We are living in strange times. We live yet we don’t live. This is what Norman Cousins meant what he said, “The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside of us while we live.” Naturally, understanding what is like living a full life is difficult, yet some persons do exemplify by the way they live and more importantly the way they die. All deaths are tragedies but some lives are bigger tragedies. And some deaths are glorious, too.
One such death that tells us the meaning of living a full life was that of former President APJ Abdul Kalam. The beauty of this death was in the way it came. Kalam died with his boots on, and the way he wanted to die — teaching. The death of Kalam has to be seen in this light. And someone very aptly said: “The success of life is measured by how many people smile when you lived and how many cried when you died.” Kalam lived a truly full life and we need to draw lessons from his life and death as well.
In a piece titled ‘Goodbye Kalam’, Bangladesh daily, The Daily Star gave a fitting tribute to this scientist, statesman, philosopher and above all a human being, by quoting some portions of his speech delivered on the occasion of celebration of 110th year of the Dacca Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The basic lesson that Kalam gave to the students present on the occasion was to dream and live those dreams.
Kalam believed that dreaming is not that which you see while sleeping. Dream is that which does not let you sleep. Kalam practised what he preached, and that was the essence of the philosophy of life. living a full life thus is that in which you dream and pursue them with all you heart, all your mind and all your soul. Most of us have lost the purpose of life and are out of touch with humanity.
As Robin Sharma writes in his bestselling book, Who Will Cry When You Die: “We have email, fax machines and digital phones so that we can stay connected, yet we live in a time where human beings were never less connected. We have lost sight of those things that matter the most. The reason why we fail to live a full life is that we have no time. We do certainly have plenty of leisure but it is not being put to good use. We don’t have time to think, we don’t have time to dream, in fact we don’t even have time to live. living like robots, the human being, though apparently worried about many of the species getting extinct, is unaware that it is itself becoming extinct at a much faster pace.
Yes, humanity’s survival is at stake. living without being aware of life, like mechanical entities that are programmed, human beings are no longer the feeling, thinking, dreaming beings they used to be. The so-called focused and goal-centric approach to life is the greatest danger to the survival of human beings.
In the death of Kalam and his life are hidden lessons to the way life is to be lived and the way death should be embraced. Not in those five-star like hospitals but out there in the battlefield of life — doing what you were supposed to do.
The writer teaches management at Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (Jharkhand). He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com
