Dear friends, these are the personal reflections of a senior septuagenarian as this year draws to an end. The poem is dedicated to my contemporary John Stevens of Chicago and all my friends, with Best Wishes For the New Year 2022, – Raj Nandy, 30 Dec 2021, New Delhi.
MY LIFE’S TRIAL BALANCE SHEET
During the *** end of my life, after collecting
data from the General Ledger of those years
gone by, I now find, -
The Debit side has overtaken the Credit side,
In the balance sheet of my life!
Here I am not speaking of those earthly treasures
which moth and dust doth corrupt,
Where thieves break through and steal! @ (NOTES)
But of those treasures laid up in Heaven which
remain immune from such earthly contaminations.
Even though these treasures have provided me
with short- lived comfort and satisfaction!
I now speak of people who have loved and cared
for me,
Of all those whose love I had failed to reciprocate
and return.
I speak here of unrequited love!
These regrets shall forever remain, since all
our earthly possessions are finally left behind;
And in the final balance sheet of life,
Only memories of people whose love I had
taken for granted,
Now show up on my Debit side!
But within this limited time frame, gaining
‘moksh’ has become my earnest quest,
Through good actions and deeds and also
to be blessed.
I now recall what our great teachers and
philosophers have often said,
That a wise man does not seek the treasures
of this earth,
But freedom from the eternal cycle of birth,
death, and rebirth!
-Raj Nandy, New Delhi.
NOTES: @ Reference is made to the gospel of Matthew chapter 6,
verses 19-20 of the New Testament.