Life; as we fondly call it; what does it exactly mean? Is
it the days, months and years that we have lived and that we hope to live in
time to come? Or is it just the moment
that we are in, the moment that is NOW?
Be it the collage of the database built from years of being
alive or the moment that is NOW; it still has many faces in it besides our own.
There are the friends, the parents, the coworkers, kids, spouse and many. Some
right next to us and some at the corner of the frame; but they are there. And
then some who are way too close in some pictures and way too far in the others.
The collage that life is cannot complete without these other faces. The other
faces of those who are our own, in some way. They are the universe that we are
the center of, and they make us what we are and what we will be.
Now envision if the face that is close to us in that bunch;
may be the closest and not only in one picture but in many, spanned over years.
So close that many times it almost mixes with our personal image. We can see a
part of our own in that image and a part of that someone in our image. And one
day if that face just moves away. Taken away by distance, disease, death or
divorce; contemplate how that will change our image of our self in the collage
going forward.
Can the places where our image has merged with theirs be
whole after that? Would that leave scarred lines where it held together? Would
it pain when touched in those areas? Would it heal? Would it be shaded over by
some other image or some other color over time? And would it leave a scar that
never fades away? Contemplate; is the
life what we are ourselves or is it the “me” in a sea of others who make it we
and then the world. Think if one of those is altered would that world still
stay the same?
Again this thought like many others are passing in the
mind. Why am I thinking this? My reasons are my own. I look at the collage that
I call as my life and look at all those faces that are near me in many frames.
Almost all; and then some faces that came and went and some that stayed in the
far corners. Amongst all these the thread is woven to make the fabric of life.
One thread pulled and the fabric will be torn. It will necessitate to me
mended. Even after mending it may never be whole. I look at the collage again and vow to each
of those faces that I will be careful to protect the fabric and many of us are
woven in this together.
Life…. I am not sure what it means. But I remember the
dialogue from Kung Fu Panda; “Scars don’t heal; wounds do”; “then what happens
to the scars” Kung fu panda asks with childlike honesty; and with the same
honesty he replies to his question without waiting for an answer, “may be scars
fade” I am sure underneath some faded scars the pain persists as those are
scars left from where the life was torn.
Life is precious; so is every single face in that collage. That is all that I can say about life.
