Life's debts
Long times back I happen to be watching a 1950s bollywood movie where the hero's aeroplane crashes and he falls haywire in jungles, close to the hutments of tribals living in that area. Bruised all over and blood dripping, hero is spotted and saved by film's heroine, who incidentally happens to be Tribal Chief's daughter, and her friends, and brought to village Doctors (called Vaidhya).
Doctors, after attending to hero's wounds, advise the heroine to take him home and nurse him and give him rest and good diet etc. In a few days, because of intense care taken by heroine, hero recovers and is ready to go. Needless to say, because of the time they spent together, hero and heroine fall in love with each other, unmindful of the fact that one day they have to part ways.
Incidentally, the tribal village had a rule that in case any person outside their tribe ever comes to their village, he/she shall be hanged and he/she can not go back alive. So after hero had recovered, the Tribal Chief summons a meeting of all the villagers and advises that hero be brought in the meeting and he be hanged in presence of all the villagers, as per their rule on treatment of foreigners. The scene shows hangman ready, hero chained and being brought in the meeting, and heroine and her friends screaming for mercy.
The Chief, however, is unrelenting, and orders hanging of hero even when he gets to know that her daughter, the heroine of the film, is in love with hero and hero also loves his daughter. The Tribal Chief ask for any last wish from hero, or does he want to say something, to which hero says, " Sir, I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of the life God gave me, which shall now come to an end without paying the debt of goodness and nursing done by heroine (loosely translated in hindi, it means, " जहापनाँह, मुझे मौत से डर नहीं लगता, लेकिन मुझे ईश्वर की दी हुई उस ज़िंदगी से डर लगता है जो एहसान का क़र्ज़ चुकाए बिना ख़त्म हो जाएगी। But for that care, goodness and benevolence of heroine, who nursed him during the time he was hanging between life and death, he would have been long dead, much before his execution today.”
The climax of the movie understandably changes, Chief decides to forego the village rule and lets hero a reprieve, and hero and heroine get married and live happily thereafter.
The crux here is that statement of Hero, viz., " I am not afraid of death. But, I am afraid of the God given life, which will now end without paying back the debt of care and benevolence of someone who saved my life."
Have you repaid your debt, or have you planned how to repay your debt of the life...................; for we all are busy in raising a family, earn money, build a house, have as luxurious life style as one can afford, or may be even more than that and earning name and fame - totally unaware about the existence of life beyond our family, work, business and our lifestyle. We all are consumerists, who relentlessly use God given talent and natural resources to aggrandizement and fulfillment of the visible life we live. We all continue to live without owning any responsibility to do some good for the society, for the other human beings.
In this context, I am reminded of a quote of renowned scientist Albert Einstein, which goes like this ; " A hundred times everyday, I remind myself that my inner and outer life depended on the labours of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving."
Pause, Think and Act. Keep reviewing Balance Sheet of your life, and be conscious of your obligations to repay your debts. Start now, may be with baby steps, scale that up, and pass on that legacy to your children also.