The entire story of our lives happens in just one sentence: “Once upon a time, they lived happily ever after”. It starts in the womb, and then to the tomb, and back to the womb. We are all born of Mother Nature, we are entirely made from soil, out of Nature’s infinite wisdom and benevolence, and Mother Nature takes it all back once we have done with our life’s narrative, a story about this enigmatic mortal coil, “dust to dust”. That “tomb” is indeed our life’s span; life and death begin at the same moment. How we got here, and where we go, are the two pesky puzzles, which become our prime endeavour to discover while we perennially plan and plot and ponder and plod our way through life: is what our true purpose of why we are here in the first place.
For all living creatures, Survival is prospect number One. Procreation is next on life’s agenda. And then Death; this last act of “mortal” endeavour is quite easily taken over by Mother Nature. She knows when it’s time. A good sensible life brings one gracefully into old age. But a life given to pursuing all of one’s deleterious desires could easily prompt her to drag you back to where you belong before your allotted time is up.
On the other hand, each of us, earthbound as we are; experience within our minds an existence that has boundless possibilities. And the choices are for us to decide, so we can choose joy or sorrow, pain or pleasure, that’s our call at all times. The Source that created the cosmos has made a perfect universe, and only perfection comes from perfection, nothing is either good or bad; it’s the consequences that matter.
But who is that “We”? That “Us”? That “Me”? That “I”? Yes, really, Who am I? The quest for that answer is obviously left up to each individual, if they even care to find out. When one does eventually find the answer that moment is a phenomenon called Enlightenment, which leads to total and absolute freedom, and that “I” attains a permanent state of immeasurable and indescribable Bliss.
However, the alternate path seems to be what almost all humans have selected. The easy choice in turn causes the “I” to reincarnate in a continuous stream of earthly births in a womb-to-tomb-to-womb cycle. Spending those months in a mother’s womb, lifetime after lifetime is not an altogether pleasant experience, followed by another, and another, lifetime of labour. Seriously.
Having said all of the above, what this little piece of a thousand words here wants to convey is that while we navigate our existence on this exquisitely beautiful planet, and more importantly, in this truly blessed State of Goa, is that the best logical conclusion would be to make every effort, to use every fiber of our being, to make our experience of living the best it possibly can. Live happily ever always, why not? What are we waiting for? Another womb? Another tomb?
At this moment in the history of time, mankind possesses all the wisdom, technology, desire and need to eliminate all the problems that beset the world and all of humankind. This includes the safety and well-being of all creatures, the preservation and health of all vegetation, the purity and power of the soil, the protection of the quality of the waters, air and working in close connection with Nature to ensure that the planet’s entire ecological system is the way it wants to be. Everything we need is right within our grasp. We have the Sun, supplier of boundless energy, the sustainer and giver of all life on earth.
All this begins with the alertness and initiative of each and every citizen when they elect the people who will bring about a standard of living that is the birthright of every beloved child and creature of Mother Nature. All we have is this life. But the question arises, how do we make the most of living? And how do we go about it?
The fault lies in the structure and processes of our democratic systems created by human societies over centuries of trial and error, to enable all men to achieve and sustain an equitable, secure and joyous experience of our passage thru each of our lifetimes. It is basically our system of “Governance”. On a true and perfected democratic platform, in a simple word, this would be Heaven! But in reality, Heaven it is. Yet, each day our newspapers and media are covered with an endless list of human sufferings, social misgivings, crimes and felonies we commit against each other, murdering our enemies and sometimes even friends and family, where do we stop!
Here’s the irony, the political party that is most favoured by the people wins the majority. But they soon turn around and betray that priceless trust. We have now created our own monster that will suppress the Opposition and perpetrate Laws and Regulations that keep in line with their own predetermined anti-people agenda.
The solution? Now that the Opposition has been reduced to a bunch of heckling, arm-waving redundant Members of the Legislature, it is imperative that we become collectively and cohesively, the opposition. The recent victories of the peoples’ movement against major unacceptable government projects should form the unshakable platform that will enhance and energise the inevitable battles yet to follow. And they will, if not already begun.
Life is all we got; it’s our world, our Goa. We all want to create that imagined Utopia, the world envisaged by Sir (Saint really) Thomas Moore. Why not? Mother Nature has provided for everything that’s necessary. The very miraculous creation of our bodies from soil should provide all the encouragement required to attain a way of life for every human, every creature, to find peace, harmony and joy every moment that exists within “Once upon a time, we live happily ever after”.
And while we are at it, we also need to know and understand who we really are.
(The author is now a permanent resident of Goa after many years of living in Mumbai, New York and London)
