Life and death are illusions. We are in a constant state of transformation.
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| Life and Death |
When my mom (Shirin S Savliwala) passed away, I was in the U.K. Her death probably took away the torture she was undergoing for the past month and a half as she had a severe deterioration in August. Fortunately, it may be supposed, I was able to go to meet her for a few days that time; however, when her end came, I could not be there in time for her last rites.
When I did visit India in mid-September, she had been buried for over 10 days. Even so, I was able to visit her grave and pay my last respects to her. She has left behind over 45 years of memories for me. She married my father when my biological mom passed away in 1971 of breast cancer. She was the real mom to me, although she wasn't my birth mom, as she reared me right from my primary school years to where I am today. May her soul rest in peace.
When you talk of death, can birth or life be far behind? The miracle of life is all around us. I have a small succulent plant that I purchased from a local store a few months ago. It hardly needs watering. I noticed, around mid-October, that it had sprung a whole new stem from the top of it. Now, several new leaves have risen in a rosette around this new stem.
Babies are born at the hospital where I work with near-clockwork regularity. Thousands of babies are born everywhere in the world, with a near 350,000 born globally in a 24-hour interval. Add to this the number of other life forms and we are talking of millions of new organisms, plants and animals every single day of our life. And then, I think: Hmm. So, regardless of lives lost, the planet keeps forming new life at a pace faster than it extinguishes its previous citizens.
That is the hope that keeps us going.
What do you think about this issue? Do you think death is a limitation on our race or a kind of selection that makes the species stronger? Do reply in the comments section.
May I also ask you to visit the blog of one of my very good friends who stays at Houston, Texas. Please read her blog HERE.
My friend Mitzi Partai could not post this comment herself but she has allowed me to post it on her behalf:
ReplyDelete>>I was unable to post my comment in your blog.
I have wondered about this balance, life and death. It is not one of my favorite subjects,but, I think we are over populating the world. I think we should slow all that down. My Higher Power, God, doesn't agree with me, obviously. Not many of us even wish to speak like that. It is all very mystical and can be viewed with joy or sadness.<<
Further, she added:
>>It is a bit cynical but I see so many poor children born without a loving home. I think too many people who can not afford it, have children. Drugs are responsible for this.<<
Sorry, her last name should be Partain.
DeleteI think that it's a shame others feel they have a right to control women's reproductive choices and their bodies. We would likely have fewer "unwanted" children, if this were not the case (either because contraceptives would be more readily available to women who are not ready to bear children, or abortions could be obtained early and without shame, or voluntary sterilization could be made less costly). In any case, I don't think that "drugs are responsible for this" when it comes to people who cannot AFFORD children having them. Drugs are a whole different problem, leading to children born addicted from the womb. It's a sad topic but one we can't shy away from or afford to get wrong. Adoption (at least in the US) should be made a bit easier, so that couples had less incentive to go overseas for a child when they could not have one of their own. But people who want a particular kind of child - a certain look, a particular gender - maybe aren't ready to be parents. God doesn't work that way, why should adoption agencies?
DeletePoverty isn't a bar to being good and loving parents; but being so poor you cannot provide basic necessities may not be the best time to bring a child into the world. Children need the kind of unconditional love that doesn't mind being vomited on at 3 am and doesn't waver when the child first learns the terrible, cutting power of the words "I hate you!!" and tries them out on the safest human to try them out on - mom or dad.
I don't think we need to slow population growth, but maybe we need to stop trying to live forever. Without new people, fresh ideas will dry up. We don't tend to become more curious, more open minded, or more innovative with age (there are exceptions, of course!). For that reason, though, I would not choose to live forever, even if I could.
Dear Holly,
DeleteI agree with most of the things you have said. However, who are we to judge what people want. The feeling of love that wells from the heart does depend a lot on the looks of what our love wells towards. Sometimes, for example, we like potatoes but not carrot; on other occasions, carrots look more enticing than a potato. A lot of our likes and dislikes stem from our mood as well as the look of what we like or do not like.
Having said that, I will concede that prospective parents must at least have the resources to take basic care of an adoptee child; else, there is bound to be some form of abuse or neglect.
Sorry - that's all well and good when it comes to food, or to friends, but not to parenting. (Oh, sure, it DOES apply to parenting, too, unfortunately...but those are the folks who probably should've stuck to carrots and remained childless. And we're talking about CHILDREN, not a MATE, so this "enticing" analogy is a bit off. I don't love my children for their looks, I just love them, and I love each of the little people they've been, and each of the grown-ups they're becoming. As a non-adoptive parent, I didn't get to pick out looks, sex, personality. I think that adoptive parents who choose a child based on the child's need for a home, love, nurturing, and encouragement are the best kind of parents.)
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%. Perhaps my analogy was a bit off. However, I have seen parents preferring one kid of their over another - I mean no one is perfect and there will be preferences sometimes based on external characteristics.
DeleteThanks a lot for your active interaction.
Taher