Who Will Cry When You Die?

 For a few days now, I have been reading a book, Who Will Cry When You Die? by Robin Sharma. I picked up this book, wondering, yes, exactly who would cry when I am gone. My daughter, perhaps? A few acquaintances who might say she (me 😊) was a good soul? Who else? Robin Sharma's book outlines a few things you could do to make someone remember you- like giving someone a gift, writing letters, helping strangers, etc., etc. The book is subtitled 'Life lessons' and appropriately so because it outlines the things that one could do to remain happy and fulfilled. I had a few questions in my mind – Is it good to be extremely virtuous these days? Things like honesty, loyalty, goodness- are they truly appreciated, or do people laugh behind their backs at the person's gullibility?
This particular book was first published in 2003, and in 2026, it needs multiple revisions. Because these days we all know what is right, what we can do to feel and do better, but we do not act on it. We talk about the balance between tradition, modernity, and digital, but forget the scale and the appropriate balance for each. Few, only a few, could rise above this, but middle-class as we are, we don't fall into any bracket. My generation saw assassinations, conspiracies, political turnovers, and communism fading. My daughter's generation is moving faster – COVID, paper leak, and now the most popular school education unit is making a mockery of their class 12 results. They are kids, hardly 18, they have a life ahead of them. The system has become non-functional; the foundations are collapsing while we continue to hold on to the image. Will these children's scars heal? Will they ever dream of a Viksit Bharat? Before anything else, education and health should be strengthened. When we choose to keep quiet, we cannot expect them to defend us in our time of need.
Much needs to be thought and done. And here, we sit watching. Sad.