Filter Coffee #123

On This Too Shall Pass

My readers had much to say about FC 122.

• Some commendable comments from Ashvini Ranjan: “If an individual receives an award purely on merit and unsolicited, it has a quality of its own and he or she will be a role model to others. The recipients should live up to the honor conferred. Bharat Ratna Award receipients like Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Sir. M. Vishweshwaraiah, C.V. Raman, or Abdul Kalam were eminent and truly dignified. You can't imagine any of them endorsing a brand of shoes or second-hand cars. Today, commendation, and recognition are available for a price. True achievers and those who render service in its truest sense may soon feel denigrated if commendation and recognition are given by the present dispensation. You rather remain an unsung hero!”

• Dr.Shubha Prasad shares her experience: “When I read about recommendation and meritocracy, it reminded me of my experience with the entrance test to Mysore Medical College. 

• I had scored well on the written test, but failed in Viva. The only question I was asked was to name the rivers of Karnataka! This had nothing to do with my competency to gain admission and become a Doctor. In Bangalore, there was Mr.Venkataranga Iyengar, who was then known as ‘Writ Iyengar’ and through him, a writ petition was filed on behalf of 30 of us from different parts of the state, and we succeeded, though we had to start our course about 4 months later at Central College in Bangalore. Later I got a transfer to Mysore. The first year was like a repeat of PUC. Those days we used to say INFLUENCE IRABEKU! And we used to call it Vitamin I.”

  Shubha, influence & recommendation are in a way semantically connected. Unless one wields influence, which essentially means power, clout, or authority, one’s recommendation is unlikely to fetch the desired outcome. On the flip side, a recommendation may influence a person. It would appear that influence & recommendation can be used interchangeably, depending on the context. Any thoughts, readers?

• S G Murali says: “If we add a line ‘Please consider strictly on merit’ it is no recommendation at all.  Quite often we do that. Shri Kamaraj the famous CM of Tamilnadu used to sign using either Red ink or blue ink.  If he signed with Red ink, his Secretary is supposed to ignore it. A nice and quiet way of conveying his intentions clearly without offending anyone.” 

⏳ This Too Shall Pass

Time and tide do not stand still. Our lives are full of fleeting moments. Whether they are moments of happiness or grief, they linger for as long as one might clutch onto them, but fade away from memory with each passing day. We treat our emotions differently as compared to the emotions of others around us. We might wallow in self-pity if something sad happens to us and agonize that it happened to us. If that happens to a friend or a known person, we may emote but adopt a philosophical approach and tell them ‘this too shall pass’.

The nearest Sanskrit equivalent of this phrase is एतदपि गमिष्यति (etadapi gamishyati), though it translates to ‘this also goes’. The phrase was meant to apply equally to both happy and sad moments. The purpose was to remind us that time does not stand still, so when a moment of happiness or sorrow comes to pass, we ought to remember that it too shall pass.

When we confront problems in life or when we are overwhelmed with joy, we need to remind ourselves that this too shall pass and it won’t be always this way. This philosophy is manifest in the poem “This too shall pass” by Helen Steiner Rice (May 19, 1900 - April 23, 1981), an American writer of both inspirational and Christian poetry. Please use this link to read the poem: 🔗https://englishpoetry34.blogspot.com/2015/05/poem-analysis-this-too-shall-pass-by.html

I am inclined to treat “This too shall pass” as an adage. After all, an adage is a short statement of truth — this one makes us realise that a moment of grief or ecstasy, cannot last forever and has to have an end. Take, for instance, bereavement. True, it is a matter of grief and one can grieve for some time, but then life goes on, which by itself is an adage synonymous with the adage this too shall pass. Similarly, there is the adage ‘the show must go on’. 

We can never ignore the profound impact the pandemic had on all of us, without exception.

But then that too has come to pass in the sense that people are reinventing themselves, their livelihood, and their business models and moving on. I covered this aspect of the pandemic, its effects, and people's resilience in 🔗 FC 12, when I interviewed Shashi Maudgal.

Opportunities in life knock on your door, and the proverbial saying is that it knocks only once. If you ignore that knock, you will realise the meaning of the adage. The essence of it is about living in the present and realising that the present will soon become the past. All of you are familiar with the phrase “seize the moment”. It is a derivative of the Latin phrase Carpe diem,

Which means ‘seize the day’ used by the Roman poet Horace to express the idea that one should enjoy the moments of life while one can. The longer version is even more appealing. It reads “Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero” which means “seize the day, put little trust in tomorrow’. If you don’t seize the moment, it too shall pass.

These words are also found in the 13th-century poem ’this too shall pass’ written by Farid al-Din Attar of Nishapur. The story behind the poem is about a darvesh and a King (purportedly Solomon) who wanted a ring designed for him. The ring was supposed to be unique in that it would have an inscription that would, when the king looked at it, make him happy if he was sad, and sad if he was happy. In other words, a ring that would remind him that anything, either good or bad, wouldn’t last. The darvish made an emerald ring a few days later and delivered it to the king. The king, who had been gloomy for some days, unwillingly placed the ring on his finger but was soon delighted as he read the words ‘this, too, shall pass’ on the ring.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Nishapur poems, you can use this link: 🔗Attar of Nishapur Poems in Farsi and English

There’s another fascinating story of a darvesh who comes across a person called Shakir who has a ‘this too shall pass’ attitude. I recommend strongly that you read that story very well written by Alex Mohajir using this link: 🔗 This Too Shall Pass. A retelling of the ancient Persian… | by Alex Mohajer | Medium

Closer home, Bhaja Govindam by Shankaracharya emphasises the need to realise that importance of this adage:

मा कुरु धनजन यौवन गर्वं 

हरति निमेषात्-कालः सर्वम् |

मायामयमिदम्-अखिलं हित्वा

ब्रह्मपदं त्वं प्रविश विदित्वा ‖ 11 ‖                            

mā kuru dhanajana yauvana garvaṃ

harati nimeśhāt-kālaḥ sarvam |

māyāmayamidam-akhilaṃ hitvā

brahmapadaṃ tvaṃ praviśa viditvā ‖ 11

Do not take pride in wealth, friends, and youth. Each one of these is destroyed within an instant by Time. 

If you wish to read all the 33 verses, please use this link. It is very informative with English translation: 🔗 Bhaja Govindam- Verse 1

The great court poet Kalidasa in the 5th century said:  “Look to this day, for it is life, the very life of life, for yesterday, is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision.”

Let me also recommend the book “This Too Shall Pass” by Julia Samuel. You will find the book on Amazon. I must confess I have not read it yet, but the synopsis seemed to resonate with my post. Try it out: 🔗 https://juliasamuel.co.uk/about-julia

Life is not a record player. It has no rewind buttons and no fast-forward buttons. Just the play button which corresponds to the present moment, seize it, for otherwise it too shall pass. Here’s something to smirk about:

Genie: I shall grant you 3 wishes

Me: I wish for a world without lawyers 

Genie: Done, you have no more wishes

Me: But you said 3

Genie: Sue me.

Dear Readers, I do hope you liked the post. If not, just let this too pass. Ciao!