Noel Manuel
Life is the most beautiful mirror. And this mirror reflects more of ‘what’ we are rather than ‘who’ we are? The ‘who’ reflected in the mirror of life is what we see in ourselves. The ‘what’ is a reflection of what others see in us?
During our entire lifetime we all strive to develop and turn the small ‘i’ to a capital ‘I.’ Our obsession with ‘I’ (pronounced ai) is so intense that we miserably fail to acknowledge the ‘U’ and its growth in life.
‘Who’ we become in life is largely credited to our parents. They seek to give us an identity, which is very important and I agree with this philosophy. But, I certainly will not agree with the same method if taken in contrast with leaving footprints in the sands of time.
‘Who’ we are is what others know us as during our lifetime. ‘What’ we are is what others know us as after our lifetime.
We all desire to leave footprints in the sands of time. Footprints that can be remembered acknowledged and respected for time immemorial. It is this quest that stimulates the core of our conscience to put others first before ourselves. Our actions, thoughts and words are naturally inclined towards the transformation of the small ‘u’ to the extraordinarily large ‘U.’
We give others utmost importance over ourselves and every effort epitomizes the growth of ‘What’ – the fact that we will be remembered more after our lifetime than during it.
Sadly, however, this does not happen in everyone’s life. We have reached an era where the ‘I’ has gained more significance over the ‘U.’ Similar to that of the English Alphabet where the ‘I’ comes before the ‘U.’ Life in itself and all its varied and colorful forms has been reduced to a pitiable ‘I.’
We say to ourselves what is the use of being remembered after we are dead and gone? We need to be acknowledged when we are alive and this is what everyone desires. But just how long will you stay alive – 50, 100, 150? Footprints are everlasting, man is not.
I would say that it is more and very important to leave footprints in the sands of time. Footprints that will grow deeper every time you are remembered and acknowledged after you have ceased to walk the earth.
Everyone loves to feel important. Importance is the food for ‘I.’ This ‘I’ is full of life and continues to grow so long as we live. It perishes the day the body loses life.
With the ‘U’ it is not the same. The ‘U’ continues to live on both during and after our lifetime. How much more you wish to make the ‘U’ remembered ‘after’ depends on how much effort you have put into developing the ‘U.’ A wise parent will strive to give the child life both during and after his lifetime.
We need to teach our children how to serve and put others first above all other things so that they live on long after they have ceased to live.
It is said that money can buy anything. Do you think it is true? Well, materialistically yes. And sometimes even people are bought. But certainly you can’t buy the conscience of others. To buy materialistic goods and sometimes people the ‘I’ needs to be kept alive. And this we practically know is impossible. The ‘I’ is not immortal. But the ‘U’ is. The ‘U’ does live on and passes on from generation to generation thus making it eternal.
There are actually only two places that our identities return to after death. ‘The dust of the earth’ or ‘the sands of time.’
This short story reminds me of how important it is to cultivate the ‘U’ in life and not the ‘I.’
A rich business woman, who had lost her husband a decade ago, had also passed away and her casket was proceeding to the cemetery grounds. Her daughter and son walked closely behind and surprisingly there was no indication of remorse or a tear drop from the siblings. They seemed untouched.
Three years later the maid servant of the same family had passed away. This time the siblings wept uncontrollably. They were emotionally shattered and saddened by the maid servant’s demise.
A distant relative who attended the family funerals could not wait to ask the siblings of their peculiar behaviour. The siblings said, ‘Our mother only gave us birth. The maid on the other hand has given us life.’ She put everything else behind her to make us feel important. She cared little about herself and more about us. She will forever be missed and her presence will live on in our conscience.
The maid servant had indeed made herself immortal by placing the ‘U’ before the ‘I.’
Our kids are oblivious of what life is actually all about. They do not comprehend the substance of it and end up measuring their success with the amount of money they have earned. Is life all about earning money or building relationships? There are many ways that money can be earned and so is the same with relationships.
However, the basic difference between the two is that money keeps ‘I’ acknowledged only during the ‘I’ lifetime. While relationships and the thought about others keeps ‘U’ acknowledged during and after your ‘LIFE.’
It is therefore imperative that we devote our lives to helping our kids understand and balance their life with a concern for the ‘U’ so as to enable them to leave footprints in the sands of time. For this is what life is all about and though the alphabetical order may prove that the ‘I’ comes before the ‘U,’ in life it is the other way round.
The writer is the Coordinator of the Poetry Society (India) Northeast Region, Life Member of the Poetry Society (India), Senior Reporter Eastern Panorama (News Magazine of the Northeast, Journalist and Phonetics Teacher.
