Time, Life and LifeTimes

I wake up each morning and staring at me from the wall in front of my bed is a 8x10 picture of Appa taken on the Staten Island Ferry on his 2003 trip. He has his familiar smile and his hair completely dishevelled because of the strong breeze cutting across the bay. Appa did not like his hair to be out of place too much except while playing with kids. The breeze though did not care too much for his preferences. I look at that face for a few seconds and then get on with my morning. It serves as a reminder of what is important in my life.

Just like Usha said in her last post, there are so many bottled experiences that one carries. Unfortunately most people carry more unpleasant experiences than pleasant ones around and they keep reacquainting themselves with it. Appa never quite did that. He tried very hard and succeeded most times in having something good to say about most experiences and people. That in of itself is a remarkable trait.

The first few months (I can't believe its been more than six months now!), the picture took me back to those days in April, the early morning phone call, the wait in the Indian Consulate for my passport, my landing at the Hyerabad airport, traveling to the hospital and the events that followed. It was difficult to shift from those images. Soon enough, the scenes changed to nostalgic ones. Remembrances of my childhood, willing myself to pull back from the archives of my memories, days spent in Ethiopia, St. John's Road, the summers in Tarnaka and so many more events that bring back a smile on my face. However in the past few days, that picture has evoked something entirely different feelings in me. Not of the past, but of the future. Of people and things that are important, goals yet to be accomplished, time to spent with the loved ones and memories that are yet to be created.

So many of us are so busy with our lives and the whole world around us seems to be focused on figuring out how to extend life by a few more years. So busy trying to fit more TIME into our LIVES. I think that's where Appa really got it right. He just focused on putting more LIFE into his TIME. That is why he has meant so much to so many. He shared his life with so many, that you can find traces of him with so many people. Truly, he lived multiple lives thru the lives of so many people. As Keats so beautifully said, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever, its loveliness lasts but it will never". Isn't the loveliness more important anyways? Isn't what we give out more important than that which we keep. For by working, we make a living, but by giving, we make a life.