ANIRUDH DHANDA

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<h4>ANIRUDH DHANDA explores the way memories trigger heartfelt events and people
 from the past, and remind us of situations that evoke emotional responses. Is this what being human is all about?</h4>

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It always surprises me: Brewing my first cup of tea, walking in the park, hearing a
 particular voice, the chirping of a particular bird, a forlorn leaf falling from the tree, smelling something
 distinct, seeing a person, seeing the sunrise or the longing of the dying sun, inhaling the aroma of food, reading a
 phrase in a book, hearing a song, or a voice in the park.
Any of these and many other similar mundane happenings during my waking hours can remind
 me of somebody, something, some happening, and my mind takes an instant flight in time. I am transported
 unconsciously, and without any active effort on my part, to another time. I smile involuntarily and move on. It’s
 always a different experience in the string of life. It is not fanciful, but belongs to real life.
A steaming morning teacup transports me to my friend’s place in Bolton, England, and I
 see him walking down the stairs still a little groggy and without his specs.
A particular aroma of food makes me instantaneously travel to my mother’s kitchen, or to
 my aunt’s kitchen in Delhi, India, and the taste of peas, mutton curry, or cutlets comes live on my taste buds.
The sight of the dying sun takes me to different locales. I view the entire scene at the
 Shimla Ridge with a single blow of cool breeze on my face.
The whiff of good coffee is enough to vividly remind me of the exhilarating mood at an
 international airport.
A swig of cold beer or sangria being served in a large, shapely glass flies me to Las
 Ramblas in Barcelona.
A hint of perfume conjures up a different picture … so vivid.
How does it happen? Where is that storehouse of memories, which come thrusting through
 all the years gone by, yet is so lively?
I do not want to know the physiology behind it, or the functions of the prefrontal
 cortex, temporal lobe, or the limbic system of the brain. All that is true, and there must still be much more to that
 which is yet to be unraveled by medical science. What I wish to share is the sheer marvel of the whole thing. That is,
 the existence of a storehouse and the immaculate retrieval system which is activated on the slightest of provocation.

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<img class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/memories2_1cdbb053de.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-05T08:17:42.134Z" />

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I so clearly recollect the voice of my elder brother, which I heard, or thought I heard,
 in a busy market in Guwahati, after more than seven years of him being gone. I cried into my pillow the entire
 evening, something I haven’t done once in the last seven years. Is our karma too imbedded somewhere in a similar kind
 of cloud store?
Attempting to live in the present moment is a utopian arrival at a point where we will
 not be affected by past happenings and future uncertainties. Is it actually that? Or are we running away from your
 past and not dealing with it? Such happening presupposes voluntary death of the prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe, and
 the limbic system of the brain. Would we still continue to be human, I wonder?
Learning from the past and working in the present, unmindful of the future, is the
 beauty of being human, and not deliberate forgetfulness.
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by ANIRUDH DHANDA</h4>


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ANIRUDH DHANDA

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