Perhaps one of the most under-rated accessories in our lives is the eraser. You would recall using it most frequently in my younger days, when you wrote alphabets, words and sentences in an incorrect manner, and were forced to erase them and rewrite them correctly. As we grow older, we begin using pens, and the use of the eraser becomes obsolete. But, have you ever thought about the various life-lessons an easily dispensable eraser can teach us? Well, it indeed can. Let us see how...
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| Source- India Mart |
An eraser is cuboidal in shape when we initially purchase it. Most erasers are white in colour. When I was young, I would admire the pure white colour on its surface. How I wished everything was white like that eraser. In fact, at times, I even wanted darkness to be white in colour! The reason was simple- white is surely a much better than black. Why? Well, science has it that white is brighter than black. The white colour
As and when we use the eraser to remove words written with pencil, its graphite particles on the paper get loosened. The sticky rubber in the eraser grabs hold of the graphite particles. Thus, with time they inevitably get a blackish coating.Unless one tends to the eraser, the black coating remains on the eraser.
As a student, I did not like the look of black erasers. But my indolence did not make me take any efforts towards removing the coating. I simply continued keeping it as it was, and using it whenever I wanted.
This was until one of my friends told me that there was a method by which I could remove the black coating; that was by rubbing it on a hard surface for a long time. Of course, the eraser shrinks, but more importantly, it regain its lost sheen, i.e, the beautiful white colour comes back to life.
Well, the eraser is actually symbolic of us human beings. When we take birth and are brought out of our mother's womb, we are the purest creatures on this planet. As we begin growing older, and get accustomed to the ways of life, we understand what the world is like. That is perhaps the reason why we all say that an infant is the purest form of human beings.
Thus, we all are like clean erasers at the time of birth. With passage of time, we too become black like erasers. But, there is always scope for transformation. We can always remove the bad qualities in our nature; as they only serve as hindrances in our pathway to success. Like the eraser is rubbed on a hard surface to become white once again, we too can become purified to a large extent if we find some time for ourselves for introspection. We must set our goals seriously and make a plan towards attaining them. This can be compared to the act of rubbing on a hard surface because our wanting to spend some time in solitude itself is something so difficult nowadays😊!
Another life lesson taught to us by an eraser is the importance of patience in life. If we rub the paper with too much force, then it may tear. But, if we rub it gently and patiently, then our task will get accomplished faster and more efficiently. Patience is the key to open the treasure chest of life, that contains all the necessary ingredients to make our life sublime and beautiful!
So, am I suggesting that we must stop writing with pencils? No, not at all😍.
All I am trying to bring out is that we must have some time for ourselves, when we can remove all those qualities that will hinder our progress. Similarly, take some time out to observe all those small parts of life, that actually teach so many lessons to us. Like erasers, there are so many other accessories which we disregard, but they actually play a very important role in our lives. This way, life will be a great teacher to all of us, isn't it?
If you use a different process to introspect, then continue doing so. Each person has his/her own way of achieving certain objectives, and they need to be respected for that...
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A very beautiful article. We all indeed get such thoughts when we grow up, but it is such a lovely string of thoughts. Learnt quite some of the fine lessons from erasers today. Every thing in this world is a sign for us to keep living and to live with grace, strength and good values. Thank for this article. Really needed it at this time.
ReplyDeleteEvery little thing in our life has a meaning...but that is only if we r sensitive to our surroundings...and Luke u to see the goodness in them. Good going Anirudh. The hard things they get rubbed on could also be the difficult times we go thru which makes us see the our better self.
ReplyDeleteEvery little thing in our life has a meaning...but that is only if we r sensitive to our surroundings...and Luke u to see the goodness in them. Good going Anirudh. The hard things they get rubbed on could also be the difficult times we go thru which makes us see the our better self.
ReplyDelete