ON BEING &BECOMING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the purposes of every human life on earth is to evolve. To evolve is to learn and to grow. And to do this there are so many things around us to which we can look up to.Ipersonally learnalot from books. As many booksIread that many minds I read. Books are uniquely portable magic.Ican lose myself in books, I find myself there too. Actually life itself is a book. We fill its pages. The other way of learning and introspection is cinema.Ican't forget the movie Drishyam. How the actor's learnings came from just movies. I simply love watching the cinema.Ifind films a great tool that plays with human emotions and thoughts.

 

A film is at its best when it succeeds to convey the message to the audiences that it had conceived.Agood movie should be food for thought. Each film be it comedy, crime thriller, suspense, love story or it may fall into any category, it definitely has something to say. I like a film that makes me forget that I am sitting in a cinema. And such movies are forever to remain in my mind and heart. One evening I was sipping my coffee and enjoying some ‘me time’. Sometimes solitude is a treat.Iturned on the TV. As kids were out enjoying their Saturday evening with their cousins and my husband busy in a social gathering, I had the liberty to see anything of my choice. This liberty is rare of its kind for me. Which meant I could watch anything of my choice. So I decided to see something that could never be my family's choice but I would love to binge on.

 

I turned on  Amazon Prime and flipped on the old movie's list. And my finger stopped at the movie Saransh. This is a masterpiece by director Mahesh Bhatt. The debut film of actor Anupam Kher, and this is hard to believe when you see the movie. The movie is all about purpose and hope. Where in the movie initially Anupam Kher loses purpose to live due to death of his only son and is on the verge of committing suicide. He has lost his ‘Why’ to continue with his life. On the other hand his wife is hopeful and wants to live as she has a very strong ‘Why’ because she believes their son will take rebirth and will be born to someone very soon. When his wife calls him a coward Anupam kher gives a very powerful statement to validate his decision to end his life that the thought of self destruction isn't cowardly. One needs courage to die. It isn't easy to end your life by yourself. But later in the movie, he finds a purpose, something to live for and he changes his statement saying "I was wrong. Anyone can give up on life. It doesn't require courage.

 

Actually to live is a bigger challenge. This requires courage.” The message that the movies gave was when you find your ‘Why’, ‘How’ becomes easy. Is having a purpose in life that important? Does it really add meaning to one's life so much so that in it's absence one can give up on life? Does really the purpose of life gives someone a life of purpose? Yes it does. Having a purpose is the difference between making a living and making a life. Each living creature has a Why. It's just that they have to become a go getter. We humans have two ways to spend our lives. One is to sit back and relax and wait for things to happen. And the other is to get out there and find something that allows you in the end to sayIhave lived a meaningful life. Onceawise man was asked what is the meaning of life? He replied life itself has no meaning. LIfe is an opportunity to create a meaning out of it. In reality we all are unknowingly bound with something, that forces us to get out of the bed every morning.

 

But that necessarily may not be the purpose of life. Those possibly may be our duties and responsibilities. Anything that forces us to remain alive is the real purpose of our lives. The purpose of life should be to discover our gifts. It's work should be to develop it and it's meaning should be to pass it on. And to find it, pay attention to the things that you are naturally drawn to. They are often connected to your path, passion and purpose in life. Have the courage to follow them. Your purpose may be not just about what you do, but how you impact others along the way. God has something meaningful for you to do with your life.

 

And only you can discover it. Any act that uplifts and nourishes your spirit, gives your soul contentment and happiness of all together a different level is the act that will add meaning to your existence. This can be your purpose. It will be easier for you to find it when you live by choice and not by chance, if you are motivated and not manipulated. If you are useful and not used. If you make changes and not excuses. If you excel and not compete. If you choose self-esteem and not self-pity. If you choose to listen to your inner voice and not to the random opinion of others. ■