Nostalgia - An Objective Overview

‘Nostalgia’! The term sounds catchy as you hear it, nonetheless becomes intricate as you think over it. The word, ‘nostalgia’, may have a fixed definition in the dictionary but, I believe, everyone defines it in their own way in practicality.

I assume that everyone has got some kind of a picture of nostalgia drawn in their minds. Everyone gets nostalgic though the frequency varies person to person. I have always been fascinated by this unique tool called nostalgia that can be used for interacting with one’s past. I believe, I share a sacred bond with my past. Whether or not a 19 year old boy would see enough life to get nostalgic about it, is a matter of perceptions. I, for one, rather proudly, believe that I have lived many ravishing moments that can be recollected and moments that I can feel ecstatic about whenever I feel like; though on the other hand I, rather sadly, know that they cannot be relived.

‘Nostalgia’ is one of the most ironical experiences ever. It allows you to tour the past, it allows you to journey across time, it allows you to get a feel of all the beautiful things that were ever there and things that you miss from the bottom of your heart but at the very next moment it teases you cruelly that however strongly may you wish, you wouldn’t be able to re-actualize those things. It makes you realize that you have left them far behind. It, insensitively, tells you that something that was lived as the ‘Beautiful Present’ once, can now, at the most, be cherished as a ‘Precious Memory’. This change may be rather painful to bear for those who have lost things in abundance in the course of time; then be it emotions or people.

The definition and scope of nostalgia are ideas that are so convoluted that one may go on thinking over them forever (and I, certainly, cannot afford to do so since I have to publish this on 4^th of November). Hence, switching to my next point quickly (??), opining on whether or not nostalgia is a good thing would be very perceptive of me. Though I, generally, prefer it that way, this question seems rather difficult to be answered. I would like to quote an unknown (to me) genius here, “Men, who think about the past and worry about the future, land nowhere.” Well, why women and eunuchs are condoned here, is a point, I wouldn’t like to get into. The point that I would like to make is that in the quest of being ‘correct’ in life, philosophically speaking, ‘nostalgia’ is better kept away from. It, by no means, helps you in being ‘successful’ or philosophically right or, for that matter, wise. On the other hand, it harms such intentions by drifting you towards the emotional side. “Wise are those who listen to their brains” but, objectively speaking, if, at all, you feel that the significance of the emotional aspect is immense in existing as a ‘true human’ or if you are an ardent believer of such other ‘sentiment - prone’ ideas; you might just find ‘nostalgia’, a great resort that will allow your emotions to access and fly, freely, across the unforgettable times of your life that are exclusively treasured by and for you, and unlike most of the other things, for a limitless amount of time.

- - - Mihir Chitre
mihirmumbaikar@gmail.com

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