Death erases. It erases the person, and slowly, with silent precision erases the memory of the person. That then is the meaning of being mortal. Yet, as humans, we strive for some measure of immortality. While humans have eternally dreamt of finding the elixir of a forever life; others, more practical, hope their names and deeds will live on even after they have long gone.
Perhaps the true immortals are those who are blessed with gifts so wonderful that their deeds have been able to change the course of human life; change it with long-reaching benefits for the human race, in science, or art, medicine or technology. Their names remain bright, and even if forgotten, their achievements nudge us to remember them sporadically.
Others less blessed have achieved a kind of immortality too; by being such wonderful beings that makes us cling on to their memory. What is it that, once the initial urge to only think good of the dead is spent, that others remember about someone who has crossed over to the vast beyond? The wealth, the success in garnering it, the vast privileges enjoyed have no meaning beyond the temporary. Sceptre and crown must tumble down, as the line goes, and be forgotten as the body mingles with the dust.
And while history records the powerful, they remain but names. What our memory holds on fondly to is those who have touched our lives, and given to it in some way. A lesson, a helping hand...such is the stuff that clothes even an ordinary person in the raiments of immortality. Making those who mourn the loss wish to hold on to the memory and indeed pass it on to generations beyond.
It’s a simple truth, which we tend to overlook. That it’s not the speeches made extolling a person or life that matters, but the thoughts that continue to glow in countless minds when a name is spoken or a memory evoked, that make the difference between a life merely lived and a life well-lived. Of a life lived for oneself and one lived, to include others.
Of course, not everyone can be a savant or a selfless do-gooder. The business of daily living with its attendant stresses and strains can be quite consuming, and make us insular beings. But even as they mobilise themselves to rise to greater creature comforts and material success, there are some who pave their paths with kind words and caring actions.
We may not realise it, but they have the strongest claim to be perceived as immortals. Years after they leave, they shine like gems in the minds of so many who have been touched by the warmth of their kindnesses.
Sathya Saran
saran.sathya@gmail.com
Author & Consulting Editor, Penguin Random House