The Direction of Sound I Hear

When I think about any aspect of my life, I walk back, back to where things began to make sense. It allows me to have clarity about my life on that particular subject and at the same time who knows, what I may have misinterpreted or I could have missed the complete picture or I could have overlooked the whole new meaning waiting to be discovered.



We begin this life an infant, unfamiliar to this new world in which we arrive and then there are those smiling faces with arms extended, ready to teach everything they can. The unfamiliarity, it never truly ends, even at this moment I write, deep into my adulthood, a lot remains unknown to me, not only new things but also different perspectives and greater understandings.



At each step of the stairs we climb, there are people behind us we know would catch us if we fall and if needed, they would even push us, it takes a whole lot of inspiration, trust and even admiration to live this life with the thought of keep moving ahead.



It’s needless to say we meet a lot of people in life directly or indirectly; some we know very closely and some through what the world tells us of them. None the less everyone has something to teach us and a few of them stay in our minds and hearts to remain and always be that light of inspiration, motivation and guidance.



When I was a small boy, it was quite simple, anyone who did anything interesting was an instant inspiration, like my friend’s cousin who would play cricket with the older boys and it was a faster paced game than what we used to play and I admired him to be able to hit balls at that speed with the cricket bat. This was one of those things you grow up and realise, ‘oh it was just a matter of time before I could do it too.’



My usual clear inspiration were my parents and the formal one, as was taught were the teachers, you know that part  when at a school event we thank our parents but are also told to do the same for our teachers and principal as well and not the friends that we want to rather mention. I guess that part is the reason some children never end up developing that natural longlasting respect for their teachers like they do for their family, friends and neighbors.



As I grew, it was clear to me that my grandparents and parents would always be that eternal source of inspiration, the people who would inspire me the most with the right kind of advice. What I hadn’t figured out was that people go away too, they leave the world not to return forever. So, basically at a point of time more than half of my admired people were no more and I thought this is it.



But it wasn’t, I got married and found out there were some very interesting people on the other side too.



I know a lot of people find their admiration at their workplaces, amongst their friends and among those who are popular across the world for their achievements, but I kept it close to the heart amongst my family and that is what works for me. 

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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