originally an acronym for Indian Stretchable Time. Are we Indians so bad when it comes to respecting (more likely disrespecting) the value of time? Read on to unveil the greatest myth of the new era.      The discovery of time was the biggest mistake. Why do we need a device to measure (and magnify) our slowness? A large sect of today’s population has the notion that if you're there before it's over, you're well on time. And it’s true to a large extent. The reason being that no one important is ever present to appreciate your punctuality. As a kid, my teachers emphasized on the virtues of character, punctuality, discipline and etiquettes. Strangely enough, I’ve reported to half a dozen people in my corporate life. And only one of them stressed on punctuality (do I have to provide an explanation for the rest of the...
Read more

Romancing the language

-
Image
" I know such English that I will leave the British behind. You see sir, I can talk English, I can walk English, I can laugh English, I can run English, because English is such a funny language. Bhairo becomes Byron because their minds are very narrow. In the year 1929 when India was playing Australia at the Melbourne stadium Vijay Hazare and Vijay Merchant were at the crease. Vijay Merchant told Vijay Hazare. look Vijay Hazare Sir , this is a very prestigious match and we must consider it very prestigiously. We must take this into consideration, the consideration that this is an important match and ultimately this consideration must end in a run. In the year 1979 when Pakistan was playing against India at the Wankhede stadium Wasim Raja and Wasim Bari were at the crease and they took the same consideration. Wasim Raja told Wasim Bari, look Wasim Bari, we must consider this consideration and considering that this is an important match we must put this consideration in...
Read more

Stop and Proceed

-
Image
“When real people fall down in life, they get right back up and keep on walking.” - Michael King This post has been on the backburner for over 6 weeks now and the drought has no correlation with my current location, 14,305 Kms (8,888 mi, can’t disappoint my negligible reader base in the US of A) away from home. 9 months; this length of time has never been more significant in my life. Do we remember our childhoods? Yes, to a certain degree. I remember most parts of my life since the time I was 3. Not every single day, but the significant aspects of it. But do we remember how we learnt to walk, to run and perhaps, to jump? I remember my first race. I had to run to one end, put my cap on, run back and pick up my bag, and finally run to the finish line. I even remember my prize, a disposable Kodak camera. As I stood on top of the pedestal, I felt light. Over the years, my parents would joke that the wind helped me get to the finish line quicker than everyone else. In an ins...
Read more