There is something about a dispassionate honest comment. Something which shakes me from my laidback, lacklustre existence and provokes me, pushes me into a labyrinthine maze of utter clarity shining through the dusty, smoky confusion which is ever prevalent in my life. (Whoa ! what a sentence!"I" wrote it??)
This particular conversation like many others I have had with a wide spectrum of people struck me immediately the moment it was occuring. It was as if something profound was being said in the most simplest of ways, without a complaint, without remorse, without any real feeling. Like stating the obvious. Yet, a certainty we wish not to accede to.
My uncle, roughly 75 years old, told me "Our state is like a discarded furniture". He said it without fuss, as matter-of-factly as possible. And on my subsequent protest he backed it up with an argument I could not disprove. His logic was he has lived a life where he has done it all, seen it all and today he has no contribution to make, either in his family life or in his professional life, let alone his social life. So, why live further? In a queer way, it is reminiscent of Adolf's theory of extermination of unproductive resources.
Rationality was always a family trait. But to such an extent! I did not know what to feel. And since, in a conflict of the heart and the mind, I have, contrary to my wish, always gone for the mind, I could not but disagree with him.
Which is what makes me insensitive ?
It lead me to think of the proverbial question which haunts me intermittently and which many in their own right have tried to find an answer to. "Why am I alive now?" and "Why should I live after I am 60?". The answer to the 2nd question is fairly easy at this time - "cross the bridge when we come to it". But the first one?
My explanation is - It is pointless. There is no reason for me to exist. And this I presume holds true for most of us. Ask yourself "What is the purpose of your life?" If you get an answer, then well, maybe you might have an outside chance of having a reason to live beyond 60.
If you don't, then well, just mint money for the time being - we will talk of philosophy later,sipping coffee by the Riviera.
7 comments:
As it is, we lead such "dull, uninteresting, uninspiring, unexciting lives" (I quote your words to comment on your blog... kudos to my originality of thought)...
now, you want to question the point of leading such a life?
i cant make out what is your criteria for evaluating whether our existence has a justifiable point...
is it whether u r enjoying ur life as is and as such see no reason for questioning the point of it all? (the dont fix it if it ain't broken syndrome)
is it 'i'm useful to x number of people' and so, i exist for them?
is it 'if i am not here, some other equally useless bugger wud be existing in my place, so why not me?'...
btw, coffee by the riviera? why not French wine?
Having myself pondered over this question to no end, I adhere to a philosophy which I do not understand fully. And that is - 'The purpose of life is just living it' - no more. Live it whichever way you want, probably in the pursuit of happiness, or pursuit of money, or pursuit of making others happier, or in the pursuit of absolutely nothing. In my opinion, each way is as equal as any other.
Look up in the sky, think of this endless universe and you will know that you are but a tiny spec in this 'enormous result of a big bang explosion', ever so rapidly expanding into nothingness. And you think of purpose!
Pd:
That was a helluva comment. One of the best lines I have come across in quite some time. Thank you.
SRK:
Take any parameter, any - which you are satisfied with and ask the question. As of now, I am yet to find an answer. And I ALWAYS see a point in asking questions, irrespective of whether I get an answer or not. The day I lose that, I would cease to live. Or so I hope.
Someone once said: Since I have loved life, I will have no sorrow dying. He or she chose not to say 'lived', but 'loved'.
I think liveyourdreams' eponymous comment sums it up well.
Why should I live after 30? or 35? The question is as relevant or irrelevant now as it would be tomorrow, or ten years from now. Questioning is important, and make sure you live to do it.
In these relatively early years of your life, staying alive is a choice. And as one ages, it becomes a struggle. 'Been there-done that' can never embrace everything there is on offer.
Live to ask yourself the question every now and then. And to get to 60? Well, stay fit. Lets hope to see each other around when we get there.
Nithin:
Don't tell me that we won't have better things to do than meeting each other when we are 60 ! ;)
perhaps in this age...in the mad rush...we forsake a lot...and then you realise...an entire life has gone by...and you ask yourself...when was the last time i rushed out to greet the first rain,etc...i think 16 or 60...does not matter..as long as you have the appetite for life..the day you lose it...is the day you die..and so many of us walk around dead..
huh...
we lead such dull uninspiring lives... ok... so?
i would never agree that we should all have a purpose in life... why should we... after all who is going to acknowledge it... or does it matter that someone does acknowledge it...
the world has shrunk around us - not in terms the telecom or the transportation progress kinda crap, but in the concept of thought... we are now only concerned with a small world of people around us - us and our families... sorry that should be me and my family... and the others around us with whom we interact everyday are just resources from "which" we source our requirements - food, money, companionship u name it...
well that is just one way of looking at it... but life is short for such thoughts... now just enjoy it... we can go over such thoughts and compare notes on our achievements and purposes over the coffee on the riviera...
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