What is the long term objective of an individual?
I was asked this question in a lecture which I was delivering in a Management programme conducted by a University.
It may be noticed that the present CV/ Bio data being prepared by candidates for jobs have two important features.
Long Term objective and
Short term objectives.
The audience expected me to lecture on Objectives as touted in management jargons.
But I began by saying that my long and short term objective is to Live.
To fine tune this,the object of any human being is to be Happy,more specifically avoidance of Pain.
If one were to introspect, Journey of Life consists in trying to stay alive and avoid pain.
All other things,Money,Name,Fame and relationships revolve around these.
And these Avoidence of Pain and to be Happy mark Existence.
Even speaking philosophically, one tries to attain Moksha or Nirvana,A State where there is no pain,No pleasure and Pain or the state of Pure Joy.
When we reflect what had given us joy or pleasure, they are not the instruments of pleasure like relationships or Money but small instances that have given us Sublime joy.
It might be a small toffee,a very kind,yet a small gesture by others,achieving not great things but small things like coming first in a school running race,a simple fulfilling meals,not necessarily costly,
Going for a ride with childhood friend,doing things uncluttered by the restriction of age or status,
These make life very interesting and gives one utmost pleasure.
I recently saw a Tamil movie which has encapsulated this thought in an artistic way.
The story revolves around an elderly man and the practice of Senicide,Involuntary Euthanasia,called ‘தலைக்கூத்தல்’ in Tamil Nadu.
In this practice,the elderly person is made to take oil bath and made to drink tender coconut water,which results in Kidney failure and death occurs in a couple of days.
‘Typically, the person is given an extensive oil-bath early in the morning and subsequently made to drink glasses of tender coconut water which results in kidney failure, high fever, fits, and death within a day or two.[1][2] This technique may also involve a head massage with cold water, which may lower body temperature sufficiently to cause heart failure.[3] Alternative methods involve force feeding cow’s milk while plugging the nose, causing breathing difficulties (the “milk therapy”) or use of poison’
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalaikoothal
An elderly man is about to be killed by his children this way.
The man runs away,befriends an Orphan boy,who takes Life as it comes by with no preconditions and expectations.
The boy teaches the Man the Joy of Living with simple pleasures,most of which we have not enjoyed because of our commitments,status and money.
How such simple pleasures like eating what one likes,doing what one loves passionately without expectations of monetary benefits,visiting A Village Fair,donning one’s favourite Film star’s hat,meeting with one’s unfulfilled lady Love …!
These points are handled with such sensitivity that one is transported to various stages of Life and realizes what one has lost in pursuit of wealth and false notions of Status.
Life is Lived in such small yet momentous occasions.
The Tamil Movie,KD aka Karuppu Dorai has been handled quite sensitively by a young Director,Ms.Madhmitha.
It is surprising that how one of such young age could conceive a complex issue of Life and convey it!
The film has won international awards.
Predictably main stream audience could not get sufficient exposure to this gem of a movie,thanks to Film distribution system in India and meagre coverage in the media.
Probably the movie would have received better reception at the theatres had it been a Foreign Film.
I do not normally write on movies in my site.
But the movie is worth writing about as it teaches Life.
The movie is available in Netflix.
Ramanisblog 
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