FORGET - ME - NOT

My friend Sakshi is an active member of our friends' whatsapp group. Her posts are inspirational and heart touching. She sometimes shares her own pieces which send strong moral messages and we also get to learn new things. Whether it be a good morning, a festival, a birthday or an anniversary she would never fail to wish. The childhood Sakshi that I knew was loving, friendly and empathetic and continued to carry her characteristics till the age of 58. Her concern would be all the more conspicuous when an acquaintance was in trouble. She would keep in touch with that person individually to avoid disturbance to the group. Conversations with her energised me and I never hesitated to compliment that in the present days people like her were few and rare. She said she found joy in the happiness of others, and only hoped people did not misinterpret her concern as interference. 

                   The enthusiasm of arranging our new home took away a lot of my time, followed by guests galore dropping in one after another. I found no time for my mobile. After a fortnight, I was clearing my whatsapp messages when I realised Sakshi was last seen over a month ago.I called her immediately. It was her daughter who broke the shocking news amidst sobs that Sakshi was no more. The ground slipped beneath my feet and the news left me in guilt and shame. We lost a noble soul. She was one unique person who was concerned about all and not one of us could keep track of her. Ridiculous !! She was affected with carona, was hospitalized and could not recover. Her only daughter could reach home a day before.

Her husband was all alone running from pillar to post to provide the best treatment. In this pell-mell there was none who could leave a message about her ill health. Had any one of us called we would have known about her. At least we would have spoken to her to make her feel better, especially because she was an altruist. She was deprived of what she deserved for all that she had given to all. The present younger generation may deem her deeds as interference or call her an idler, but an unselfish person concerned about the well being of others is termed empathetic not intruding. I conveyed the news of her departure to our group. Messages of "RIP" poured in and all started sharing their memories with her. We are behind schedule thought I, she's travelled far and can't hear our cries. 

                       In the realm of relationships where are we heading to ? Language evolved over time to enable humans to survive and develop. Through communication man learnt from each other and shared joys and sorrows. Five decades ago people spent their leisure time talking to each other within their families or neighbourhood. They exchanged feelings, experienced pure love and were happy and healthy. The ones living far away kept in touch through letters. Those of us who had the habit of writing letters will recollect the joy we derived in writing and receiving letters, and how much they strengthened us. Then came landlines, mobile phones, other gadgets and finally the smartphones which just needed a touch to communicate. Surprisingly, with the progress of technology and invention of better modes of communication instead of getting intimate we are getting distant. We do not have the time, and we think we do not need to talk. We are master planners of our own busy schedules.

We are running a rat race not realising the fact that in the end we will have nothing to carry with us. We are choosing to deprive ourselves of life's little joys. We are aware of the hot and happening news of the world, and derive pleasure in saying, "I don't know who lives next door !" Strangely, we have time for everything except communicating with our dear ones. Our priorities have completely changed and conversing is last in the list. Tension, stress, loneliness have gripped us and are taking a toll on us. We are spending money on counselors to get out of this maze. Earlier, people had to struggle to make both ends meet but there was happiness. Today, a majority of us are self sufficient but we hanker for more thus missing on love and relationships. Isn't too much of anything bad ?

                       Let us retrace backwards and refurbish our values of the past, when love was pure and in abundance. No matter where we go or where we are let us add value to the lives of others. There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life meaningful for others. Let us be that someone. I've always loved butterflies, because they remind us that it is never to late to transform ourselves. Let us not forget one another but stay connected.  

                       We've launched various initiatives like "Save Soil", "Save Water", "Save Wildlife" etc. It's time we also "Saved Relationships".