Ideas that survived - Images that endure !
In the run-up to the budget The Economic Times has been publishing a special series titled " Feel The Power - 15 Years of reforms ". Today's article by Manu Joseph was titled " Reform and others: Ideas that survived ". Its a good piece of writing - I enjoyed it, it was so much unlike the ET style - more like the articles printed on glossy newsprint, not like the ones that usually appear on this pinkish verity of paper.
This is are the opening paragraphs ( please note the strong words ):
The Pope said it before us, but that's alright - The Earth goes around the Sun. And as it does unceasingly, without a seeming purpose like an art film character, life spans are made.
Your reluctant choiceless birth, the first unsteady steps, melancholic infactuations, the shocking disappointments of mating, the deceptions of true love, humiliations of a salaried life and finally your inevitable, and probably, unsung death, would all transpire within about eighty revolutions of the Earth around the Sun, if you are a non-smoker.
Once you did not exist. Briefly you, somehow, did. One day you will not. But some men and ideas are fiercely eternal. They are remembered by incumbent generations as anniversaries, centenaries and other round figures of the Earth's motion. This is a story of such men and such ideas that have survived the fatal swings of periodic revolutions.
I couldn't but notice a parallel with another piece written a few centuries ago:
These are the words of the Teacher, King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!"
What do people get for all their hard work? Generations come and go, but nothing really changes. The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere.
The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea.
Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done in the world. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. (Ecc 1:1-9, 13 NLT)
Manu goes on to say " But some men and ideas are fiercely eternal. " But this is what Solomon had to say " We don't remember what happened in those former times. And in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now. (Ecc 1:11 NLT)
Readers especially Smokers beware - you have less than 80 years to goof around, according to Manu. According to Solomon: Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. (Ecc 3:19 NLT)
But in the last section of his Solomon hands out some hope, more of a warning cum instruction while concluding:
Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and no longer enjoy living.
It will be too late then to remember him, when the light of the sun and moon and stars is dim to your old eyes, and there is no silver lining left among the clouds.
Your limbs will tremble with age, and your strong legs will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to do their work, and you will be blind, too. And when your teeth are gone, keep your lips tightly closed when you eat!
Even the chirping of birds will wake you up. But you yourself will be deaf and tuneless, with a quavering voice. You will be afraid of heights and of falling, white-haired and withered, dragging along without any sexual desire. You will be standing at death's door. And as you near your everlasting home, the mourners will walk along the streets.
Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don't wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.
For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecc 12:1-7 NLT)
And incidentally this hope is incomparable to the 15 glorious years of reforms many have meaninglessly endured. God save India !
This is are the opening paragraphs ( please note the strong words ):
The Pope said it before us, but that's alright - The Earth goes around the Sun. And as it does unceasingly, without a seeming purpose like an art film character, life spans are made.
Your reluctant choiceless birth, the first unsteady steps, melancholic infactuations, the shocking disappointments of mating, the deceptions of true love, humiliations of a salaried life and finally your inevitable, and probably, unsung death, would all transpire within about eighty revolutions of the Earth around the Sun, if you are a non-smoker.
Once you did not exist. Briefly you, somehow, did. One day you will not. But some men and ideas are fiercely eternal. They are remembered by incumbent generations as anniversaries, centenaries and other round figures of the Earth's motion. This is a story of such men and such ideas that have survived the fatal swings of periodic revolutions.
I couldn't but notice a parallel with another piece written a few centuries ago:
These are the words of the Teacher, King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!"
What do people get for all their hard work? Generations come and go, but nothing really changes. The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere.
The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea.
Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done in the world. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. (Ecc 1:1-9, 13 NLT)
Manu goes on to say " But some men and ideas are fiercely eternal. " But this is what Solomon had to say " We don't remember what happened in those former times. And in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now. (Ecc 1:11 NLT)
Readers especially Smokers beware - you have less than 80 years to goof around, according to Manu. According to Solomon: Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. (Ecc 3:19 NLT)
But in the last section of his Solomon hands out some hope, more of a warning cum instruction while concluding:
Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and no longer enjoy living.
It will be too late then to remember him, when the light of the sun and moon and stars is dim to your old eyes, and there is no silver lining left among the clouds.
Your limbs will tremble with age, and your strong legs will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to do their work, and you will be blind, too. And when your teeth are gone, keep your lips tightly closed when you eat!
Even the chirping of birds will wake you up. But you yourself will be deaf and tuneless, with a quavering voice. You will be afraid of heights and of falling, white-haired and withered, dragging along without any sexual desire. You will be standing at death's door. And as you near your everlasting home, the mourners will walk along the streets.
Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don't wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.
For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecc 12:1-7 NLT)
And incidentally this hope is incomparable to the 15 glorious years of reforms many have meaninglessly endured. God save India !
posted by Anish - "I Dream in Hyperlinks" @ 12:36 PM
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