Life Goes on

I've a million and one thing that I would like to blog about. But having started on my maiden step, I would have to move along in an arithmatic progression, piling up sand to become a castle as the Chinese saying goes, grain by grain. But not building castle in the air, I hope. Certainly I've not come half way around the world to do just that.

I think one of our greatest endowments is the ability to read and write. We can appreciate the beauty of both the spoken and the written word, be awed by the thoughts that strings of words conjure up, and the emotions that they evoke.

It used to be that diaries are personal, kept away under lock and key. But the progression to electronic journals and now blogs is astounding to say the least. More important is the opening up of the mind, and the willingness to share the hitherto hidden feelings of mere mortals.

Ours is only a brief sojourn in this world, and not many people can leave behind deeds that posterity will be proud to inherit. So the birth of the blogosphere seems like a god-send for common folks to leave behind their marks.

It has created a seemingly level playing field where participation is only a click away. I say seemingly because many are still surviving from hand to mouth, where both access to and literacy of the information superhighway are still a luxury.

It seem ironic bordering on hypocrisy that we could be ensconced in the cool comfort afforded by modern living to blog about at best inconveniences while watching the untold human suffering and misery that pan out on the monitor or splash across the paper. The ability of the human mind to exhibit this dichotomy, the nonchalance, the absence of empathy, whatever you want to call it, is chilling.

The common refrain becomes life goes on. But so does global warming, famine, religious strife, etc. Such is life's many ironies, and most will resign to that philosophical state of mind. But thankfully, there are amongst us who dare to move beyond the comfort zone, who put the world on their shoulders, and who selflessly bring joy and relief to the victims of benign neglect. And the least we can do is to say a prayer, theologically driven or otherwise.

(First posted on Sep 30, 2006)