Behold! Brace yourself for the end of the world

Why we should stop thinking about cataclysm and move ahead with zeal.

Around 4000 years ago, a quarantined Adam ate a tempting Fuji apple. Cherubim got a permanent appointed as the guardian of the Garden of Eden. When someone is driven out of eternal paradise, the concept of value is born. Most importantly, the value of time.

As per an ancient Maya prediction, December 21, 2012, was supposed to be the end of the world. Numerous seers have already predicted the end of the world. But Donald Trump has become the 45th president of America. Besides, people now play cricket in the Eden Gardens.

More than 10 years ago, as a boy filled with innocence, death was nothing but a framed portrait photo in the hallway, and the end of the world was a television movie transforming into virtual reality.

“Everything that has a beginning comes to an end” — Marcus Fabius Quintilianus

This quote by Quintilian is quite distressing if you actually think about it. Life itself doesn’t make any sense when you know that tomorrow might never come, ever! Nuclear war, Supernova, an asteroid hit, alien Hijack, judgement day, lightning strike, snakes on a plane, method acting, vampire bite or maybe stepping on the banana peel lying on the supermarket entrance.

Let me introduce a more painful notion — Eternity. Do you want to watch a movie with no end? Even a long movie can be quite frustrating unless it’s gripping enough like “The Lord of the Rings”.

Life isn’t a long voyage. That’s exactly what makes it beautiful. Now forget the above quote and dive into the following.

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly” –Richard Bach

Many devout Christians believed that the world would come to a sudden end just 1000 years after Christ. As the forewarn passed away, millennium (a 1000 years) came to be known as a change to a better world.

A caterpillar could be in melancholy when it goes to that deep long slumber not realising what it would be when it opens its senses once again. Similarly, we are caught up in the rat race to reach our ‘self’-actualisation.

In this process of making the world a better place, let’s shake the world a little less.

We don’t need Lord Shiva to wink his third eye to bring ashes to ashes. We have been criticizing man-made contamination, slaughtering of clucking hens to satisfy our taste buds. It’s not just humans. Even the birds that sing the lullaby in your backyard who feed on insects, worms, and seeds are constantly destroying life as well.

But we can’t blame the animals as they don’t slaughter more than 80 billion animals each year and leave some of it in the platter. Hence, our part in satisfying self-interest must be compensated with sustainable development. Carry on with your chores and responsibilities by contemplating the future generation.

Oftentimes we only think about us humans. We need all the existing creatures except mosquitoes. How humanly do we treat even the endangered free animals like cows, hens, pigs, and crows on the runway? Ahimsa, the Jain concept of not hurting other living things is not absolutely practical. Considering our necessities, what matters is to what extent can we endeavour this ageless idea.

If our paradise was lost due to one and only one daring decision made by a man in the wilderness then how many such stupid things have we made, or worse than stupid? At least, Adam ate that apple. I do remember the last time I threw a half-eaten apple.

We need one another. If insects never evolved on this planet, our plants wouldn’t be garnished with pretty flowers and we won't be able to call our loved ones “honey”.

As yet, a pale blue dot is our only home. Nourish it with your love and protect it. Now as you ride this journey in congruence with your treasured mortals, keep in mind this vital Sanskrit verse- Vasudhaiva kutumbakam — “the world is one family”

Year 3797- the last year that Nostradamus could crystal gaze! Is it a hoax or could it be the judgement day? Like in stock markets, history could perhaps repeat with a new journal of stories and tales, not extinguishing the flicker of a seer in each one of us. Until that day of no yesterday, let’s play our part in the circle of life like Mufasa always dreamt.