The Redundancy of the Past

A not-so-famous dialogue exchange from sholay:
Veeru (to Thakur): Hum do log dus logon ko sambhal sakte hain
Veeru (to Jai): Dus kuch zyada toh nahi bol diya Jai?
Jai: Ab bol diya hai toh sambhal lenge!

Pardon me for not reproducing the exact words, but this innocuous dialogue from sholay has been my favourite ever since i saw the movie. Though plain and simple, something about it struck the right chord. Jai knows that Veeru might be over-committing, but then he confidently seconds him as if it was his own opinion.

Over the years, the deep insights that I have derived from this seemingly insipid sentance has become engrained in me as an important part of my attitude towards life.

Have you ever wondered why life seems to suddenly come to a halt? Why everything seems dull and boring? Why we don't seem to want or do anything? More often than not, these are the times when our mind travels back in the past and conducts a mental post-mortem of the life we've spent. Life is made interesting by only two possibilities: One, the joy of experiencing the present and two, the drive to experience an anticipated happiness in the future. But the times when we foray into our past are ridden with self-doubt, grief, regret, self-critique and more questions than answers. I'm not saying that such times do not highlight the happy times spent in the past, but these are usually few and far between.

It is in this context that the significance of that dialogue can be appriciated. I believe that instead of dwelling with questions like "Did I do the right thing?", "Why did I do that?", "Why does this always happen to me?" etc, we must take the past in a matter-of-fact way. It is something that cannot be changed. Something that is as indelibly a part of your life as you are. There is no point in pondering about all these questions and missing the joy of relishing the present or preparing for the future. I think the right attitude is: "Ab jo ho gaya so ho gaya.. Let me live by it rather than question its very premise". That is the exact attitude that is beautifuly captured in that dialogue.

Also, another thing, albeit minor, that emerges out of it is that you need to stand, no matter what, by what your partner has committed to the outer world. A partner's words are your words. And if you have any reservations about it, you better not wash your linen in public by objecting to his commitment in front of anyone.

Another takeaway is about confidence in your decisions. Life is hardly ever about taking the right decision. It is mostly about swiftly deciding what seems right and sticking by it with confidence. Seldom does the key to great decision making lie in the decision itself- it is in the implementation thereoff.

Sometimes, life does teach you a lot in little doses right? Like in that one line of a 4 hour movie!