Tuesday, June 04, 2002
To understand how much value your life holds for others, think about how many lives your death will make a difference to.
I did. I thought long and hard, as honestly as I could.
My mom? Certainly, she would grieve deeply. But, eventually, she will find solace and strength in her surviving sons and, with time, joy in her grandchildren. She is also buffered by the distance -- geographical and emotional -- that I have put between us since I left her care to find my own feet.
The family that I was born into? They will react immediately with shock and sorrow. Memories will be dredged, and a few tears shed. But, beyond a point, life will go on as usual.
My friends? They will miss me for a while, and may even swap their favourite stories about me from our shared past. That's about as far as it would go.
In this whole wide world that I share with a few billion people and countless other forms of life, I realised my death will make a real difference to only one person -- the person I have chosen to live with till that happens.
It's one hell of a humbling thought.
PS: What set me off was late night solitary viewing of Oliver Stone's Platoon.
I did. I thought long and hard, as honestly as I could.
My mom? Certainly, she would grieve deeply. But, eventually, she will find solace and strength in her surviving sons and, with time, joy in her grandchildren. She is also buffered by the distance -- geographical and emotional -- that I have put between us since I left her care to find my own feet.
The family that I was born into? They will react immediately with shock and sorrow. Memories will be dredged, and a few tears shed. But, beyond a point, life will go on as usual.
My friends? They will miss me for a while, and may even swap their favourite stories about me from our shared past. That's about as far as it would go.
In this whole wide world that I share with a few billion people and countless other forms of life, I realised my death will make a real difference to only one person -- the person I have chosen to live with till that happens.
It's one hell of a humbling thought.
PS: What set me off was late night solitary viewing of Oliver Stone's Platoon.
# posted by Ashok @ 10:18 PM 
