REMEMBERING

We come to this earth and live for sometime and bid adieu. The population of world has been always on the increase. Now it has crossed several billions. We are one among those billion and billions of people. We aren't known many times in our home town itself either during our lifetime or thereafter. We don't know much about our grandfather and great grandfather and other members of family too. There was a time when births and deaths weren't properly registered. No one want their life to go unnoticed. They want their presence to be felt. They don't want to disappear like a star in the sky. Everyone wants their life to be worthwhile. Everyone wants to do something to the society.Though, doing something for being remembered by someone is selfishness, doing something which is worth remembering following and sharing is really plausible. Otherwise, what's the use of being born. Everyone wishes that they are remembered. In fact,they pray remembrance not for fame but pray it for their contentment.They rightly wonder why they are not remembered when Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler are remembered .With this in mind everyone tries to do something or other that makes them remembered. It's their goal of life.It's a reasonable goal. There's nothing strange in it. Everyone is unique and special in their own way. Everyone born on earth deserves remembrance. Remembering is a recognition. It's acknowledging presence. It has got significance. In fact,remembering one is honoring and respecting them . Every religion advocates remembering the dead.Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. Remembering is a step to consider the whole of universe as a family too. It is dreaming . It is keeping anything alive. Remembering anything good always brings joy. Remembering mere whatever good or whatever bad one has done is no good, one has to note the good and forget the bad. There are countless ways of remembering.

Remembering is an individual choice.More than anything remembering needs will.There must be no strings or distinction while remembering. Whatever that's remembered,it should be remembered as it is.Remembering is normally either remembering a man or an incident. Rich or poor everyone must be remembered equally. Everyone could not be great. Remembering a great man is not really greater than remembering a poor man. The inimitable smile of poor man occupies the mind when a poor man is remembered. Life is a series of events. There is a vast difference between remembering good events and bad events of life. Remembering good events in life generate positive thoughts that make one happy , joyful and optimistic. Remembering bad events generate negative thoughts which give rise to feelings of vengeance , revenge, jealousy, hatred and anger.That is why Edward Fitzgerald asks us not to remember anything . He says

"Unborn tomorrow and dead yesterday,

Why fret about them if today be sweet?"

Similarly,Mahatma Gandhi said " Don't see bad, don't hear bad and don't speak bad". Mahatma Gandhi said this because he felt that reign of memory over a man is tremendous and Gandhiji was afraid that seeing bad, hearing bad and speaking bad may affect a man not only adversely but also it may affect a man psychologically too.

Remembering the good old days is the pastime most of the old men. Even now there are people who remember provider of food daily too. They pray "Anna Dhata Sukhi Bhava" Every matter is not remembered at an uniform velocity. Some matters are remembered quickly and some matters are remembered gradually. Sometimes, it's recapitulation. Remembering is a process. It's an exercise. It depends upon memory which one has. Usually, a reason is required for remembering. However, it isn't compulsory at all. There's no hard and fast rule on remembering. Remembering is a good quality . A good quality normally develops many other good qualities. Remembering is one of the ways of expressing gratitude. The first way to show true thanksgiving to God is to always remember Him. If one cannot remember more one can remember name.It is enough. God would be pleased with remembrance of name. Great devotee Sri Purandara Dasa says remembrance of name of God tantamount to visiting all shrines.

Something one must remember.Something one shouldn't remember to lead life happily and peacefully. Of course, one must always remember only what's that's necessary.When one knows more and more there's dilemma what to remember and what not to remember. One who does balancing in remembering is really shrewd. Remembering starts right from the primary class. It's during primary classes students by heart tables and poems and remember them. A memory is limited. It is capable of taking one into a different world. It takes one from present to past. It's nothing but a pool of experience. It can be sweet or bitter.It is thoughts traversing backward . It's in a way looking back at life. It's while remembering one incident normally another incident flashes into mind. Remembering is taxing of the mind.It's thinking which opens the book of memory . One must be selective while remembering otherwise remembering can be of no use and can be waste of time.

Memory is a store. What it contains it's a mystery. Everyone cannot remember everything equally. Memory depends upon the mindset of an individual. It's different to different people.Memory is precious.It is important not only for students to pass exams but to everyone in everyday life. It can do wonders. One could remember only what it permits. Though memory is always useful it's more important at difficult times.It's a good and fun companion during leisure time too. As age advances memory too usually declines.If one doesn't say anything without remembering it's wrong. If one says something sometimes without remembering then also it's wrong . Further, remembering in time is very important . In fact, it's a stitch in time.It must be clear concise complete and correct. Otherwise it must not be shared. Alzheimer's disease makes one aware how important memory is. Memory costs one nothing but non memory may surely cost one more.

Why do we feel difficult to remember many important things of life or why are we ignorant of many important things of life. Sometimes we are selfish. Selfishness does not allow one to remember anyone except themselves. Further,when we face difficulties after difficulties in life, our mind gets so much agitated that we would not know what to remember and whom to remember. An organ that is over strained usually does not work normally or properly. What a memory would be a to a man it cannot be predicted. It could be either an asset or liability to a man.

Indebtedness needn't be financial only . It could be otherwise too. Such an indebtedness couldn't be either settled or repaid also. Only option that would be left at that time is remembering. It's remembering the benevolence with tears of gratitude. Nobody generally helps with intention that they should be remembered . However, not remembering a help that anybody does is ingratitude. Ingratitude is a sin. Remembering is many times a duty also. Life isn't one man show. What a guy is today is many contribution. One gets established in the world due to contribution of many only.

Respect should always be commanded but it must never be demanded. I would be wrong if I do not remember my headmaster namely late Mr . K Vittappa. Remembering great personalities motivate and inspire us . A personality which impresses us remains always fresh in our memory. It never dims and fades over the time.Mr . K Vittappa. was headmaster of Board High School Kundapur when I passed my S. S. L. C. examination in 1956. He was more than 6 ft tall lean weak bodied black complexioned bespectacled simple person. His was neither an awe inspiring personality nor an attractive personality. He had no healthy look at all.His chins were deep inside on his face. He used to clad always in white dhoti and jubba and wear chappals. He used to comb his black hair nicely. He had a nice crop. He was not an opulent man. He had a middle sized family. In 1958, we were his neighbors too on high school road. His house was only a few yards away from our house. He had to go by our home while going hither and thither. We were his neighbors only for a brief period . Thereafter, he was transferred to Board High School Udupi. He was a kind hearted person. It was during that period my father who was ailing from heart disease for a quite a long time passed away to heavenly abode. I was only 19 years old at that time. Since then it is more than five decades now. Mr . K Vittappa had died but his deeds are alive. A man may die but his deeds would be alive. Deeds live longer. Though, Mr . K Vittappa belonged to a backward class , his behavior and knowledge were not at all inferior to someone who belonged to a forward class in any respect. Caste and creed are man made divisions . All are human beings first. Mr . K Vittappa was an excellent human being and teacher . Teaching is one of the noblest professions.

After father's death, there was no earning member in our house.It was testing time for the family. It was a time when our close relatives hardly helped us. Majority of us were school going . We were good at studies. Mr. K Vittappa realized our difficulties. He became our well wisher. Daily, he used to inquire our welfare. He used to get books from school library and elsewhere for our pursuing studies. He secured for my brothers and sisters fee concessions in the school. He used to share with us vegetables grown in his garden. I do not find words to describe the love and affection shown by him and members of his family. When Mr. K Vittappa was transferred to Udupi, he left behind his dog with us. It was black in color and was strong and sturdy. We called it Black. It was very faithful and affectionate. It was not allowing any stranger to enter our compound at all. It barked at all strangers. It was terror to others. In short it guarded our home well.It was pet to all the members of our family. When I was in Bombay in 1960, I came to know that it was shot down by our neighbor Mr. Pais. I mourned its death.

Mr. Venkataraya Bhandary is a personality to be remembered too. Though man is a social animal , all do not mingle with everyone. Personalities differ in this world. Without different personalities the world would probably be very boring and relationships would be harder to form. Some people mingle with people according to their age and status . Some elders do not talk with children but Mr. Bhandary was not of that type. Mr. Bhandary used to talk with elders , children , female and everyone. He was a tall slim unassuming personality.He was a contemporary of my dear father. He too was was a bank manager. Of course of a cooperative bank. He was not related to us. Always clad in a lungi with a Beedi in his mouth. He was a regular visitor to us. His house was not near house. He was coming walking every morning without fail. He was not coming for getting anything done by us. It was only a courtesy visit.In no way he was troublesome to us at all. If he doesn't turn out any day we used to get worried.It seems he was getting up early in the morning. He was hale and healthy. He used to visit us with one or another news that were making rounds in the town. During those days "Navabharatha " was a popular Kannada daily newspaper in Dakshinakannada. Some of the news that he was bringing used to be there in newspaper and some news never used to be there in newspaper because it was mostly local news. Local news local people know better and it is they who are more interested in them too .

Whether opulent or non opulent in every house there were large number of children in those days. Family planning was a rare concept. Mr Bhandary too had number of children. He had grown up children as well as children of our age. His sons were in Bahrain as well as at Mumbai. They were all well employed and well settled . Naturally, Mr Bhandary was proud of his children as every father always should be. Those children who were at Kundapur were our classmates. Mr Bhandary had the habit of bragging. There is nothing wrong in it .It is the habit of some people . He was always comparing our performance in school with performance of his children. Always we used to chit chat and have tussle with him. He had access from kitchen to everywhere in our house. In fact, Mr Bhandary had become a part and parcel of our family. One of the social service in those days was carrying dead bodies to crematoriums. There were hardly any mortuary vans in those days. Moreover, crematoriums used to be far away from town and corpse had to be carried over the shoulders there. It was really a tough job. Those who were very near and dear only used to undertake that task. All do not have friends and relatives at a place. In such an eventuality it was social workers who used to attend to it. In fact, there are parents who usually take a son who bothers them a lot to task with abuse that he is not even good for carrying corpse over shoulders only. It is a way of conveying one that they are not good for anything. Carrying a corpse is seldom easy. Carrying a corpse was a punishment in ancient Rome. At Kundapur , crematorium was at Hallekote. It was miles and miles away from our house. It was 1958, dear father had passed away to heavenly abode and he had to be cremated . One of the men who came running to join in his last journey was Mr Bhandary. To-day Mr Bhandary is not there . I remember him . His services. Human relationship is in no way not less intimate than blood relationship.