I think of life as a journey. Most people have a destination. The theists look forward to the joys of the hereafter; the atheists to a life fulfilled here on earth. The Musalman hungers after the pleasures of paradise; the Hindu hopes to be reincarnated into something better. There are some who are not bothered about the destination; they just want to enjoy the journey. I am one such person. There was a time when I had clear ideas about my destination. But now I have reached a stage in my life where the destination is not of prime importance; what matters is the enjoyment of the journey.

So, here I am inviting you to join me on my journey. Let us not worry about our destination. I may take you back on the path so far traversed; in between we shall take some deviations; at times we will sit down and rest and enjoy the view; at other times we will go back to the scene we just left because we want to observe something more closely. So, we shall go back and forth, pause, sit down and rest and spend time in reflection. It is better to enjoy the journey rather than travel restlessly to a destination whose existence, for many, is hypothetical and speculative.

As Seneca, the Stoic philosopher put it:

“Things will be the same when I am gone as they were before I was born. If we have not suffered in this prior state, it means we shall not suffer afterwards. We are like an oil lamp, which is no worse after it has been snuffed out than before it was lit. Only during the brief interval between the two are we capable of suffering.”