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Youth is a blunder, Manhood a struggle,
Old Age a regret
By Dr.Isravel Prabhakaran – Department of TTM
Howsoever one might define the queer, mysterious and volatile things called life, it is hard or rather impossible, to deny the fact that it is but a one-way road. We are bound by the chains of time and the haughty laws of physics. Life is a tissue of opposites – a fascinating conundrum, a puzzling delight. In it joy is inextricably mixed with sorrow, success with failure, tranquility with turmoil and dreams with reality.
Youth is spring time of life. Undeniably, the best phase of human life is childhood, when the heart is most pure and smile most innocent. One cannot cherish the same innocence for ever. Estranged with the innocent childhood, an individual pass through his naughty teens and then steps into his youth. This is when an individual’s dreams are most beautiful and desires most ardent. And contentment rests in not only seeing dreams but in materializing them as well. The youthful cravings and aspirations are, obviously, not modest. He lives in his own world, hopes for a smiling future gleaming with passion, faith and dreams. His attitudes are highly unconventional. He is averse to wonted beliefs, social norms and established institutions. He fosters a passion to break all icons to bring about a complete revolution.
The lofty dreams and ambitions of youth have their limitations. Life no longer appears romantic as the young step into manhood. The wanton youth suddenly becomes a responsible man. He resigns to the same social mores against which he had once revolted with youthful vigour. The very thoughts and dreams which had once attracted him, appear to him frivolous. The romances which had once engaged her eyes and moved her heart, now appear foolish amidst her familial chores and responsibilities. Manhood becomes a struggle, an incessant struggle to find stability and happiness in life- different from the cravings of youth.
Old age is, in Keat’s metaphor, the winter of human life, to remind man of his mortal nature. An individual, after enjoying the glorious youth and tumultuous manhood, reaches that stage of his life from where he may have glimpses of his dusk- end of his “strange, eventful history”. Death is the ultimate reality of life. The stage of old age, whether glorious or miserable, depends on how an individual accepts and realizes this reality. He who regards the last phase of his life as the most precious opportunity to dedicate his remaining breath to the service of mankind; he, who is keen to understand and enrich his spirit ; he, who revels in simple joys and gleams with positive vision, makes even his old , sore throat sing the glorious pean. But he, who laments at what he has lost, what he has failed to achieve, how much he has suffered, how gruesome and cruel life has been and what a miserable wretch he has been reduced to, makes his old age the most horrible, hollow and painful period of his life. Perceptions and attitudes decide the course and shape of life. It depends on us, whether we wish to find
“strength in what remains behind” or languish in regretting at what life has robbed us of.
There is ample truth in Benjamin Disraeli’s comment: “Youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle and old age, a regret”. But it is not infallible. If youth is a blunder, it is also the most fertile ground to sow and grow one’s dreams and talents. And one should not forget that most of the creative work, creative wonders, art, achievements and inventions have been realized by the youth. It would be improper to consider it a blunder. In a zeal for fresh air, some windows are bound to get smashed, as Lowell pits it in one of his essays. Manhood is, doubtless, a struggle. But how didactic, meaningful, concrete and rewarding the struggle is! Old Age, a regret? No. It is the perfection of life. To some, the whole life may appear to be a blunder, a struggle and a regret; theirs is a sick attitude.
The players on the world’s stage play their destined parts and silently depart, burying and burning all their struggle, regrets and blunders. What endures is how well they have lived and understood LIFE!!
