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| From Garden of 5 Senses, Delhi [file pic] |
Hindsight gives an unearthly charm and order to the
past. There can be pain too. A lot of things could have been different, much
better, if only we possessed the wisdom of our old age back in those days. As a
writer put it, Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear and a lot of those guys must have thought,
“I wish I had known this some time ago.”
Life is a series of errors with intermittent
achievements. The only usefulness of the errors may be the lessons they teach
us. Probably, that is their purpose too. We are created to err so that we learn,
I dare to put it that way.
I turn 64 in a month’s time. It’s not
inappropriate to look back at some of the people whom life brought into my life
so that I would learn certain lessons. No, I don’t mean to say that life has
any such purpose or design or anything. Life is absurd. People come into your
life as haphazardly as vehicles ply on your road or birds poop on your head.
Some of these people change the chemistry of your life.
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen blend
together to form sugar. None of these elements has any sweetness and yet sugar
is sweet. The chemical bond formed by these elements gives birth to that
sweetness which individually none of the elements can ever have. Some people
are like that: they enter your life and create sweetness.
Many people are quite the opposite. These
elements which combine to form sugar can make slightly different combinations and
become deadly poisons.
I have had a fair share of both:
sugar and poison in life. I know I was also sugar in some people’s life and
poison in the life of more perhaps. I guess life is like that. Inevitably. If
only I had learnt some lessons earlier in life, I could have been more of sugar
and less of poison.
I take part in Blogchatter’s AtoZ challenge every
April. The challenge is to write 26 posts in April with the theme of each successive
post corresponding to the 26 letters of the alphabet. Some of my previous
attempts ended up becoming e-books. If you’re interested, below are the links
to them and they are all free.
1. Great
Books for Great Thoughts
This time, my theme for the challenge
is: Friends and others – portraits. Each post will present one
person who played certain significant role in my life at some time. The idea is
to benefit from my hindsight. The idea is to look at certain people from as
benign an angle as I possibly can so that the poison they produced in the chemical
reactions of life may now be seen from a different perspective with the benefit
of hindsight. Most of these people will be referred to pseudonymously. Only a
handful will have their real names in the posts. And I don’t intend to tell
which name is real and which is not. What’s in a name?
My schedule is too packed leaving little time for blogs. But still I don't want to discontinue the Challenge. I too will be there. Will look forward to your posts.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're there too. Look forward to engaging with your posts.
DeleteRelatives also contribute a fair amount of poison in order to make one's life hell.
ReplyDeletePerhaps more than friends 😅
DeleteBut it's better to keep them away from your writings if you want peace.
What's in a name indeed. Love the theme. As always, looking forward to your posts. All the best for A2Z!
ReplyDeleteThanks. People are fantastic, whatever the names.
DeleteExcited to read your posts!
ReplyDeleteExcited to read your posts!
ReplyDeleteBe with me 😊
DeleteThat sounds like a very interesting topic. I look forward to your posts.
ReplyDeletePeople are generally interesting!
Delete//None of these elements has any sweetness and yet sugar is sweet. // What an interesting analogy. This set's up the stage rightly for the A2Z. Your blog is going to be a treasure hunt for us, the readers. All the best to you. See you in April.
ReplyDeleteWill be delighted to have your 'sweet' presence around.
DeleteIt's such a lovely theme. Looking forward to read your posts.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're there with me.
DeleteBest wishes!
ReplyDelete