New Versus Old | Flash Post 304

Button, I guess age does this to all of us–be it humans, flora and fauna, inanimate structures, just like in the image below that I clicked of a young leaf and a dead one I found in our terrace garden this morning. Notice the fine filigree work on the dead leaf. Also notice the capillaries on the younger one which helps transport water and nutrients to the tip of every leaf via the roots of the tree or plant which is sucked up and distributed.

What happens when trees and plants don’t get their nourishment?

Exactly what would happen to us if we were starved. Our immune system would eventually become weak and we would die.

Will I also die?

Button, life and death go hand in hand. When we are born, we must also die. That’s the cycle of life.

What happens to buildings when they age?

If they are not maintained, they crumble and gradually fall down. Some old buildings grow beautiful with age and people like to keep them that way. They are known as heritage buildings. Some examples of famous heritage buildings are the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Municipal Corporation Building no, The Taj Mahal Palace and the David Sassoon Library.

I wonder why humans, animals, trees and plants wither and die with age and, yet, inanimate objects like buildings, live on as heritage sites!

6 Comments

himanshi gaur June 27, 2018 at 12:29 pm

This is one of your most beautiful posts author. The transition from old to new and vice versa. Always a subject of great interest for me. I’m also a writer and I write a bit here and there and this has always been a learning process for me. How to help the old and young transition in a relevant manner. beautifully explained through leaves. I have seen the most horrendous crimes being committed to the old and to the young and age has always been the core reason for exploitation.

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- author July 9, 2018 at 7:06 pm
  
  My dear Himanshu,
  
  Thank you so much for your kind words.
  
  The sad part is that women of all ages from a few months old to an elderly lady who could even be 75-80 years of age are being raped, brutally murdered and exploited these days for no specific reason. Its like someone casually walking up to another person and slitting his throat for nothing at all. Our society is already sick and depraved and the rot is growing deeper and deeper with every passing day.
  
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wrushali June 27, 2018 at 12:35 pm

Yes, it is the cycle of life. But I only pray that we all get die in a painfree and respectful manner. I have seen what my grandmother went through. She fell and broke her spine at the age of 87 and could never recover from it. It was excruciatingly painful to see her slowly wilt away. We all need to take care of ourselves and when the time comes, go peacefully in our sleep.

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- author July 9, 2018 at 6:46 pm
  
  My dear Wrushali,
  
  That’s exactly the way I’d like to go and the way everybody would like to go– quickly and without much pain. But do we have the liberty to choose our death profiles? All we can pray for is a humane death and leave it in the hands of the creator to execute what he has planned for us.
  
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author July 9, 2018 at 6:53 pm

Dear Vivek,

We must learn how to respect and care for elders and teach our young to do the same.

Do you know that in the west they have time banks where the time you spend in caring for the elderly in deposited in your time bank account. When you get old, you can use those banked hours when someone else will come and care for you. Isn’t that a spectacular idea?

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author July 22, 2018 at 5:50 pm

My dear Vivek,

You’ve said it all so eloquently and you’re so right when you say that we must help elders along to grow old yet keep their pride and dignity intact. For this, young people must be trained to respect the fact that growing old in a part of life and that we must be there for them when they need us.

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