IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

The news of death of 28 year aged son of one of my senior day before yesterday, shook me from inside. Such news of sudden demise of someone who were fit & fine just a few days back, is no longer an element of surprise now for us, since this dreaded SARS Covid-19 Virus has come into existence. During last one year, loads of people have lost their near and dear ones due to this pandemic, just in a blink of an eye. Their pain is just beyond the imagination of the people like us, who are fortunate enough to have not experienced such unbearable agony so far. God forbid! No one has to face such trauma in his life! But in the prevailing situation, God knows, whose term is the next !

Actually, life is so mysterious & treacherous conundrum that, even if everything becomes normal, we never know, how long someone are with us or vice-versa for how long we are with others. As someone has very rightly said that:

‘’मौत का इलाज शायद हो भी, जिंदगी का कोई इलाज नहीं है’’ I

So, can we afford to wake up with the regret tomorrow? Can we afford to carry grudges in our hearts about anyone? Can we afford to turn a blind eye to anyone who used to be our closed ones, just because something trivial happened in the past? Can we afford to have remorse for not breaking the ice to mend the relationship with our family, relatives or friends who turned hostile for some or other reasons? Can we afford to have a guilt for the whole life that we didn’t performed our duties towards our parents, grand-parents or not giving sufficient time to them, which we are supposed to do, due to our busy schedule or whatever may be the reasons?

I think, we can’t afford to turn a deaf ear to such crucial things. God forbid! If unfortunately, someone with whom we have broken up or failed to discharge our duties we ought to do, departs, we will be carrying the guilt for the whole life & perhaps will not be able to forgive ourselves. Absence of someone is felt the most when he/she is no more and you feel like doing something for him/her now, which you didn’t.

In fact, we all are not the cat who has got all nine lives, particularly, in this covid era, nobody knows how the life will take a turn. So, isn’t it the right time for us to go the whole nine yard to break the ice and mend the things which have got broken in the past. Isn’t it the right time to bury the hatchet to everything which turned bad & start a new beginning? Isn’t it the right time to speak our heart out to someone you love or like the most but never expressed our emotion to him/her. Isn’t it the right time to acknowledge that we have done something wrong to any of our loved ones so far but no longer make it happen to prolong it further? Because if by chance, anything unpleasant happens, we will be left with nothing but to repent for the whole life.

In fact, I’m too an introvert type of person by nature, who hardly take initiatives to even make a phone call to my family & friends, even if I’ve great affection & respect for them, for which I’ve always been acutely criticized, which is a but natural. Further, I’m little bit an egoist too who take pride in reciting quotes like:

‘’हम यूँ ही किसी का एहतराम नहीं करते, अगर जमीर नहीं कहता तो सलाम नहीं करते’’ I

But, in the end, does such type of ego really matters? Sometimes, doesn’t it seem good to say sorry to someone just to hold that relationship alive, even if you know that you have not done anything wrong to say sorry for that? Such types of questions rush in my mind quite often & perhaps I also know their correct answers but hardly act to correct myself, because to correct something, you have to do something, just thinking would not suffice.

Here, I recall a very nice quote which says that ‘’don’t just think, but do whatever you want to do’’.

I very much empathize with this saying, but just in thought not in action & so not of any use. I think there must be so many people like me who think more but don’t take initiatives to turn them into reality. But the fact is that, life may not give us a second chance and so we can’t take a chance to mess up with any of our kith and kin whom we care from core of our heart but are on edge with them due to some differences on any particular issue.

At this juncture, won’t it be better to have an attitude of letting go, even if somebody has hurt us and saying sorry, if we have hurt somebody, so that we don’t have to regret & carry the burden of guilt throughout our life, if unfortunately, someone leaves us suddenly?. I believe that ‘winning is not always happier’, 'sometimes loosing gives more pleasure than winning', particularly, when you lose from your loved ones. This is my personal view which certainly may differ from others. But I like this type of attitude. In fact, in my opinion, life is not such a thing which should be taken selfishly but it’s about how you touch other lives & contribute to make your parents, family, friends & surroundings happy, even if you have to compromise and take some pain for it. That’s why some one has very nicely said that:

‘’तुम रो कर भी अपनी ख़ुशी छुपा न सके, मैंने हँसते-हँसते सारे गम को दावा लिया’’ I

I think, this should be the perfect attitude towards life. But it’s easier said than done. One has to be ready to bite the bullet and take a call to restore the things which went wrong in the past. The work is of course not so easy but if we wish not to go with the affliction of rue, we have to leave no stone unturned in the effort of re-engineering our relationship, specially with our loved ones.