Purpose

Purpose...

When a child is born parents, relatives and friends rejoice while the new born wails not knowing why ... However, when he/she dies, does it remain the same? Do the same people laugh? I guess not. The simple reason being the loss of a human being... a friend, a relative, a son, a daughter....

The purpose of writing this article is to discover the "Purpose" of existence... of being born... of having done something... of having achieved something. Hindu dogma maintains that when people pass away, they don’t die, they only depart to meet the Maker. Their names live on forever through their good deeds. Think of the last time you heard an eulogy. As people pay their respects, the most common or customary things talked about are the little acts of kindness performed by the person during his lifetime. This is the time people realize those little acts of kindness mattered to all and meant something to them.

When Alfred Nobel died, he left behind a legacy. He got in touch with his feelings, redefined his values and dedicated his existence (life) to the purpose of human kind. His life may not have mattered as much to him as it does to us all today after he is long dead. Today, we honor him every time a Nobel Prize is awarded to outstanding achievers in various walks of life. It is the imperative that he realized to introspect within that made the difference. We need to reflect the same thoughts in us to know our values, our existence.

I would like to reflect a couple of things that happened a year ago. It was the last day of a tenured employee of the company I worked with. Of all the things that he said, the admonition of the urgency and the need to have a purpose in life struck me, and struck me real hard. It was then I realized we have strayed in the process of change. We were becoming and to my agony have become greedy and inconsiderate seeking immoral pleasures out of our complex life and ever changing lifestyle. He meant every bit of what he said- to know the purpose of life - to do something right. Another incident was when a friend in College emphasized on the theory of relativity. I only have to say that people who believe in this theory actually get stuck in their own paradox. They only hypothesize upon the pretense world of their existence, of the "me" generation and situational dying ethics.

The other day when the Indian contingent lined up to play their final match in the ICC World Cup, I could feel the pride in each one standing alongside another as the National Anthem began. It must have been gratifying and sheer delight of each player to represent themselves for the nation. That was the purpose they were seeking and they justly deserved it.

Values such as responsibility, integrity, commitment and patriotism are considered obsolete and moribund by some. But these definitely have been reflected time and again in New York, New Delhi, New South Wales. It is these values that are and will remain universal. Let us all begin with the little things that make a difference. Let us find a Purpose and make the same Purpose the centrifugal force that direct our lives. Let us look within and stop pondering about a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Let us have a purpose explicitly defined in our minds.

 

Cheers!