Noel Manuel
The art of living a purposeful life that blossoms in maturity and responsibility strongly evolve on how we paint our past, present and future. And this is indeed very true. A very clear example of this belief can be taken out of the driver’s seat. A cautious and alert driver will constantly keep focusing on what lies ahead, while at the same time, look into the rear view mirror, every now and then, to see what lies behind. In a significant display of maturity and responsibility, he makes his driving experience more purposeful and maneuvers the machine and himself successfully to the appropriate destination. In life, few of us practically do the same and sometimes, much to our ignorance, overdo it.
It is indeed tragic, how some of us constantly keep harping about what went wrong and how things should have not gone this way and that way. Some of us suffer from a nervous breakdown when relationships turn sour and others just want to confine themselves to mourn when they fail to make the grade. In reality, if we were to actually analyze human behaviour, there are some startling revelations that would actually surface and compel us to rethink the way we live.
Logically, we spend much of our time trying to sort out problems because everyone we meet has a problem. Problems are things of the past and to solve it means having to travel back in time. You would also be surprised to know that we spend much of our time living in the past, because everyone seems to be talking of problems and the past. And simply because, we know our way in the maze of the past does not give us the right to neglect the future. Imagine, if the driver had to give more importance to the rear view mirror, where would the car and the driver arrive at?
Everything that moves on this planet is programmed to move forward and backward. And practically, we are conditioned to move forward more than we actually move backwards. We find cars, people, animals and other creatures all move forward. If they aren’t moving forward they are static. But seldom do they move backwards.
The future is what we set out to do today - Forward and not backwards. The future cannot be predicted and this is what you and I know. But what we don’t know is that the future can be programmed and colored.
Programming or coloring the future is akin to the vision of an artist. He foresees a picture and its flamboyant colours blazing on the canvas, even before his brush has taken its first stroke. Once he is able to capture his imagination of the future, he begins working in the present to eventually present the perfect work of art.
The past and the present are periods in time that confirm our temporary existence. The future advocates our permanent settlement here. Be it Religion or Politics, they all propagate the future. While religion teaches us of how we should be in our day to day to life as we march into the future, politics makes us believe our politicians and their plans for the future. The yardstick of the future does not end here. In fact, when we look around the smaller examples in life, we find everyone attempting to colour a future.
Recurring Deposits, Insurances, Fixed Deposits, Savings and so on. They are all colourful future pictures. If such is the importance of the future, then why do we continue to grope in the past and remain static in the present?
The future, particularly for our youth is significant and we need to devise ways and means to develop a mindset like an artist, where the future can first be imagined and every step, like the stroke of a paint brush, add colour to the future of life.
American astronaut Neil Armstrong’s famous words on his conquest of the moon clearly colours the picture of our future. When Armstrong said, “A small leap for man but a giant leap for mankind,” he knew just how much that stride meant for mankind. He was looking into the future and not the past. He was not content with his first step on the moon because it had already happened. And no sooner did he do it history pages were being written. ‘The giant leap’ is what we keep taking pride in today, when we look back at the conquest of the moon. We know that the future can be coloured the way we choose to do it and Armstrong has made us believe in that future.
An important colour on the palate of an artist is patience. This colour is perhaps the most vibrant among others. This small story will perhaps give us a better idea on the coloring of our future and the colour of patience.
Employed in a private company, a middle-aged man, hardly earned enough money to support his family with two square meals. And if this ordeal was not enough, he had the extra burden of educating his two children. He knew the importance of education and could not prevent himself from sending his children to a good private school. As the years progressed his children prospered in school and the man fell deeper into debts. Unable to cope with the pressure of rising debts, the old man fell ill and finally passed away. The following year his children graduated with flying colours and the older of the two was given the opportunity to speak at the graduation function. He said on behalf of his brother and himself, ‘we are what we are today because of a man’s vision to colour his future. He lived his life in the future and today continues to live on in us. His past, I have no right to speak of because his future matters more than anything else. And the future that I talk about today stands right before us. We are our father’s future. The legacy of living in the future must continue and the colour of patience is all that we need to brighten our canvas.
noelmanuel@rediffmail.com
The writer is the Coordinator of the Northeast Region (Poetry Society of India) and Life Member of the Poetry Society of India. Journalist and Correspondent Eastern Panorama (News Magazine of the Northeast) Phonetics Teacher.
