“The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther
The strangest thing about this journey is that it begins with a word. A word that confines within itself the entire physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual existence of a being. The one where we do not consciously remember when we came into existence, but our subconscious stores the fond memory of our first awareness of us, in mother’s womb. Our blooming form gathers the memories of taste, smell, touch, sight, and sound through the various senses and experiences of the one who carefully nurtures the life form within herself. We taste the food she eats; hear the music she listens; feel the physical forms she touches; smell the fragrances she comes across and see the world through her eyes. We begin to fathom that this is our world and the very extent to our existence.
But no… There is a whole world outside this bliss.
We open our eyes for the first time and see a different world around us, somewhat familiar and yet so different. We come into existence in this physical created world and our parents are the means to bring us into this biosphere. In their unflinching, undying, and selfless love during the growing years, we start believing that we are their world. We chuckle when we see our mother’s eyes following us as we take our first step gingerly. She is proud and worried at the same time. We gloat in the pride of our father when he sees us utter our first words. We see the loving family around us and start believing that this is our universe.
We start growing through the stages of human existence. From the vital infancy to the playful childhood and then the imaginative, inventive days of later childhood. Our world seems to be growing along with us. We begin to reason everything around us as we set out in the direction of human existence bound by the norms and criteria as projected by our near and dear ones. We feel so proud when we see our parents happy with our achievements in various fields. There are set goals and we are headed towards achieving them. The first excellence certificate in school, that first concert in guitar performance, the cricket medal in the inter-school competition. A great sense of accomplishment as we step into the passionate adolescence and start questioning our parents and their ideologies. We want to break free but do not know where we want to go. These are the tumultuous days of confusion, strong sentiments, and self-discovery. It leads us to our youth where we begin to find a balance in life. We strive towards achieving economic gains, emotional stability, and a sense of independence. We feel we have figured out our purpose as we begin to interact with the proposed reality. We feel responsible and committed as we slowly move to the hardships of adulthood.
Now we feel much more in control of our situations, decisions, and objectives. We create a circle of family, friends, and people around and mark our successes through the house, car, and job that we attain. We create our values and principles which become the pillars of our character. We feel secure and superficially happy. Slowly as these material gains begin to fade in priorities and we descend into the physical deterioration, we realize we have reached the dusk of our perceived reality. We have raised family, established a work-life, benefitted society as we see it. In our benevolence, we embark upon the course of passing on our wisdom and experience to the next generations, so the continuum of the cyclic process goes on. It is now that we start living in the present and quietly reflect on our past.
Have we fulfilled the purpose of our existence as a human being? Have we valued our status of being alive all this time and explored the immense possibilities that the lifetime had to offer?
Have we ever tried to connect with the real self and the expanse of the world around us? In the haste of merely existing, have we really lived our lives? We are the living form of ourselves and the word that started our journey into this dimension is ‘life’. A life that holds within itself all the elements that have created the universe. ‘I am only a tiny part of the entire cosmos that is alive in its own way. I have not authentically experienced the lifeform that was bestowed upon me, but I only ended up playing a part in the cyclic genetic process which is repetitive in nature.’ All this while we have been chasing the meaning of life and not living it meaningfully. We want to walk back all over again and rediscover ourselves. We want to take some time off the busy childhood days to experience the blissful nature around. Amidst the vibrant adolescent stage, sometimes we want to sit silently and ponder over many things. We wish to travel and explore far and wide places in the adulthood and embrace the abundant ecstasy that the natural world has to offer. We want to enrich our soul and build and cherish beautiful memories for our physical self so that we could pass on the same to our future generations. We want to connect to the other natural life forms around us and consciously care about their coexistence.
But is it too late? Isn’t it true that the real meaning of life cannot be measured only in years? Life can end at any time, whether it is childhood, puberty, or old age. Therefore, to consider only old age as the measure of end of life and to think that only a few years are remaining, is not right. Around life and consciousness, one should continue to live a meaningful life. And we would cheerfully do so and, in the process, we want to look back and tell our tiny self, ‘Indulge in experiencing the magic of life and don’t get lost in merely living in the logic of it!’
About the columnist
An HR-turned-Author, Entrepreneur, Speaker at the Times LitFest, IITs, and IIMs, and an honorable Jury Member at the Kashiyatra IIT BHU, Jyoti Jha is a proud winner of several literary awards and accolades. Her books have garnered much appreciation from readers, prominent media houses, and the literary fraternity. She contributes to both Hindi and English literature.
