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    Ozymandias Complex

    Synopsis

    As very many of us enter the evening of our lives we are surrounded by memories. Photographs, framed, of days of yore, with you in the middle, or moved to either corner of the dais. Mementoes given by various organisations and offices where you had served or were invited.

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    As our parents enter the evening of their lives, they are surrounded by memories. Photographs, framed, of days of yore, with them in the middle, or moved to either corner of the dais. Mementoes given by various organisations and offices where they had served or were invited. They carry them along because ego dictates that they should, and because they feel it would be rude on their part to throw them away. The photographs are proudly displayed on the walls; the mementoes adorn the bookshelves. They end up reducing the home to a ‘shrine to past glories’.

    Even as they look at the collection, pride gives way to dejection and loneliness. Then they realise the transient nature of power and fame, and are overcome by what has been termed the Ozymandias complex — the title of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem that has now become a metaphor for the ‘fleeting nature of power, mortality, and achievements’— they lapse into deep self-pity. Which is one of the reasons to declutter, to part with mementoes and photographs and move on.

    As we enter the New Year, it is time to help our parents to resolve this and ask them, instead, to lend a helping hand to the needy, spend time with young children sharing their life’s learnings with them, and make themselves useful members of society. This will not only keep them busy but will also impart more satisfaction and joy. They need not echo Ozymandias and exclaim, ‘Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ Instead, let their actions speak for themselves and, who knows, it might inspire others also to join in. Every little effort counts.
    (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)

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