FAMILY

Sage Thiruvalluvar in his Thirukural wrote “When family life possesses love and virtue, that is both its essence and fruition.” (verse 45) The bonding in a family occurs when there exists unconditional love. Last weekend my family had our second family reunion, a tradition that started last year initiated by my mother and an uncle.

Going back to one's roots gives the younger generation a sense of belonging and purpose. We are living in a fast track world, a life that moves forward without time for the past. But to many, moving with the flow of time, drifts them farther and farther away from their beginning, and one day when life adjourns, and when they do look back, suddenly it becomes meaningless.

Man seeks temporary shelter in the name of ‘Life’, on their ongoing journey to liberation/salvation. Life is an opportunity to equip oneself with wisdom and knowledge in the quest to seek his/her destiny.  After all George Bernard Shaw did once say “A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”

In verse 47, Sage Thiruvalluvar writes, “Among those who strive for liberation, the foremost are they, Who live the blessed state of family life as it should be lived.” Sadly though many people do not value family ties until it is too late.

The most senior member of the family today is 82 years old and the youngest would be a pair of twins just 8 months old. The clan started its journey from Vannarpannai, Ceylon, pre WW2 and made Malaysia their home, but today from this humble beginning the clan has migrated further to other parts of the world leaving behind their own footprints. There is so much to share and nurture from a diverse timeline and time zone, that would be enriching in helping to shape an individual. The insurmountable wealth of knowledge and wisdom that are already in possession would be nothing compared to what we read, rather they are firsthand accounts of the events or experience as they occurred. I still remember my grandfather (paternal) narrating tales about the “death railway” construction in Burma, where he was one of the few survivors who made it back after WW2 ended. For many people, they may have read it in history books, but to me it was direct from the horse’s mouth.

Its a pity, today people are so caught up with immediacy that they fail to connect with the virtues of family ties. It has become almost a norm now, where families meet only during a funeral or a marriage. These brief encounters during such occasions would not really do justice in establishing the lost bonds, instead it has to be done concertedly.

The realization in my family came when one by one, the senior members of the family started to depart. The loss was so profound after their death as whilst they were around they were totally taken for granted as though that they would live another day.

My colleague, who is a Brit ,is leaving for Brisbane next week, he said that he was meeting his uncle whom he has not seen for the last 30 years and also looking forward to seeing his nephews and nieces whom he has never met. I could see the sparkle in his eyes as he talked about it.

Life is short, and the journey can be an exciting one, but more importantly we have to make it meaningful. So who can make it better,  other than family and friends.