Shelf Life
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Abhijit Das Gupta
Everything has a shelf life. After
the expiry of the ‘use before’ factor, it becomes a mere object without a
meaning. It shrinks, wrinkles and ultimately perishes. But does it really go
into oblivion? Or is that just a state of mind where it is virtually forgotten,
yet lives in a different form. May be it goes into the inner depths of the sub
conscious mind where, it lays dormant for years?
Krishna is believed to have remarked
that the body is like a discarded piece of cloth. The soul cannot be destroyed
or created. It is ever lasting, omnipresent and immortal.
So what happens to the product or the
body that once thrived? It gets into the deep receptacle of rubbish. The soul
remains. The soul in peace or the soul in disharmony. Unknowingly, without much
concern, do we discard objects that carry an antique value? It becomes antique
when it shows signs of a soul within. So, the ‘everything’ does not have a
shelf life. There are exceptions. It is the value that counts. With a value
tag, it becomes essential.
I have seen Mother Teresa picking up
a man who was lying near Nirmal Hriday. He was unconscious, frail, in rags,
with flesh eating bugs swarming around in glee. She carried him in, arranged
proper treatment but after a week, he died. So why did she try to add to his
sufferings? What did Mother gain from that extended 7 days? ‘The man died in
peace, knowing he was wanted and cared for’ – she said.
I ask if serving such persons in
distress for those 7 extra days is essential. It is a value, a need. What
value? What need? Who is ‘needy?’ The
person knocking at death’s door or those serving him? Value is a concept that
can be ascribed to gains – either material or mental. Needs may appear in
various shapes and forms. A young boy or a girl in need of a dress or basic
education or health service is one kind of need. A poor without a meal a day
has a different kind of need. A patient needs a doctor. A student needs a
teacher. A child needs a mother. The organization needs a mentor. A family
needs a guardian angel. But when does that need end? Is it at the end of the ‘printed’
shelf-life? Does the role of the
guardian angel change? Does it become another commodity that once served a
purpose and can now take a break.
What about the old and the weak?
Their ‘life’ completely depends on the treatment it gets. Treatment again is so
wide a territory. Love to the frail that Mother Teresa gave so that they may go
in peace is a treatment. Again, in this material world, putting the aged in an
old age home under the supervision of a nurse, is also a treatment. The old
suffer silently, but that too becomes a pain. ‘Age is a curse.’ The once mighty
may crumble at the feet, hit by that irreversible blow that comes from age.
But does the life cycle revolve only
around the give, take and need factors? Where and when does love and concern end?
And when the expiry date creeps in, can it be entirely discarded just because
it is no more a need? Seeing the old suffer is an experience of truth. The wave
of life goes up and down till it ends in a whirlpool, reaching a vortex … and
going out of sight.
The end is inevitable. But that end
is the beginning of a new chapter that either gives you peace or haunts you.
That use before factor is just a warning. A gentle reminder to the ultimate
peace that Mother talked about…
Or is it?
