Will to Live

The end came too suddenly, and no one was prepared for it. When I received a telephone call from the college, least did I think that the caller would shock me with just a four word sentence : He is no more! For a moment I could not say anything, I could not get anything, as to what to say. I had a personal chat with him just three days earlier, and now I am told he is no more! What could have happened, I wondered, even as I took a few moments to gather myself to handle the situation? I had to go to the college to see the man, who was alive just a few minutes ago, but now lies dead on the bed, and have to wait for our house physician to certify that he is dead. Even as I rushed to the college, my heart and mind said that something had gone wrong somewhere, and we have lost him.

Fifty seven is not the age to say goodbye to this beautiful world, and what is worse this man did not want to leave this world so soon, and he had a great desire to resume normal life again, but we had not given him a chance. There was a blame-game even as he lay dead, just an hour after his departure, that he should have been careful when his liver functioning was becoming strenuous, that he could not blame anyone for the situation he was in. I made a few frantic attempts to tell the senior man that it was not the time to blame the man who now cannot get up to defend himself. I would not say that this young man could fully justify himself for the way he handled his health some years ago, which led to the destruction of both his kidneys, but his past was something that could not be undone… Unfortunately in life very seldom do we have the option of UNDO, as in any Windows based programs.

The tears that I had witnessed welling up from his eyes just three days ago were haunting me to say that our negligence was also responsible for this sudden departure of this man. I feel sad for him because he might not have guessed that he was going to leave the world so soon. There was no sign that he was getting mentally prepared for the end, which was beckoning him. Even as he interacted and complained to all those who mattered about how his situation could be salvaged, one thing was certain, he was slowly giving up the will to live. This was quite obvious from his conversation with me. He had zest for life, and he would do anything to retain life, even if that means walking out of the way of life he had voluntarily chosen some thirty five years ago.

When he told me three days earlier as I went for a meeting with two other friends of mine, that he wanted to have a chat with me, I had told him that I would meet him after our meeting. And when I returned from our meeting, he led me to his room, and opened up his bruised heart to me. The barometer of his will to live was already sinking to the dangerous level, and I could only guess that he holds himself strongly and boost this energy. As I walked out of his room that day, I only told him not to lose hope, and was not sure though if I sounded convincing enough. If his will to live had sunk so low, I feel that we were responsible for it, and there is hardly anyway how we could undo it. We have lost one of ours, who did not deserve to leave so soon.

Even as he struggled with the impending death, and the inevitable, there were some who were trying to support him, giving him the much needed boost to stay alive. Reality did not match with the sweet words of the people who were responsible for taking his case forward, and that was painful for him. At his sudden demise, these people were heart-broken, and did all they could in order to give him a beautiful farewell. People were generous to give their time and energy to take him gently to rest with the embalmers, and prepare the place for a memorable funeral service. I only wish he does not smile and whisper in my ears, I only wished you people paid this much attention when I was struggling with life during the last few months! Fare thee well, my Brother!

The Fire-brands

I am amazed to see how some people are full of energy and vitality even when they have crossed the threshold of a successful career. Some used to say there is no retirement for the people with a zest! They might be tinkering the coffin, even after being buried, because they cannot keep quiet even for a minute! It is a joy to come across people of this category. Mind you, I am not talking about workaholics, who believe in working for the sake of it, but am referring to the people who enjoy the work they do. They are, as it were, married to their job, and would forego a meal or even biological need in order to get something done!

We often come across the people of the other category too, people who do not believe in giving their best, but be satisfied with the minimum they are expected to give. These are the dead bodies, walking on our streets, they have neither life nor vitality. They would delight in eating, sleeping, gossiping and indulge in everything that is unhealthy and harmful to oneself and the wider society. These people are the one's who become a pain in the neck of the people of the former category, and alas, if you get one of this type as your partner! Your life will be ruined within weeks or months. Before you change them, they would have converted you to their company!

Life can be a lot of fun only when we get into what we are busy with; it may be a silly routine job, or a highly creative process. It is the same with people who know how to turn each moment a magical memory! Some of the modern day messiah's have proposed one way of getting the best out of life. Take for instance, Eckhart Tolle, while proposing the Power of Now, has invited us to dissociate ourselves from the mind by savoring the present moment. Being present to the every moment can make us realize that life is not just a fleeting instance, but one which can make a dry stick bloom with a thousand blossoms! For these people, even deserts will be covered with oasis all the stretches!

The universe still has a breed of men and women who can defy nature and time, and contribute their little mite for the benefit of the world. These are the people who stop aging, and their biological clock as a matter of fact, moves in reverse. To come in touch with even one such person is like a piece of iron coming into the presence of a powerful magnetic field. You get drawn to, and it might be too hard for the iron piece to get out of the magnetic field. While being in touch with magnetic field, the iron too is magnetised, and when it leaves the magnetic field, it carries with it powerful magnetic current, and that can change the world around!

I call such men and women modern day sages and saints, who have the potentiality to change the face of the earth. It is possible that the world can boast of only a negligible per centage of men and women, who can ignite the lives of others, who can set the world on fire. The men and women with zest for life, are the treasure house of any society. It is not what they do, which nourishes the society at large, but their very presence is enough to inject new life and vitality to all around them. Such people never experience death; they only pass from one phase in life to another, and even their memories are sure to spread the magnetic field far and wide. The aura of their sanctity is the food for the world today!

Setting the World on Fire

If there is one thing that I envy the men and women of yesteryears, it is the fire that they carried with them wherever they went. They were often men and women always ablaze... they were men and women who could dare the impossible, and thank God, the world we live in had been shaped and domesticated by their hard labour. That is precisely what the present generation lacks: a zest for life; a fire that is always aglow, which can burn the ashes the hardest of rocks. The modern advancement in technology has made us timid, fearful, and complacent. A certain amount of mediocrity has set into our daily routines, and that is dangerous to the existence of the very world we live in.

There are fearless men and women in our society, but probably we can count them with our fingers. It may be time for us to pause for a while and think what has made us so timid, and lifeless? In the past, men and women managed to achieve a lot more without proper and adequate means, and today with all the means, we are not able to produce equivalent fruits. What has gone amiss? Why are most of our people are walking corpses? They have neither the enthusiasm nor the motivation, and no wonder they find themselves burden to the universe, and find ways of ending their lives in cowardly acts.

The world needs men and women with fire; the term 'fire-brand' men and women today can be seen only in museums. We had men and women who could stand stand defying the guns and rifles of the British during the Independence movement, and today even a shadow of a tree in the darm is enough to drive us mad. What is left in the world is the ashes of the fire that kept the world alive, and if we keep digging the ashes, we might find ambers, a spark or two, with which we may be able to light up the world anew. To dig the ashes is a dirty job that not many would be willing to comply, but unless we do that, even the ambers that lie quietly for us to find them, may soon vanish into thin air.

Let me present two spiritual persons who had that indomitable zeal to set the world on fire from two different traditions : Swami Vivekananda from India and Saint Francis Xavier from Portugal; there are such amazing parallels between these two gentlemen, the first lived at the end of 20th century, while the latter in the later part of 16th century. While Vivekananda set the Western world on fire, Xavier set the Eastern world on fire... both in their own way. Both of them died more or less at the same age, of 41. The beauty of these men is that their legacy is continued by countless men and women across the globe. The fire that these men ignited continues to burn in the hearts of millions today. Today I need to think I am also called to light up the life of at least one or two in my own surroundings. If all of us were to think so and make it a point to realise that dream before we breathe our last, we can truly be proud of passing that legacy to our posterity.

We have nothing to worry, even if the fire is gone out, because we have a handful of Prometheus, the true fire-brand Greek god, who stole fire from Zeus and gave to humanity. Today our prayer is to these Prometheus is to set our hearts on fire, fire that can ignite the whole world... the words of some of the fire-brand men and women of the past still echoes in my heart and mind : go, set the world on fire! But how can we set the world on fire, if we do not find the fire deep within us? If we are men and women who are burning with zeal and zest, confidence and enthusiasm, we will see that without our knowing we are warming up the world around, and soon see the world brightening up... I finding myself in perfect unison with the world around, and life is so very spectacular and splendid... is this not heaven on earth?