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| A scene from Ezhattumukham in Kerala |
One of the most alive
characters I can mention without having to think twice is Zorba, a creation of
Nikos Kazantzakis. Even in his sixties, he possessed all the passion of a young
man. He sang and danced, made love, drank wine, and did not care much for the
silly politics of ordinary mortals and the gods of the same mortals. What would
Zorba answer if you ask him, “What does being alive mean to you?”
“To have the
stars above, the land to your left and the sea to your right…” Zorba would
begin. Life is freedom. Free to sing your own song and dance your own steps. It
doesn’t matter whether the song jars or the dance looks clumsy. Just liberate
yourself from all man-made snares like isms and religions. And live. Live your
life.
To have no
ambition and yet work like a horse as if you had the all the ambition of a
conqueror. To live far from men, not to need them and yet to love them. To be
able to stand with the land behind you and the sea in front, feeling the wind
in your face, and to enjoy the urge to fling all that you have achieved so far
to the wind… and move slowly to the realms of fairy tales.
I have
admired Zorba from the time I came to know him. I was in my twenties when I
read Zorba the Greek the first time. I read the novel many times later.
Now I am as old as Zorba is in the novel. I have committed a lot of blunders which
Zorba might think of as natural. At any rate, I have learnt certain valuable
lessons from most of those blunders. That’s what being alive is: learning
lessons from your blunders. Zorba would agree with me though I never possessed
his wisdom or even the potential for such wisdom.
PS.
A certain dullness of spirit is overwhelming me these days. But fellow blogger
Parwati Singari’s prompt - What according to you is being alive? #beingalive – became a gentle breeze wafting
from the sea…
PPS. This blog is
participating in The
Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa campaign.
While running behind the goals and ambitions we forget to live no?
ReplyDeletePrecisely. Obsession with conquests is the most serious threat to being alive!
DeleteVery true. Such a liberating post. We just forget about living while running after what we think is life.
ReplyDeleteIf people let go a few pursuits life would be great for them as well as some others.
DeleteIts very difficult, but that would be ultimate nirvana
ReplyDeletePerhaps not too difficult. But I can say with certainty that it took me long years to at least realise that I was blundering pretty much.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteAh Zorba - a favourite of my younger years too and you remind that it me that it may be time to reacquaint... YAM xx
I'm sure he will lead you to yet another new light.
DeleteIt's a refreshing and liberating post. Most of the time we chase mundane and trivial things but we think that's life.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely we need to learn lessons from our blunders
ReplyDeletethought provoking
ReplyDeleteSeriously, thought provoking . Great read
ReplyDeleteBeing alive and young at heart can be highly liberating. Thank you for reminding us of Zorba the Greek!
ReplyDeleteI now have Dean Jones singing Being Alive in my mind!!!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful, true it seems like we don't live. we run on a rat race.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful take on being alive and allowing ourselves to grow through life with all the flaws it had given us.
ReplyDeleteBeing on this constant hamster wheel, most forget what it is to live. To be alive. A thought provoking post.
ReplyDeleteFinding the meaning if being alive is one of the biggest paradox of life.
ReplyDelete'That’s what being alive is: learning lessons from your blunders.'
ReplyDeleteThis motivated me a lot.
Learning from our mistakes yet enjoying life that’s what being alive means. No one is living perfect life. It is going to full with happy and sad moments and that’s what gives us strength.
ReplyDeleteA very thought provoking post
ReplyDeleteWhat a thought-provoking, refreshing post. True that, in chasing the aimless rat race somewhere we have forgotten to live the life in real sense.
ReplyDeleteArchana Srivastava
archusblog
A post to think off! Learnign from mistakes is the best we could do
ReplyDeleteI am learning with my age and mistakes
ReplyDelete