A Happy Ending to the Tragedy of Life

A Happy Ending to the Tragedy of Life

1986 10 October 7 A Happy Ending to the Tragedy of Life (378) The capital of British India was initially Calcutta, but in 1911, King George V announced the transfer of the capital to Delhi. The British architect, Sir Edward Lutyens (1864-1944) was then commissioned to design the new capital and construction work commenced in 1913. Eventually the city of New Delhi which came into existence was one of great magnificence.

This was a time when the whole world was being swept by a new political wave: nationalism. Progressive trends in political thought had rendered the colonial system of government untenable. The freedom movement in India was fast gaining momentum, and it became apparent that British rule in India would not survive for long. The completion of New Delhi thus, ironically, coincided with the decline of the British Raj.

After the construction of New Delhi, a French political leader paid a visit to India. When he saw the glittering palaces and spacious mansions of the new capital of British India, he summed up his impressions in these words: “What a magnificent world they built to leave.”

This is not only true of the British India: it is true of all of us in this world. We come into this world full of desires and aspirations. We do our utmost to construct a “magnificient world” for ourselves on earth. Then, just as our dream world begins to take shape, the angel of death visits us and takes us away from the world we have worked so hard to construct. We are then taken to what Arthur Koestler called an “unknown country.”

Life is a tragic story indeed if that is all there is to it. But this world like everything else in the universe, can only be considered complete when taken along with its counterpart. The counterpart of this world is the hereafter. For those who have forgotten the next world, this life is nothing but a tragedy; but those who look forward to the life to come, and build for the hereafter in the present life, this world will become an invaluable step towards a new, more successful existence in the next world.

The happy ending which all of us long for will be a reality if we never lose sight of the fact that there is a life after death.