Definition:- An epiphany (from the ancient Greek epiphaneia, “manifestation, striking appearance”) is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something. The term is used in either a philosophical or literal sense to signify that the claimant has “found the last piece of the puzzle and now sees the whole picture,” or has new information or experience, often insignificant by itself, that illuminates a deeper or numinous foundational frame of reference.
Its been a while since I last posted anything on the blog. Inspiration unlike lightning often strikes twice and so it did over the past week.
I’ve never subscribed to the one world concept before. Being a fan of history I’ve always enjoyed reading about different cultures and believed that the diversity in thoughts, beliefs and faiths is something that fostered evolution of the human species and expanded our mental capacity. The internet has in many ways robbed us of the uniqueness of thoughts that existed before. These days people read about something as soon as it happens. Later on every major news website has already covered it to death and everybody knows about it. This common consciousness is perhaps restricting the development of a new revolutionary idea. Maybe there exists some individual out there who has the potential to discover within him/her the creative spark to launch the next cultural renaissance. Unfortunately that person is too busy looking at funny youtube videos of cats falling from tables and of babies singing the alphabet. But I digress.
Lately I’ve been traveling to office using Mumbai’s heartline – trains. While they’ve always fascinated me before, my respect for them has grown million-fold over past few months. Over 6 million people use them on a daily basis and they are in many ways responsible for the city’s productivity. Trains inevitably lead to the people using them. I’ve made it a point not to use headphones or mp3 players while traveling. I love observing people and have made the most of analyzing people around me. Walking on a crowded street few days ago while rushing to catch a train on my way back from work is when I had my first epiphany. I realized as people brushed past me that each of them had a story to tell; fascinating experiences of their own and an entire lifetime of thoughts & feelings which mirror my own. At that very moment I realized we are all the same. Any human walking across the Earth at that very moment represented something. We are all parts of the whole; what the whole may be is yet to be determined. Being a fan of philosophy I know there are millions of questions such as ‘Who we are’ and ‘Why are we here’ which have been asked in the past and no doubt will be in the future. However it is when you yourself ask these questions that they become relevant to you. No one can make you ask these questions. Everyone has experiences that drive them to this point. I’ve had some of them in the past but it really hit me on this particular evening.
Human beings aren’t good or bad. They’re simply human. Its their actions that determine their orientation. All bad people can display glimmers of goodness in then and the noblest person to have lived can also tread down a different path if only for a moment. We’re not black or white but different shades of grey.
I don’t hold grudges or ill-will against people of any country, region or religion. We’re all here for a limited amount of time. Where we were born was simply a matter of accident. Why hold it against someone who had no choice in the matter?
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” ~Anaïs Nin
Part Deux:-
Last night on the way to the train station I was walking on the road because the footpath has a lot of cracks and its difficult to see them properly at night. A lot of people walk on the road towards oncoming traffic so we can see the cars and they can see us. On this occasion however a tempo driver carry some goods did not see me. His “cleaner” or assistant did see me and ask him to slow down/stop but it did not happen in time. I tried my best to avoid him and pressed against the railing between the road and the footpath. It wasn’t enough.
The mini-truck dug into my hips and twisted me around. As this happened I heard a crack and only hoped it wasn’t my back. I was finally so squished that the tempo could not move and I was wedged in. Many on-lookers were horrified and made the driver stop. Luckily I managed to wiggle a bit and someone helped me remove my backpack and get over the railing. I was in a daze, thinking the incident had happened to someone else and it wasn’t until I reached home that I snapped out of it.
Later on I checked my backpack and a plastic container carrying my eve snacks had been busted. The crazy thing is I trusted my intuition earlier and moved the container from the bottom of the pile to the very spot that would bear the brunt of the force and save my back. Minor internal bruises to my hips did occur but they shall pass.
An important lesson was learnt that life can change in a split second. I did not want to have a new found zest for life ala Ross in Friends and numerous other people in numerous other instances but this is inevitable. I’m going to make an effort to appreciate the present a lot more that I currently do.
Man – a being in search of meaning. ~Plato
