LAST(ING) - IMPRESSIONS

LIKE LONG DISTANCE JOURNEYS WHERE FRIENDSHIP WITH A CO-PASSENGER IS OF FEW HOURS,  IN OUR LIFE,  FAMILY RELATIONSHIP AND WITH SELECT FRIENDS OUR JOURNEY COULD LAST FEW YEARS.  THERE ARE SOME LUCKY ONES WHO CELEBRATE ‘ 50 -WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES’ WITH THEIR SPOUSE AND A HANDFUL OF LUCKY INDIVIDUALS LIVE ALMOST ‘100 YEARS,’ BUT SUCH CASES WHERE PEOPLE SURVIVE 10 DECADES ARE RARITY. 

AS NONE OF US ARE SURE, HOW LONG LIFE’S JOURNEY WILL LAST,  IT  STRUCK ME THAT I SHOULD SHARE  SOMETHING REALLY  USEFUL  TO PEOPLE,  DURING THE  LAST LEG OF MY JOURNEY AFTER TREADING LIFE FOR NEARLY 'SEVEN' DECADES. 

BORN,  68 YEARS AGO, IN CALCUTTA, I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED MY CHILDHOOD AND TEENAGE YEARS WITHOUT WORRYING, ALTHOUGH COMING FROM AN ORTHODOX BRAHMIN FAMILY OF AIYARS WHO HAD MIGRATED FROM THE STATE OF MADRAS COUPLE OF CENTURIES AGO TO A SMALL VILLAGE KNOWN AS CHITHUR OF PALGHAT DISTRICT, BORDERING BETWEEN KERALA AND TAMIL NADU(INDIA). 

GIVEN THE ADVANTAGE OF KNOWING FOUR MAJOR REGIONAL LANGUAGES - HINDI, BENGALI, TAMIL, MALAYALAM AND HAVING SPENT A GREAT PART OF MY LIFE IN SALES PROFESSION, I WAS REALLY FORTUNATE TO TRAVEL FROM ONE CORNER TO ANOTHER CORNER OF INDIA FROM KANYAKUMARI IN SOUTH TO RISHIKESH IN THE NORTH AND BANGLADESH  IN EAST TO GOA IN THE WEST.  I ALSO ENJOYED TRAVELING TO SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD FROM PHILIPPINES IN THE EAST TO  NORTH /SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENTS IN THE WEST, WHICH GAVE ME A FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF WESTERN CULTURE. 

DURING MY INLAND TRAVEL,  WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME,  I USED TO ALWAYS TELL THAT I AM A ‘TRUE INDIAN’ BELONGING TO SO MANY PLACES AND USED TO JOKE THAT ALL OF US ARE ORIGINALLY FROM AFRICA AND SO FROM WHICH PLACE WE BELONG REALLY DOES NOT MATTER.  

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ELDOM PEOPLE SPENT QUALITY TIME WITH OTHERS, KEEPING ALWAYS BUSY,  ESPECIALLY AFTER MILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE STARTED USING SMARTPHONES, WHICH INCLUDES FAMILY MEMBERS.   ONE SHOULD NOT FORGET THAT ALL OF US ARE ENJOYING, EVERYTHING THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD HAS BEEN OFFERING, WHICH IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE INVOLVEMENT OF SO MANY PEOPLE WHO HELP US AND GUIDE US THROUGHOUT LIFE.  

THEREFORE, I THOUGHT IT WOULD PRUDENT TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO THE SOCIETY. THE LASTING VALUE ALWAYS HAS BEEN MEMORIES AND NOTHING COULD BE INVALUABLE THAN SHARING REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES WHICH OF COURSE IS UNIQUE FOR EACH ONE OF US. USUALLY, AN INDIVIDUAL WOULD SHARE LIFE EVENTS WITH FAMILY AND SOME CLOSE FRIENDS, BUT  I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICE TO SHARE  MY LIFE’S EXPERIENCE WITH THE WORLD,  SO  THAT IT COULD BE OF GREAT HELP TO LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE.    

 

WRITING LIFE’S SCIENCE WAS NOT AN EASY JOB AND I HAD TO SPEND LOTS OF TIME WALKING ALONE CONTEMPLATING ABOUT MY PAST EXPERIENCES AND ALSO CARRYING OUT RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET WHICH ENABLED ME TO ELABORATE MY CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS DURING MY LIFE'S JOURNEY.  

NO PUBLISHER CAME FORWARD AND LIKE J.K.ROWLING I COULD NOT WAIT TOO LONG; HAVING SPENT ABOUT 8,000 HOURS OVER A SPAN OF 8 YEARS, I DECIDED TO LIQUIDATE A GOOD PART OF MY RETIREMENT FUND TO PRINT THIS FASCINATING BOOK.  

LIFE HAS BEEN A GREAT JOURNEY FOR ME AND I FULLY TRUST THAT MY ELABORATING THE “TWO MOST FASCINATING ASPECTS OF LIFE” WOULD BE OF IMMENSE HELP TO PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE, BECAUSE FOR MOST OF US, LIFE SWINGS BETWEEN TWO EXTREMES - THE FLEETING SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES CALLED ‘TECHNOLOGY’ AND A PERMANENT FEATURE OF MANKIND CALLED ‘HUMAN SPIRIT.’

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