The good things that come to an End!

All Good Things
Alas, that Spring should vanish with the Rose
That Youth's sweet-scented Manuscript should close!
The Nightingale that in the Branches sang,
Ah, whence, and whither flown again, who knows!

Thus sang Omar Khayyam and we too echo the same sentiment in more prosaic words like ‘all good things must come to an end’! We say this at the closure of a game of cards on a lazy Sunday afternoon when all the beer that we consume clouds our vision and makes it difficult for us to differentiate the clover from the spade. We say this after a big stag party while the wife is away but is very much expected back on the following morn! We say it at the end of a long vacation prior to burning the mid night oil to wrap up the kids’ books and notebooks with brown paper.

But can you see where do we stand in comparison to the great poet? The difference between the profundity of the fleeting things that he laments over and the minor pleasures of life that we mournfully bid farewell to shows us in such a contemptuous light! When we talk of good things, we merely have in mind the boisterous parties, vain get-togethers and such colossal time-busters! Good things have no commonality of perspective. What I perceive as a good thing may be a bad thing from your point of view. If you ask Lord Emsworth of Blandings about what he would consider as a good thing, he will have no hesitation in pointing out to his frequent visits to his farm to have a private audience with his massive pig Empress as the best moments of his life. For other lesser mortals, spending time with Empress of Blandings would be a colossal waste of time.

What are the good things that we really feel sad bidding farewell to? It is indeed a matter of great debate. I have heard several yardsticks being mentioned to evaluate a person’s character. Tell me who your friends are, I’ll tell you what you are. Tell me the kind of jokes that a person takes offence at and I’ll tell you what kind of a person he is. The list is really endless and now we can possibly add this too to the list. Tell me what your good things are that make you feel sad when they come to an end and I’ll tell you what you are! Obviously a person who is going to miss Visakha Hari’s discourses when they come to an end will not be the same as the one who is going to feel miserable after the IPL tournament gets over! But then, this statement ‘All good things must come to an end’ is itself a great riddle. Seriously, good things must be able to stand the test of Time. A thing is as good as its durability. Or putting it differently, anything that has a tendency to end can never be a good thing.

During our journey through life, different things appear good at different stages. Nothing appears to be a thing of joy at all stages of our life. Not only good things but everything comes to an end at every stage. It can mean only one thing. Nothing that ends can be either a good thing or a bad thing. As long as we are alive, life is the only thing that has a look of permanency about it. That is to say, until death puts a stop to it. That is the only good thing that can come to an end. There was a song of Nelly Furtado, the famous Canadian singer and song writer whose song ‘All good things must come to an end’ ends with the following lines:

And the sun was wondering if it should stay away for a day
Till the feeling went away
And the sky was falling and the clouds were dropping
And the rainfall forgot how to bring salvation
The dogs were barking at the new moon
Whistling a new tune hoping it would come soon
So that they could die!

These lines are far too profound for a pop song! They celebrate life. They tell us that life, with all its joys and sorrows, is the greatest thing. That is the only thing that can come to end. Ironically, when the end comes, we will not be there to say ‘All good things must come to an end!’

 

My dear k2s

Thanks a lot for your Tamizh Putthandu Vaazhthhukkal which I heartily reciprocate! New Year Greetings can be extended any time and it can never be 'belated'! I look upon every day as a new day and as a new life. The man made compartmentalization as weeks, months and years is only for convenience and it should never come in the way of our functioning.Let us start every day as if it is the start of a New Year with greater resolves, bigger plans and stronger hopes.

That was an excellent explanation for why every thing that begins must have an end! There is a saying attributed to Benjamin Franklin that fish and guests stink in three days. It corresponds to what you say that 'Happy feeling ends the day it extends beyond its time and starts giving us indigestion'. I fully agree with you there. I have nothing in favor of good or against anything bad. Both are merely two sides of the same coin. I merely say that all those things that give us joy must be perpetuated by some way. The problem is that we have no consistency there. What makes us happy today may become an irritant tomorrow because we keep changing our stance all the time!
Sri

 

Dear Dr.Padmini
That FB of yours was truly amazing! It shows the great perspective you have on this issue!
That question about everything being white is one that helps us to understand the kind of self motivation that made people like Helen Keller and Beethoven such celebrities. I have found that people who are born in a monochromatic or monotonous world develop special skills that normal people are deprived of.

I am in total agreement with you that contrast is essential to heighten our sensibility. But this is slightly outside the ambit of our discussion. You have made an interesting point there when you say that all good things come to an end because it allows you to explore new things that are good as well. You may have a point there but is it a prudent one? Don't we know that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush? Will anyone wish away his present happy state of existence to explore new avenues that may be, just may be, equally good? What is the guarantee there that it will be 'good as well'? If we have a good run now, won't you wish that it goes on and on? Generally only those who find that their life is getting more and more arduous would wish for a change. Boredom hardly makes a man in a high paid job to look for a change!

You paint life as an experience similar to shopping in a well stacked super market! I wish it is that simple! I merely wish for a mindset that can look upon everything as good.
Sri

 

My dear OJ
Let me straightaway come to your following words.

"I want to know. Can a beautiful face that you saw for a fleeting second ever end? Can it end even after you end? Can the sight of a sky overcast with dark monsoon clouds ever end? The beauty that you experienced must necessarily be immortal. The fact that it was you who perceived it in your mind at some stage of your life should not endow you with a personal right over it. Even if I have not seen it, it exists as you saw it for a moment. It cannot die. At least, I cannot see how a piece of beauty in the abstract, once created, can ever cease to exist. Even life, which is so beautiful, must continue till the rest of eternity. By life, I mean of course the wonders that you live through."

How hopelessly romantic you can be, OJ! How I hate myself for having to wake you up to reality! The romantic mind keeps all the clouds and rainbows locked up for eternity while the characters in Bimal da’s Do Bigha Zamin and Amir Khan’s Lagaan wait for the romantics to release these clouds for their survival! They wait for the clouds to release their precious content and pale out into non existence. They have no use for good things that just nestle in the minds of romantics. They love clouds as much as a romantic but they want them physically to keep coming in an unending procession making their lives greener. It is their perspective of good things remaining permanent.

What we do during our life time certainly determines how the posterity will look at us. The Masonic Fraternity teaches us to ‘live respected and die regretted’. Both are complementary. Living respected guarantees a respectable existence after death! Only such souls live beyond their death. There is a problem though. Human idealism keeps changing eternally. What is living respected today may not be the same tomorrow because the parameters keep changing. I belong to a generation that grew on the Divine image of Mahatma Gandhi. We were made to believe that he was God’s gift to mankind but that image has now undergone a sea change. Today’s youth ask ‘Mahatma who?’!

I too used to be a diehard romantic OJ but all the beatings that my life has dealt me have made me less romantic and more practical! Life cannot end? Who cares after we are gone! Let it continue but not bother me anymore!

56 comments are not the be all and end all of our writing activity. As a romantic, you know it more than I do! I have heard that the romantics live in a world of their own and I am surprised you even keep a count of your comments! That’s about the only thing in you that shows you as a little practical too!
Sri