Memories

There comes a times in everyone’s life - where there is a need to get rid of the past and embrace the present. However, as I look at the ageing memento, I was reminded of my trip to Japan many years ago, in particular when I was in the Hida Village. It has been years since I’d thought about the village. Indeed, had it not been for the souvenir of that trip, I might never have thought about the Village again. The memory of the Village and that day would simply have been lost, forever. Then, there was this beer mat taken from a Pub in Koln, Germany, and the programme from watching Godsend Theatre in London, plus the newspaper I collected warning about the millennium bug on the new year’s eve of 2000. Like everyone else, I have no control over what I can and cannot remember. Some early childhood memories are so clear, I feel as if I’m reliving something that took place 5 minutes ago - or so it seems to me. But ask me, what I had for lunch yesterday, and would be hard pushed to tell you. Other memories fall between these two extremes.

I can remember where I went for my adventure and lived in trains and buses, migrating from people’s houses, but not all the details. I can’t remember every play, everyone whom I seek help when I lost my way, the name of the old Bulgarian man who gave way for me at Moscow Airport, or the pleasant Egyptian whom I chat with at Jeddah Airport just before I enter the plane, even the Lebanese who offered me chocolate while I was on transit in Doha, or every person who made me laugh or change my point of view. I remember some of them, but others need tangible to jog my memory. Indeed, without photographs, cards and souvenirs, much of my past would be gone forever.

That day, I closed my drawer of memories without getting rid of a single thing. There is merit in remembering certain events, people who’ve touched me in some way, and activities experienced for the first time (or even the last time) as I went for Biro Tata Negara, in Kaki Bukit Camp in Perlis, many many years ago..

I wonder what happened to the 5 year old boy in Siberia, who came to me, begging for money so that he could buy his lunch. What happened to him today, has he manage to get meals every time he is hungry. Has become a matured teenager or has he become... I can only hope and pray, the future i.e. today is a happier day for him..and all those, who have tried to make others happy..

May the Blessing of God shine upon them...