Celebrating Life..
During the course of last week, I read two wonderful books at the end of which I was a notch better than what I was before I went through them. In fact I told my wife that had I died before reading them my life would have been incomplete!
The first book was The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. It is the story of Bruno, a nine year old German boy whose father was the commandant of a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. He was innocently unaware of the goings on beyond the fence overlooking his home. He was told that the thousands of men and women moving around in the fenced compound were farm laborers. One day he sneaks into the woods abutting the camp and comes across another boy, an inmate of the camp. They become friends and their friendship grows till it all ends tragically for both of them. The poignant climax shows Bruno walking into a gas chamber in a herd thinking that they are being led into a shelter to be protected from rain. Ah, the innocence of a young life and the cruelty of death!
The second book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, on the other hand, deals with the celebration of impending death with a new vigour of living. A student re-visits his professor after sixteen years when he learns that the seventy eight years old man has a few months to live, afflicted by a debilitating disease which would eat away the vitality of the body through muscular atrophy. The professor is thrilled to meet his once-upon-a-time favorite student and a new chemistry starts between them. The student goes back to his old professor every Tuesday and they discuss different aspects of life. Mitch Albom terms the experience as his last classes with the Professor. The central theme is, when you learn how to die, you learn how to live. When finally the professor dies everyone who has been a part of his life, including the readers, has become aware of life as an enriching experience embellished by love, compassion and sharing.
Both the books have been made into great movies and are great lessons on life. One shows death coming stealthily and robbing a life out of nowhere, the other shows life robbing death of its over-riding terror.
During our long journey, one comes across so many episodes to prove how fleeting life is. The irony is, even after knowing the treacherous nature of death, most people spend life in greed, jealousy and pettiness. If only they could live life celebrating its greatness like Professor Morrie, how beautiful it can be!
I am enclosing a video to show how even a few seconds before death one doesn’t hear its ominous footsteps!
Dr. Mrutyunjay Sarangi
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