Past Perfect

Vasu Reddy from Chicago

vasureddy@aol.com

It has already happened. Past is already on the books, recorded, and can’t be changed.  It is what it is and that’s it.

We call it history.  The relevance of what we have available to record increasingly makes us to do so, and just as we type is the past.  Once again it is perfect as it is already done, and can’t be replaced.

The history has good, bad and the ugly.  They may not be in equal parts, but they are all there, just like everyone of us.  We come in various shapes, sizes and colors, but we find our own way to live, if we do.  There is no set time frame, no set style, no set template for life, it just happens as we start and finish, with something in between.  To get our life recorded, it must have something extraordinary (doesn’t matter the extremes) but something that a normal person doesn’t do, to become a page to be remembered in history.

We don’t all have the opportunity for becoming the next Gates, Jobs or Buffett, or Indian Tata, Birla or Gandhi.  (Sorry if I only sound off with just a few names). The irony of the massive respect for a name is that with billions of us, and just a few names to refer to.  Gandhi, King or Mandela are a creation of extreme circumstances imposed by societies that became so intolerant of fellow people, so we must find figures that will make societies look up to an individual as a symbol of positive hope and change.  We certainly have a few of the 20^th century leaders who are in our thoughts, prayers and focus as leaders who paved way for equality.

With billions of us on Earth, just a few wise folks we pay our reverence and use as historic examples.  At the same time, we also use name as Hitler to reference to the genocide and lately we have had several heads or state from the MEA those have been deposed as leaders who had territorial and dictatorial control on people.  They are also given equal or greater coverage as the father figures in history books.

Howsoever we look at stuff, good and bad (perhaps evil) all get documented for reference as history.  The most(ly) intelligent beings can hear, read, review, look and comprehend the good, bad and ugly (Client Eastwood movie references) from history.  As being good means not imposing harm and hatred, we have a good understanding on what not to do from birth to death.

The choices for us to follow the path we choose to can certainly be circumstantial and lately we (may be for a long time) have been using the religion for our actions.  The first and second WW were fought because of dictators, communists and free world order, and the last several decades based on religion and color.  The various regions of the world work on their own brand of hatred and killing, but with each passing year the hatred acquires an expanded footprint.  For some reason history already has recoded the impact of hate, but we deliberately ignore the past, and continue to perfect the next set of hate.  The good remains with same definition, while the bad keeps expanding the definition.

It is simple to say, “I beg your pardon” or a one word “Sorry” when we make a mistake rather than double down.  It is simple to appreciate what is good and bad, rather than reinvent a new interpretation of something that is already well defined.  It is simple to listen, read or learn from history, its already there.  We have it at our finger tips, on our phones, and all it takes is a click or two to appreciate the value of what we already experienced.