Back to Basics

Earlier this morning, I was sitting on the verandah, enjoying the sun and watching my young cousin studying in the sixth standard do some of her homework. Watching her wasting time (and believing in the principle that others shouldn't play around and waste time no matter how much time you do it yourself), I set her a task.

The task was simple for a student in the sixth grade. I asked her to write the Hindi alphabet- from 'Ka' to 'Gya'- the 'varnmala' as it is called. I was not surprised when she was unable to write it correctly. All the alphabets were there but the order was wrong.

I was not suurprised because the same thing had happened to me, and incidentally in my sixth standard. I had to relearn the 'varnmala' and move on.

 What I mean to convey from these incidents is that as we move on in life, as we go from the basic to the complicated, as we scale heights, we tend to forget. We tend to forget the basics, the depths we encountered and get embroiled in all the complications life has to offer.

I think that it behoves well, therefore, to stop from time to time, look back, relearn and move on.

Spare a thought for the past, learn from it and look to the future.

Happy New Year 2010.