There is one school of thought which advocates that since yesterday is dead and gone do not rue over it.Similarly tomorrow is in nature's bowel and we do not know what will happen tomorrow. So do not give a thought to it.Only today, that is the present, that matters.I have some serious reservations about the first statement. What does it mean? Since yesterday is dead and gone, throw it out of your window.What a blasphemous thought! Can we forget that today has blazed forth from yesterday's blast. Can we forget that all our booty came from yesterday.If this Philosophy is accorded any undeserved status, those compulsive criminals and hoodlums who lack in circumspection and introspection and who consequently indulge in malpractices will sleep peacefully without any sense of guilt or compunction.What will happen to the society especially the law abiding citizenry.If this not curbed,law abiding citizens will start hobnobbing with criminals and upstarts and become victims of hocus-pocus tendencies.This hypo-allergenic is fraught with grave consequences.Now turning to practical life situations what do we see. Let us take a building under construction.You have to build upon what has been built yesterday.In this case the theory mentioned above flies out of the window.
Several cultures and civilisations in the past have collapsed, crumbled and bitten the dust because lessons of history were not heeded to. Similarly several mighty empires also disappeared into the dark cavern of antiquity. It has been well said that history repeats itself . Take the case of individuals. How many of us are benefited by past experiences.Or rather how many of us bother to conduct a post mortem of yesterday's events. How many of us have learnt any thing from the lessons of history. How many of us will acknowledge yesterday's follies and foibles.How many of us will have the courage to prick our elephantine ego and own up our past errors of omissions and commissions, blunders and blusters and turn a new leaf. With a myopic outlook we brush aside the past
and forge into the present committing all the mistakes and blunders all over again. We are so afraid of our past conduct that we wish to shut them out like the cat who shuts her eyes in the fond hope that nobody will see her. Proper understanding of all that has been done and undone yesterday will restore our perspective about what should be aimed at today, what is practicable and feasible,what is to be discarded and abandoned and what is to be embraced. Otherwise, a recurring and punishing nightmare will ensue.
Coming to mundane level let us suppose that we have invited someone known to us for a meal. What will be our first thought? We will definitely try to entertain him with dishes that we know he likes and not what we like.This is concrete lesson from yesterday.
Rome was not built in a day is an old adage that comes to mind. All the great and endowed minds whether they are philosophers or academicians or scientists or even seers and sages have not attained theit heights simply by slogging in the present. Lot of preparaton of yester years has gone into their making. Contribution of yesterday to their activities is thus considerable. A studious student will work on where he left unfinished yesterday. A finished work of yesterday will be a springboard for further activities and achievements in the years to come.A wise man will never lose sight of his achievements as well as his failures It is only an uninformed and petulant brain that fails to see this phenomenon.Even though I will not call it a perversity, it is at the same time a lack of perspicacity and sagacity. This is the saga behind all human failures.
My thesis, therefore, is that YESTERDAY should be accorded the same, if not better, status which TODAY has got.
Hail yesterday, hail!!
Several cultures and civilisations in the past have collapsed, crumbled and bitten the dust because lessons of history were not heeded to. Similarly several mighty empires also disappeared into the dark cavern of antiquity. It has been well said that history repeats itself . Take the case of individuals. How many of us are benefited by past experiences.Or rather how many of us bother to conduct a post mortem of yesterday's events. How many of us have learnt any thing from the lessons of history. How many of us will acknowledge yesterday's follies and foibles.How many of us will have the courage to prick our elephantine ego and own up our past errors of omissions and commissions, blunders and blusters and turn a new leaf. With a myopic outlook we brush aside the past
and forge into the present committing all the mistakes and blunders all over again. We are so afraid of our past conduct that we wish to shut them out like the cat who shuts her eyes in the fond hope that nobody will see her. Proper understanding of all that has been done and undone yesterday will restore our perspective about what should be aimed at today, what is practicable and feasible,what is to be discarded and abandoned and what is to be embraced. Otherwise, a recurring and punishing nightmare will ensue.
Coming to mundane level let us suppose that we have invited someone known to us for a meal. What will be our first thought? We will definitely try to entertain him with dishes that we know he likes and not what we like.This is concrete lesson from yesterday.
Rome was not built in a day is an old adage that comes to mind. All the great and endowed minds whether they are philosophers or academicians or scientists or even seers and sages have not attained theit heights simply by slogging in the present. Lot of preparaton of yester years has gone into their making. Contribution of yesterday to their activities is thus considerable. A studious student will work on where he left unfinished yesterday. A finished work of yesterday will be a springboard for further activities and achievements in the years to come.A wise man will never lose sight of his achievements as well as his failures It is only an uninformed and petulant brain that fails to see this phenomenon.Even though I will not call it a perversity, it is at the same time a lack of perspicacity and sagacity. This is the saga behind all human failures.
My thesis, therefore, is that YESTERDAY should be accorded the same, if not better, status which TODAY has got.
Hail yesterday, hail!!
