The Code of living

Barely, the sudden loss of million’s heartthrob Sridevi had fizzled out from the minds of people that the whole world is gripped again with despair, anguish, and intellectual vacuum with the passing away of the iconic Stephen Hawking. Luminaries in their field of endeavor, they had touched the lives and souls of many…in subtle and extraordinary way….and now, the whole world has come together to remember and commemorate their lives. That’s “life” that comes live after death!

Thanks to the proliferation of social media that gives a chance to everyone to express their feelings, to pour their hearts out before millions! Leave aside celebrities, it’s not an uncommon sight at any common man’s memorials to witness making an idol of the deceased with tributes, dotted with praises. But, what about the person who has left this world to God’s abode? S/he does not even register all these praises, eulogy and goodwill! My request to god would be to give some time to each one of us so that we can be cherished of our presence by others’ endorsement before we leave this universe. Perhaps a couple of days, as a dying individual, is fair enough to reassess our own deeds when we are on the verge of leaving this universe. Probably, very fewer people will talk against a person’s negativities, who is all set to leave this world anyway, still holding onto the dictum that ‘Don’t speak ill of the dead.’. But, the process will certainly give individuals a boost and leave the world on a high note for themselves. Bereavement is a process and the near ones must live with it anyway. And maybe the god or the caretaker of the lives can also choose to be flexible on how many days can be assigned to each individual before their scheduled final voyage, based on their merits served on the earth!

The attainment of superstardom, celebrity status, the endless number of patents, publication, honors and so on, still has a materialistic value attached to it, even though it has helped transforming mankind technologically, socially, economically etc. In reality, such assessment at the end of the journey is not so much about specific materialistic accomplishments but how consciously a human committed and dedicated self towards serving a need beyond the personal desires; something larger than self. These are the small things in life, that make someone great.

Not necessarily every one of us needs to strive for such a massive success but we can count our fans to at least more than one, who could be proud of our presence on the earth!

The lines by Voltaire may ring a bell in the minds of many…"To the living we owe respect, but to the dead, we owe only the truth."

So, my appeal to all those who are reading this is to “do something good” for “someone” and hopefully that “someone” is different every time and expectantly the “doing good” is not at someone else’s expense. Then only, we can build a better world with one world family- “Vasudhaiv kutumbakam.”

I could not be more accurate to express my present sentiments than through the words of poet C.J. Heck:

Picture Courtesy: Queryhome GK

“….I want to know, without a doubt,

I've left something of me behind,

something that's good,

not regret,

for never making a difference.

When I close my eyes

for the very last time,

 I would like

 someone to remember

 ... I was here.”

RIP Stephen and Sridevi.

Amen.

Thanks J for the edit.

© Subrat