TakingITGlobal - Panorama - The Meaning of Life

Published on: Mar 31, 2002

Topic:

Type: Opinions

https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=281

A Day in one’s life should start with an auspicious note, generally with a prayer to the Almighty, and then to steer up with routine chores connected with human activities, both social and economical. It gives you the strength and vitality so that the whole day may pass as per one’s wishes. Hardwork is always a pre-requisite for better results. Every human action is probably performed towards the fulfillment of the dreams. As rightly said by our elders, the dreams seen in the early hours of the day are likely to come true sooner or later. However, one cannot always expect positive results of his/her actions because there is one factor that controls every living being on the earth - and that is Nature! It often shatters the life and style of the effected one, which makes the saying – ‘Man Proposes and God Disposes’ true in it’s own way.

Life, for the middle-aged Prankorben, was going easy till Jan ‘2001 with her small family comprising of husband and a ten years old daughter. Prankorben’s husband was a cab driver and Prankorben too made some efforts to add to the earnings of her husband. Tragedy struck Prankorben’s life when devastating earthquake shook people’s faith in the stability of mother earth in just ninety seconds. Prankorben lost her leg and made her life miserable. At the other end, particularly for her husband, Prankorben was just like an unbearable weight!

Soon after the recovery from the surgery, Prankorben was able to survive with her physical handicap, but her husband started staying aloof. He did not come home for days together. What hurt Prankorben most was not her physical handicap resultant from the disastrous earthquake but the indifference of her husband, especially after the earthquake. It drew away the affection and love from Prankorben’s life and her husband showed his face off from the reality. It was sometime after the tremor that Prankorben received the legal notice from her husband seeking legal separation. This unfolds the bitter reality of selfish human nature. It was just like a horrible aftershock for the middle-aged lady. The human behaviour, in many cases, is unpredictable and unexpected just as the natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. The laws of economics are based on certain assumptions and therefore commence with the phrase “If other things being equal …”, one particular law shall operate. The disastrous earthquake and its consequential circumstances happened to be the “other things” in the life of Prankorben, which certainly weren’t equal as per the law above. The bitter reality in the life of Prankorben was the fact that when she was healthy and hearty and was able to pull on, her husband did not have any grudges, but the physical deformity of Prankorben was in no case acceptable to her husband who parted his ways.

As for the first strike of the earthquake and up to a certain period to follow, the things happen so quickly that people remain in a bewildered state. But as the things settle down gradually, the resultant shift in the human nature is what hurts deeply keeping the sufferers in the position of nowhere ness and uncertainties. While I was stepping back from Prankorben’s wrecked cottage, the outrages from Prankorben’s mouth were moving and stirring. “Now what is the meaning of Life to pull on?” she said weeping. She uttered: “It was not so pathetic to loose one leg, but what hurt me a lot was the fact that after the quake, I lost the love and affection of my husband. Now what’s the meaning of living the life?”

After hearing these words, I realized that it is not enough to live life, but making the life worth living by taking all the odds on your side. It’s the way of life, also perhaps the meaning of life. It has been usually observed that in the early hours of grief and sorrow, one loses faith in God and utters the words of despair, but with the passage of time, people like Prankorben very quickly come down to ground reality and start recouping. I firmly believe in the human nature and its ability to fight with the odds, and hence anticipate that Prankorben’s pain and grief could never let her down, because she had to grow her little daughter, impart education and train her to face the reality of life.

« return.



by Naynesh M. Vora
Published on: Mar 31, 2002
Topic:
Type: Opinions
https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=281


A Day in one’s life should start with an auspicious note, generally with a prayer to the Almighty, and then to steer up with routine chores connected with human activities, both social and economical. It gives you the strength and vitality so that the whole day may pass as per one’s wishes. Hardwork is always a pre-requisite for better results. Every human action is probably performed towards the fulfillment of the dreams. As rightly said by our elders, the dreams seen in the early hours of the day are likely to come true sooner or later. However, one cannot always expect positive results of his/her actions because there is one factor that controls every living being on the earth - and that is Nature! It often shatters the life and style of the effected one, which makes the saying – ‘Man Proposes and God Disposes’ true in it’s own way. Life, for the middle-aged Prankorben, was going easy till Jan ‘2001 with her small family comprising of husband and a ten years old daughter. Prankorben’s husband was a cab driver and Prankorben too made some efforts to add to the earnings of her husband. Tragedy struck Prankorben’s life when devastating earthquake shook people’s faith in the stability of mother earth in just ninety seconds. Prankorben lost her leg and made her life miserable. At the other end, particularly for her husband, Prankorben was just like an unbearable weight! Soon after the recovery from the surgery, Prankorben was able to survive with her physical handicap, but her husband started staying aloof. He did not come home for days together. What hurt Prankorben most was not her physical handicap resultant from the disastrous earthquake but the indifference of her husband, especially after the earthquake. It drew away the affection and love from Prankorben’s life and her husband showed his face off from the reality. It was sometime after the tremor that Prankorben received the legal notice from her husband seeking legal separation. This unfolds the bitter reality of selfish human nature. It was just like a horrible aftershock for the middle-aged lady. The human behaviour, in many cases, is unpredictable and unexpected just as the natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. The laws of economics are based on certain assumptions and therefore commence with the phrase “If other things being equal …”, one particular law shall operate. The disastrous earthquake and its consequential circumstances happened to be the “other things” in the life of Prankorben, which certainly weren’t equal as per the law above. The bitter reality in the life of Prankorben was the fact that when she was healthy and hearty and was able to pull on, her husband did not have any grudges, but the physical deformity of Prankorben was in no case acceptable to her husband who parted his ways. As for the first strike of the earthquake and up to a certain period to follow, the things happen so quickly that people remain in a bewildered state. But as the things settle down gradually, the resultant shift in the human nature is what hurts deeply keeping the sufferers in the position of nowhere ness and uncertainties. While I was stepping back from Prankorben’s wrecked cottage, the outrages from Prankorben’s mouth were moving and stirring. “Now what is the meaning of Life to pull on?” she said weeping. She uttered: “It was not so pathetic to loose one leg, but what hurt me a lot was the fact that after the quake, I lost the love and affection of my husband. Now what’s the meaning of living the life?” After hearing these words, I realized that it is not enough to live life, but making the life worth living by taking all the odds on your side. It’s the way of life, also perhaps the meaning of life. It has been usually observed that in the early hours of grief and sorrow, one loses faith in God and utters the words of despair, but with the passage of time, people like Prankorben very quickly come down to ground reality and start recouping. I firmly believe in the human nature and its ability to fight with the odds, and hence anticipate that Prankorben’s pain and grief could never let her down, because she had to grow her little daughter, impart education and train her to face the reality of life. « return.