The story must continue...


The story must continue...

The childhood memories are still fresh in my mind, when at bed time, we siblings eagerly waited for the story session immaculately hosted with precision by our grandmother. The stories of various animals, monsters, angels and many more self generated characters from the kit bag of our grandma were instant hits with us all. The instantly concocted stories which were deliberately dragged and lengthened to suit the mood and ambience of the small grandma’s room were no less than today’s serials and cartoon clips.   At  times  when we used to insist for more and more, she would usually dispose us off with the last story which was ‘Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani ,Dono Mar Gaye Khatam Kahani’. This was, and perhaps still is the shortest story ever told by anybody.
 We did not like these words then, as these words marked the end of the session which we waited for, throughout the day and was our all time favourite. 
Even today, after all these years when people of my generation are gearing up to become grandparents and have started generating , refreshing and filling our respective memory boxes for the story sessions with our grand children, the words ‘Khatam Kahani’ still haunt and irritate me, but now for some different reasons.
The words ‘khatam kahani’ marking the end of story brew and pop up the feelings with an irritating question mark that does the story really end with death? The story of ordinary persons who could not make any impact what so ever with their deeds might end this way but do we want to be such a Raja or a Rani whose story ends with death? This Raja and Rani did not fascinate us at that time and even now the next generation bubbling with the growing aspirations, and urge to excel, do not relish such characters who tend to get lost with the passage of time. One must at least try to generate the bond, the affection and the love which blossoms in the hearts of people in general and the family members in particular even after one has made an exit.
 The stories of Lord Rama, the teachings of Krishna continue forever. Did the story of Mahatama Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Patel and many others end with their death?  These persons have left behind many such footprints on which many stories shall continue to be written in the times to come. They continue to live forever on the never fading canvas of life with the vibrant colours of their deeds.  Even on the smaller and limited canvas of the family, the elders who have left the legacies of their deeds, who have endeavoured to knit the entire clan in threads and bonds of love and relations, shall never be forgotten. They shall continue to live, fresh and lively in our memories. Their deeds have made them so.
The times have changed but not the responses and reactions. The words ‘Khatam Kahani’ were not liked by us then, these are not relished by us even now, as by nature we do not want to get lost in the crowd, we do not want to get erased without leaving a pleasant and soothing mark. We must try to make our presence felt in whatever field we are so that our Kahani continues even when we are not there.

DR SANJEEV TRIKHA

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