Our Obsession with Romanticism

"Those were the days". Day in and day out we here the phrase being chanted by different people referring in fondness to the various times gone by. Whether it be school, college, friends, events etc. Just as a thought, why are we so obsessed with romanticizing about the past(This has got nothing to do with the philosophy of history class). Right from the time when we start to relate events to ideas and start judging people in light of narrations from history books(Mughals were barbaric, violent, ruthless invaders and just wanted to loot the country), our impressionable minds are nurtured to believe that the past was very beautiful and that we can never live it again (The Golden Period). The question is: why do we want to live it again?

The first thing we realize or learn about life is its constant state of change, its dynamism. We are stuck in this constant yearning to recreate the past. Simple things like the games you played with friends, things you did in school, parties at college, or even old relationships. Somewhere down the line this romanticism obstructs us to accept the new, the present. We are too busy recreating the past and the present just goes by. Alumni from any institution always say, "things were very different when I was here"(Everyone is aware of the context these lines come up in); aren't they supposed to be? Should the institution just pause in time and be static while the world outside changes?

The best thing about memories is that you cannot relive them. The times you spent with your friends are very precious to you, but one has to accept that the sweetness of those memories can only continue as long as they are memories. If we could recreate everything, reunions would make people come together the same way. But the truth is that life has moved on and the sooner we accept the change the better it is. Because when we try to live our past lives in the present, things aren't the same anymore, (we aren't equals, someone has a better job, someone has more money, someone is married, someone is not etc. etc.) and the sweetness of those memories begins to wither. You land up asking yourself, "were we actually that happy then?".

Political parties, priests, advocates of cultural preservation argue that we are losing our culture. Well, as much as we should learn about our past, we have to embrace the present. Times have changed, and those cultural practices and dogmas cannot be followed any longer, simply because no one has the time. 7 day pujas are cut into 3 days, which also is quite long. The reason for such practices in old times was to create a certain kind of meditation and discipline in people. The only kind of education and means of governing the people was religion. No laws existed like they do now. We are taught these things in schools. Culture has not been lost, it has just changed form(certainly a lot of people would disagree), because the preconditions for its existence no longer exist.

Subconsciously we refuse what the present has to offer in our nostalgia of the past. (Bunty was your best friend then, but not any more). He won't understand and speak to you the same way. You cannot relate to him any longer because you two think very differently now and therefore, Sunny is closer to you than Bunty. This by no means is to say that we should forget old friends, it is just to make ourselves aware how in this constant struggle to recreate the past we miss out on so many new things.

Two points in time can never be exactly the same and we should cherish what came by, because not everyone is lucky enough to have such great memories.

The monotony of life is brushed aside with the unpredictability of the future, and when the future comes, like spring after a cold winter, it brings, but new flowers instead of the old.