Words

The wheel, fire, tools... these are considered to be man's greatest inventions but I have always felt that this honour should go to words. What would man be without words, unable to convey his thoughts, his feelings, his ideas! The society that we live in today, the development in technology, the advances in science, is not attributable to one mind but small steps taken in the right direction by millions of minds who have been perplexed by the mysteries of life. Many have stumbled, many fell and never got up again... and some pushed the frontiers of human knowledge a little further. Very few were the lucky ones who walked into the tunnel others had dug and removed the final stone to see the light! I do not intend to undermine the achievements and hard work of the genius amongst us, but today I do feel that man still has a long way to go to even come close to Mother Nature or God, whoever it was who created us. We are still looking for an energy source that will last generations but all of us come with a built-in mechanism to generate energy from almost anything, without polluting the environment. We study Electrical and Electronics Engineering but are still far from understanding the electrical network that transmits pulses at the speed of light inside our bodies. We still marvel at the invention of high speed processors but cannot fathom the capacity of our brain, which converts innumerable electrical signals into feelings which make this life worth living. I believe that there could be a day when man will have understood the complexities in the creations of Nature, he will have have created machines that perform faster and better than what Nature sent us into this Earth with, but he will always lag behind Nature as long as we compare the greatest inventions of both: words and feelings!
There are perhaps a few million words at the disposal of man, some day there might be billions, but it will still be insufficient to enable him to express each and every thought of his. As long as simply living is considered, the present arsenal of words and languages is enough for man to survive, but life is not in the generalities, it is in the sublime! Who remembers what clothes he wore to office every day or the names of his clients when he is 80? What he does remember is his first childhood memory, the time when his brother aced some examination, the time his results were declared and he found that he had topped the school, the time he proposed to a girl for the first time, uncertainty in his eyes, maybe by the side of a road, the time he returned one day sooner to surprise someone special, some birthdays... his marriage, the day his child is born, the day it starts to walk or talk... these are memories that are engraved in one's minds. And at every such moment, man feels so many things, but all he can say is "wow", or "amazing" or the easiest way out being "I don't have words!" It's true, in all the memories that I have, which I know will remain forever, I remember exactly how I felt but I cannot put them into words. I don't want to, because I think that they are too special to be forced into words that do not do justice to them. It is like taking an exquisite painting and cutting it from all sides in order to fit it into a frame that you have already! Words diminish those feelings and I would rather relive those moments in utter silence than try to remember them by putting them down in a diary. Perhaps that is why I don't take too many snaps. I believe that the beautiful pictures are already etched in our minds and no picture can take you back there but if you do want to go back, all you need to do is to close your eyes and let the processor in your head do the work! In all my memorable moments, I have found words to be inadequate, but the brain has sent unclouded impulses to the heart! Perhaps that is the reason why, even in moments of happiness, you sometimes start crying and just embrace the person who has given you a very pleasant surprise and not say a word... you sometimes can't believe your own achievement and start nibbling away at your finger nails thinking that there must have been a mistake but not say a word... you are not sure whether to kiss or hug or smile when she replies that she "...likes-you-likes-you as well!" but you are sure that you can't put what you are feeling in words! Hence it is not always easy to say what you feel, sometimes you just can't, sometimes you don't want to because what you feel is too gorgeous for words... at such moments, you can only hope that the important people in your life are able to hear your silence and decipher it to find the world of fond thoughts and wishes that have been preserved for them. Unfortunately, the human mind's endowment is a double edged sword. Even moments of weakness or pain far exceed misery that words can convey. However, to end on a happy note, always remember that "...hope is a good thing, perhaps the best of things and a good thing never dies!" and as for me, as long as life is willing to offer me memories and adventures at both ends of the spectrum, I am game!