I propose that for one full year, all newspapers should change their emblems. Even the electronic media could do the same. All of them would have the same emblem — a skull and two bones — the usual representation of death. Let all people wake up in the morning, and before opening themselves to their daily dose of news and analysis come face to face with the skull, be reminded every morning of the inevitability of their end. All is going to end, all are going to end. In the conclusion, all is either ash or dust. Nothing else matters. That puts everything in perspective — whatever news or analysis they read or hear in the next one hour, or may be rest of the day. Do any person’s opinion, habits, customs, caste, religion, political views, language really matter when all of us are, all the time, in the jaws of death? We tend to think that we are on a long, never-ending journey, and that the world and everything that it has to offer us, would forever remain so. So we spread ourselves, paying attention to each and every minor detail — faults, mistakes, errors — that should not have been there. Instead of brushing it off with a ‘Never mind, take care that you don’t repeat it’, we feed it, fuel it — not for a moment offering solutions, for which we are certainly not capable or qualified enough — creating mountains out of molehills. Most of the events or incidents happening around us do not carry any weight or importance at all; they are given demonic sizes and proportions only by the attention provided by us. Unfortunately, this way several other more important issues get eclipsed, sidelined. So let us remember death always; in every moment of our lives recall that — ‘You too shall die’. Let us live our lives backwards — starting from the end — providing our attention and strength to the issues that are really important by the yardstick of time, and brush aside things that are not. After all, in the end, it is all either dust or ash.
photo credit: Light symphony via photopin (license)
Pradyot 
nice thinking
Very well said. After all, in the end, it is all either dust or ash. However, the a person's actions are not. They are remembered for ever.
Which even more emphasizes on the road we strive than the destination.
Thanks Rupesh.
Yes, every action and thought does leave a footprint behind. We affect, and are in turn affected, by the society. So every movement has far-reaching implications, which we hadn't even thought of earlier. Thus it is really very important not to add to the already existing disorder in the world.
In the event of death, I will recall that Once I read this blog and I was somewhat 50 years away from death.
Wrong arithmetic Pravin! You still have at least 80 years in hand, and a lot of work to do.. 🙂
Your blog reminds me of “Funeral exercise” as detailed in Stephen Covey's book “7 habits of highly effective people”. No, I have not read the book, but I have read the reviews. He essentially asks us to think about life backwards and ask ourselves, as to what we expect people to speak about us at our funeral. This expectation of a description will truly define our core and outlines its mission. With this clarity of mission, we will not easily get “worked up” about little imperfections in life. You have by the way, beautifully conceived this blog and brought out very nicely as to why it is important to not miss the woods for the tree. It is a cause of celebration for many of us that you have decided to write a blog.
Thanks Rishi. You have always been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. I plan to present material in varied genre and styles, without giving any introduction. This way the reader does not have any pre-conceived idea about what to expect. If my thought reaches the reader in the form I had conceived it, I would consider myself successful, even if the compositions do not carry any literary merit in the eyes of critics.