Why do I post my picture when I do a blog post? I think that is the safest bet and I don’t need to attribute it to anyone except my family who take them for me. For this one the attribution goes to my son who does not really like me using the school drop off time for my little social media run. His issue is not about taking a picture. His problem is that I hurry him and when it comes to taking a picture I have all the time in the world. He has a very valid point.
But what is time after all? It is something that we know is over the moment we think about it. Or at least that is how we mortals seem to feel it. We know that this ‘time’, ‘our time’ in this world will come to an end. We all live on maybe in memories for a bit more. Some people live on through what they have done in the world. Is ‘living on’ after our time in this world is over really that important? What is the point in people remembering us after our time is up if we have not been connected with them while we were here.
I don’t live to be remembered, but yet I sometimes feel so worried about memories. Whether people forget you or remember you or despise you or love you after your time is up should be immaterial to you…. right? It matters to only those who are still around.
Maybe that is why we all try to mend ways with someone whose time is going to be over. Maybe that is why we do not speak ill of those whose time is over. Even if they have only done bad to us. why? Maybe because it is of no use anymore. Or is it?
I think we should be honest about people whose time is up. If we did not like something they did we should be able to say it. Maybe we do not say it because it can cause sadness to those who love them and feel their loss. So we are not even worried about the one whose time is up, but only of those who still have time left. Time is important only when it is there and not when it is over. Just being Human.
That takes us to the fact that for many of us when we think about the time that has passed we are also reminded of the time that is left ahead of us and available to us now. The other day I was thinking about the time I had been working since I graduated. It is going to be 30 years. That is a lot of years for someone who is just starting off.
If I am allowed the mental and physical faculties for long enough I think I can have another 30 years of work ahead of me unless my fuse is out before that. Yes I might start flickering before that. But even with some flicker we still have some power to keep burning.
80 sounds like a good number to start winding down or may be 90. The moment I put down a number associated with time I feel I need to increase it. That is the weirdness of time. Only when we list it do we realize the personal finiteness of it. I am not saying that one has to retire at all. I don’t think I will ever. Or I can ever.
Personally for me every extra day today is a bonus looking at the way I have carried my life. 80 and above is all like lottery. The question though is how do we spend the time we have ahead of us. What ever we have.
Even when we have time, we live our life in moments. Moments in a kiss. Moments in a hug. Moments in a tear of joy. Moments in a caring note we pass to someone. Even moments in anger. Moments in regaining ourselves when we fail. Moments in small and big falls in life. Moments as we get stuck unable to move. Moments as we race through it all. Moments as we hold a hand and try to scribble a poem on another person’s palm, gently in circles. A firm hold and a loose one conveying a lot in between.
Yes we all live in moments inside our finite time. Live those moments, they are all ours when we have it !
Categories: Blog, Random Thoughts
Vinod Narayan 
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