Despite the absolute meaninglessness
of Life itself, its absurdity, you have to make it worth living.
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| Abbott cradles Hughes after the bouncer felled him Picture Courtesy: Agencies/Internet |
In today’s Hindu, noted sports writer and columnist, Nirmal Shekar, writes an
open letter to New South Wales’ fast-medium bowler Sean Abbott, whose freak
bouncer critically injured Phil Hughes last Tuesday – an accident that claimed Hughes’ Life a few
days later. Shekar’s letter is poignant and is an essay on Life itself. Urging Abbott to treat the incident
only as an accident, Shekar talks about the absurd nature of Life. He writes: “…If the ball had climbed an inch higher or
moved a shade wider, the world would be a different place for you (Abbott) today
— as it would be for all of us, as cricket lovers. It was the rarest of rare accidents
that cost Hughes his Life and you just happened to be at the wrong end of one
of Life’s devilish deals…How can a person make sense of something that lies
beyond all conventional powers of explanation, you might ask. After all, you
chose to play a sport — and one of the most culturally sophisticated ones at
that. And you might not have killed a fly in your Life…Why me, you might ask…But
that’s Life Sean. There are no answers for certain questions, except that much
of Life is down to sheer chance. And viewed from this standpoint, Life does
indeed seem absurd…”
Shekar’s writing is simple and the wisdom
he offers Abbott is profound. There is indeed no point in asking ‘Why me?’ in Life. People, events, situations, moods,
attitudes, opportunities and challenges – most of them beyond your
comprehension or control when they happen – conspire to take your Life forward.
Your Life’s path is never your own doing alone. Some believe it is preordained.
Others try to disagree, intellectualizing their argument with rational thinking
and evidence. But whatever happens in Life, simply happens. Abbott’s and Hughes’
case is just another one in point. Two young cricketers, both of them in their
prime, readying to play a big role for their national team in the upcoming
World Cup – and suddenly one of them dies and the other is buried in grief and
guilt; all this while playing a game that was their raison d’etre!. What did they do wrong? Nothing! They were simply
playing a game! Therein lies the answer to the various contexts and situations,
where we find ourselves entangled, in Life. We must recognize that we are just
playing this game called Life. The only right we have is to keep playing this
game well, being true to ourselves and the spirit of the game, no matter what
happens to us.
And everything that happens to us will be –
and is – meaningless. We came with nothing. And we will go with nothing. So,
why then go through the travails of an academic education, why earn, why raise
families, why create assets and why work? If none of what we acquire – degrees,
wealth, name, fame and experience – is ever going to matter, why go through the
grind of ‘earning-a-living’? So, evidently, everything’s meaningless.
But the purpose of Life is not to make
meaning out it. It is never about you alone. And which is why you must often
pause to reflect on what you are doing. Your upbringing teaches you that you
must be self-obsessed with your grades, your money, your family and your career.
But Life’s beauty lies in going through the unknown – called this lifetime –
while being useful to others, to humanity. Life’s essence lies in being able to
serve before you say you deserve! Only this attitude can make Life meaningful
for you. Without this understanding, you will remain self-centered forever. And
the more self-centered you are, the more you will resist the Life that is
happening – and will happen – to you. That how you end up suffering and agonizing
so much.
Life is just a series of events and
experiences. The only way to live it well is to go through each of them with a
child-like innocence and a student-like curiosity, serving humanity selflessly at
every opportunity. Along the way you will learn to live your Life better and
better. Every bouncer from Life will then not torment you and every fall will
then not finish you. Because you will
have learnt to get up, dust yourself and move on … playing on, and making a
difference, until the last ball is bowled!
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