Skip to main content

What If I Told You We Float?

Today, in class, one of my professors narrated an endearing story of how his son clings to his feet every single morning, refusing to let him come to college. Thus, he has to take the back door and come all the way to the front to put on his socks and shoes and then leave unnoticed or he'd be late for work. In the hectic mind of getting to college on time, this act of his (three-year-old, I think?!) son might cause some distress and irritation in him. But he told us that at the same time, it is something he cherishes because he knows it won't last forever. There will come a time when his little son won't need his dad as much as he does now. And that is a fact that no parent in this world wants to come to terms with.

Now that I come to think about it, isn't everything in this world fleeting? Nothing we hold dear to our hearts has roots. They float. They float among us, aside us, above us, below us and inside us. We can superglue nothing to ourselves because nothing stays forever, no matter how much we might want it to.

There is a last time I fought with my grandmother over the TV remote, and I cannot do it once more for she has passed on to a place I cannot quite reach. I had this ever-favourite pink churidar that my mom bought me when I was ten, but I won't be able to wear it once more because it doesn't quite fit me at this age. The friend groups I had in seventh grade, and tenth grade, and twelfth grade were all ones I thought would stay the same forever but they didn't. Time passed. Priorities changed. And though I have occasional contact with most of them, I don't get to know them the way I did before. They all have become entirely different versions of themselves-  grown in the absence of my presence. There was a last time when we all hung out together. There was a last time when we had kulfi and fought over a bite of it. There was a last time we played 'BINGO' in class while the teacher was up front talking about trigonometry. There was a last time we thought our bond would stay exactly as it is, despite the changes in circumstances but life eventually slapped us right across our faces and showed us- no. No matter what, everything- every moment- every second we want to freeze and frame- it'll slip right through our fingers and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

But in my opinion, that is exactly the true essence of human life- the fact that everything changes- the fact that nothing is of permanence. We do not know the extent of our lives. We do not know the extent of the lives of the people around us. We do not know for how long in their lives that those people would actually stay with us. We do not know for how long of our lives that we would remain in theirs. We know nothing. Because we are not rooted. We float.

As I write this, I'm reminded of this one quote by Brad Pitt (who plays the character of Achilles) in the movie 'Troy', and I'd like to conclude with that-

"I'll tell you a secret. Something they don't teach you in your temple. The Gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again."





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Significance of Jo March's Monologue in 'Little Women'

'Little Women', a classic novel by Louisa May Alcott was adapted into a movie under the direction of Greta Gerwig (one of my absolute favourite directors of all time) in the year 2019. It portrays the lives of four sisters- Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy- navigating love, aspirations, and societal expectations during the Civil War era. The film beautifully captures their individual journeys and the evolving dynamics of sisterhood. Jo March, who is the second of the four March sisters, is the protagonist who aspires with every fibre in her to become a well-acclaimed writer. It's even more interesting how the character of Jo is actually based on Louisa May Alcott herself, making the story sort of a semi-autobiography. Played by Saoirse Ronan, Jo is portrayed as an extremely independent woman, challenging the gender roles and the restraints placed upon women in society.  Even though the whole movie is something that strikes the very depths of our hearts, there is one particular monolo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lost in the Waves

Beaches have always been a favourite of mine. It's almost like the sea calls my name, beckoning me to embrace its folds. To throw myself into the waters and have no care in the world is something too special to me. Because when I'm neck-deep in there, I'm nothing. My weight against the force of the waves becomes irrelevant. And I'm not just speaking of the weight of my body but of my heart too. In fact, I think my heart is far more heavy than my body ever will be. After all, it is a museum of everything I have loved and lost and loved again. And the artefacts within it weigh down on me- it makes me slump my shoulders and drag my feet while I should be floating around with ease. It makes even the easiest tasks undoable. But the moment I step into the water, I'm free of it all. Maybe it is an inherent nature of mine- to dive into something that is ragingly unpredictable. But rage is so dear to me. Unpredictability is so dear to me. It's something I've grown up...
Post a Comment
Read more

Academic Burn Out

I used to be someone who was at the top of her class. I've always had a rank above five till my ninth grade. It's not that I felt pressured to study that hard but people appreciated me best when I did. And I craved that appreciation and validation from my parents, teachers and relatives, even if it meant unending sleepless nights and constant stress. I wasn't particularly exceptional at any co-curricular activity or sports event. I was just in the middle of everything- not that poor but not that good either. Studying was the one thing that people accepted I was really good at. So I did everything to keep their beliefs intact. But in my tenth grade, academic burnout hit me and it hit me hard. I felt like I was literally draining myself too much. I lost the will to study. I barely passed my model exams. Tenth grade is believed to be a turning point in every single student's life- the phase where they're supposed to work the hardest. But I couldn't focus. I couldn...
Post a Comment
Read more