The Dead

What is world to-day; it is the remnants of the dead and some changes here and there that are affected by us. Contributions of dead to the present world are more than what we have been subscribing now. Can we forget our ancestors? It is on account of them we are here to-day. We are indebted to them in one way or another. How much we have inherited from them? They are among the dead to-day. Dead do not carry anything away from this world. They leave each & everything here only. They do not mind whether it is good or bad, whether it is precious or useless. They leave here whatever they save or achieve through out their life with great efforts .They leave behind all their belongings. They go bare handed. Of course, they have no other go but to relinquish everything and go. They are helpless. It is our duty to remember and acknowledge their services. We should remember that we and the generations which follow us are also going to join them later . They are not alone. They are always the majority. Their deeds never perish. They sometimes make them immortal too. Their deeds always remind us of them.

There is a proverb in Kannada language. It conveys that a dead she buffalo was giving 100 liters of milk a day. Here, only after the animal is dead one realizes that it was giving 100 liters of milk a day. The animal is in praised only after it is dead. The animal is not there. It may not be a fact at all. It is not possible to ascertain whether it was giving 100 liters of milk a day or not. It is generally an exaggeration. A good word is uttered only after the animal is dead even though nothing was said when it was alive. Under what circumstances it is said, we should know, it might be either compulsion, or because it has attained fame and name overnight. When it was alive the same person might have beaten and driven it out of cattle shed and discarded it as good for nothing. Literally dead means good for nothing, useless too. Anything that is dead is not generally reckoned for counting or calculation. If we are not good at work we are considered as deadwood.

I remember one Mr. H. M. Krishnamurthy who was working as an attender at Shimoga branch of Corporation Bank since 1962. His employment number was M.303. He used to call himself as M.303. Just like a policeman in Karnataka who generally identifies himself with the number assigned to him. Krishnamurthy was an honest but not an intelligent person. In this context, I remember a small incident too. In those days Corporation Bank used to lend mostly against jewelry. Kitta used to take jewels for appraising and bring them back safely. Branch Manager used to verify the correctness of the weight of the jewels before keeping them inside the safe. One day while weighing jewels then branch manger of the bank accidentally let a golden ring fall on the floor. Next day while cleaning the floor of the bank premises Mr. Murthy got it and he honestly handed it over to branch manager. That branch manager instead of complimenting Mr. Murthy, scolded MR Murthy for the fall of ring on floor. Even after that incident Mr Murthy remained as honest as before. He used to keep all the staff as well as clients of the bank in good humor. Why I remembered Mr. Murthy because he often used to imagine and say, how his mother would weep, wife and we members of staff, would react in case his death takes place. All used to sing praise of him in the mono act. He used to be bestowed with all qualities. They never used to mind whether those qualities were in him or not. This mono act on his part used to bring peels of laughter among we members of Corporation Bank family. Banking is a brainstorming exercise. In between one needs recuperation. That is why we used to encourage it as a time pass. Mr. Murthy is no more now. Yet I realize now very well what takes place generally in this world is nothing but a drama that jocularly Mr. Murthy used to enact. What one could not achieve during their lifetime, they achieve after they die. The dead generate generally sympathy wave in a democracy. People vote for the widow of the deceased, or the son of the deceased. Even those who did not like the deceased and whom they had never voted during their lifetime. Vote their successors or heirs forgetting all the bitterness. Death sometimes abruptly ends all the enmity. Only after death some receive recognition, name and fame. The very same people who were abusing and throwing stones at them start worshiping them. We see garlands around the photos of dead as a mark of respect for them. Instead of doing something worthwhile themselves, some try to en cash the name of the dead and wile away time singing praise of dead. It is difficult to understand behavior of people. Dead remind us what has been said in Bhagvad Geetha by Lord Krishna to Sri Arjuna that soul has no death. It is body that only perishes. Death means change of garb. Soul leaves one body and enters another one. Sometimes greatness is thrust on dead more than the greatness what had been achieved by them during their lifetime. We now a days, come across in an Indian city or town Ambedker Nagar, Ambedker Bhavan, Ambedker Medical college, Ambedker college of Technology, Ambedker Road and what not. No doubt Dr Ambedker was a hero of downtrodden, a barrister and the architect of Indian constitution. He was a self made man. He deserves all the recognition but not in this way but it should be by following his ideals. Similarly, we find glorification of names of a few other leaders after they are dead could be noticed in Indian Cities. Every political party wants to spread the name of their leaders in the above fashion. This may be one of the reasons why posthumously highest awards are awarded to people who said adieu to us. Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in India getting freedom through a non-violent moment to India. It was first in the history of mankind. Yet, he hasn’t been awarded Nobel Prize for peace at all. Is it not mockery of Nobel Prize? After one is dead sometimes whatever good he or she had done are forgotten sometimes. It is the nature of a few people only. But it is generally either good deed or bad deed of ours or that of others remain and last longer than anything else in this world. We are remembered for our deeds. A sculpture of a sculptor, a novel, poem, etc of a writer, an art of an artist is it is possible for us to imagine how long they would last and how long they would be remembered.

We find many immortals among the dead. The immortals are great. They are remembered for their deeds. Shakespeare, Michel Angelo, Kalidasa, Shelly, Keats, Wordsworth etc are all dead but they are remembered for their work or contribution to the field of literature or art. Many Mogul emperors might have ruled India but we know Akbar and Aurangjeb because of their deeds. Likewise Sri Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar Empire, ChandraGupta Maurya of Mauryas etc is only remembered and not every Tom Dick and Harry. Others come and go unnoticed. Our deeds survive even after our death. It is they, which can make us immortal or unforgettable. Atrocities too are not forgotten easily. That is why brutal deeds of Hitler, Mussolini, Gujarat riots, Mumbai riots, 1984 riots at Delhi, etc are not forgotten. They remain green for a pretty long time. Fitzgerald says “Dead yesterday, unborn tomorrow, when everything is fine to day, why do you think and weep over them” But life is not that easy. Past haunts everybody. Past cannot be written off as dead so easily. Even though everybody wants to forget and bury the past, he or she could not do it with ease or effortlessly. Everything cannot remain underground forever but surfaces either to day or tomorrow. Here tomorrow may be even after our death. Dead means chapter is not over. Sometimes a new chapter begins. Though body of the dead mingles with mud, their deeds remain unchanged. "The Dead "live with us alive through their thoughts and deeds. Besides dead remain in our memories as long as we are alive. Great souls generally leave behind a legacy which is worth emulating. Of course, dead become ghosts spirits etc live with us are our illusions and superstitions only. They are false. No sane person believes in their existence or believes that unsatisfied souls whose wishes are not fulfilled become ghosts, spirits etc. Where there is will there is a way, even in death one can be useful to others. One can donate their organs like eyes ,kidneys etc. to the needy and breathe their last with contentment peacefully .We are born equal without any clothes on, we are buried or burnt equal without any clothes on, and whatever divides like rich or poor anything is there that is in between only. This is philosophy of life. Some realize these facts early and some realize it with delay but there is nothing strange at all. Wherever epitaphs are written the dead through their survivors could get written a message to the surviving or the survivors can get written any of the ideals, which the deceased represented. It is said in Kannada “Sharanara savannu maranadallikanu” which means what type of a person one is or how one has led his or her life we can see in one’s death.