The Eternal I

Kajal Chatterjee *

Though in personal domain, I remain at the furthest distance from all sorts of rituals; still my heart feels a bit heavy in remembrance of the departed ones.

A man passes away. The man is gone, gone forever, never never to return in our fold to grace the planet. The only thing that he has left behind is nothing but trails of memories.

The noted Algerian writer Mouloud Benzadi pens
"When the pretty birds have flown/
And you feel hurt and alone/Be strong and carry on /
And remember that life goes on"!

Yes, absolutely true. Life globe nature continues to go on in its own pace despite personal tragedies which was felt by Rabindranath Tagore also.

While travelling in a night train few days after the death of his young son Shamindranath, Tagore noted how the moon continues to shower its beam on the world and how the nature remained absolutely unaffected despite the absence of his son reminding the unfortunate grieving father of the laws of life ie move on and move on.

Nobody can vouch for the existence of the soul, but there lies no doubt that such a thought indeed applies a balm to the heart as if the deceased parents are appreciating our respect and in turn blessing us just as they had done throughout their lives when alive.

But much greater tribute can be paid to the departed ones by traversing the path of life through their ideals and following their deeds which were noble.

Now whether their is "life" after death is merely a conjecture and nobody can vouch for that with proof; but the thing which is beyond any sort of proof is that the concerned person had existed and breathed on this earth - - be it for 40 years or 80 !

Now do we necessarily do justice towards them when alive! Do we often take them for granted!

Do we always feel their pain and treat them with empathy so as to lighten their burden or grief!

I am not so sure whether I had indeed rendered them justice in moral terms!

But time and tide waits for none and I will have to live with much pain throughout the lifetime by getting reminded of many anecdotes where I could have fared better as far as treatment and behavior towards the deceased are concerned. But life moves on and there lies no utility in crying over spilt milk.

The faults and deficiencies in personality can still be corrected so as to play a better innings for the rest of the lifetime by drawing inspiration from the eternal lines of Rabindranath Tagore as if our favorite ones still exist in every morning in another form-
"Who is it that says I am not there that morning? /
You will call me by a new name/
And I will come and go as usual – the eternal I"