Friday 10 April 2015

The Last Frontier

A Reflection Note from Manoj K Sharma:


The silence in the cremation ground broken by the sound of the cricket calling its mate, the sound of water flowing in the stream, the yellow flowers in full bloom, the overflowing fields of paddy stretched out till where the twain meet, are all so full of life, so vibrant, so alive that it  makes me wonder does life actually cease? Does it end? I know not. 

Seemingly a life ends; the wailing of dear ones is audible. Next door maybe the first cry of a child is heard, the people are joyous. Is it the end of one life and beginning of another or the continuation? I know not.  Let the Gunijans,  Gyanis, Dhyanis, ponder over it, let me live this present moment for this is what life is about. 

Why should death be sad? One day it will surely come. So let me live life to the fullest. Let me eat, drink, be merry, dance, flirt, build  and break relationships, make and break hearts, love and  be  loved, cry and laugh and why not? Why be scared? Live life consciously, conscientiously, make mistakes, make corrections, do para gliding, river rafting, climb trees, swim in the  ocean, run on the beach,  share a  peach, live out fantasies. A log house covered with snow, the sound of crackling wood in the fire place, soft music, piano playing waltzes, the smell of freshly shampooed hair, the bright smiling eyes, the tinkling laughter, the roses strewn all  around, the  beautiful  smile, the warm embrace. And why not? Let me love, let me live. 

Let me be with my people, the communities I work with, help them, make them smile, wipe their tears, walk with them, hold their hands and assure them that I will be there for them! 

If I have not loved and lived, why on earth have I come in this world for?

Sometimes I reflect back  over the times I have lived through, who have I hurt, what  had I said, what I shouldn’t have said, what  I should  have listened to, what I should not have not  listened to? I feel like a bird out of a cage sitting on the branch of a  tree looking  at the yonder hills where the wind seems to be flirting with the leaves. Reflecting back on the previous day, previous week, months, or years left behind, far behind, travelling through the journey of my life.  It is a strange feeling, a strange indescribable phenomenon. How far have I come, how far have I left to go, sometimes come into  my mind, but then softly like a gust of wind passes over as if whispering “this is what life is about”. A journey seemingly directionless at times, seemingly moving in a direction, but slowly with soft footsteps like ripples in the stream it carries on and on.  

Even this too shall pass and then……. 

It has happened before and will continue to happen when I have prayed lifting my hands above, “Oh lift me as a wave, as a leaf, as a cloud, I fall upon the thorns of life I bleed”. At times I have felt as if I am floating like a cloud, a leaf, a wave experiencing bliss.  

I do not know but if I could I would put a tomb stone on my grave to say “Here lies a  man who lived his life to the hilt. Who loved and was loved. A satisfied man. A happy man. A crazy man”.

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