Who am I?

This was not too long ago. In the nineteenth century, when he was still relatively unknown, Parisian Paul Gauguin could traverse from banking to painting, and relocate himself in Tahiti for an exploration deep into himself to paint a masterpiece called 8216;Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?8217; Nearer home, when the blind sage Swami Virjanada of Vrindavan called out, 8220;Kaun hai?8221; in response to a knock on the door, a young earnest called Moolshankar better known as Swami Dayananda, founder of the Arya Samaj, hopeful of finding an answer to the mystery of life, could reply without batting an eyelid, 8220;That is what I have come to you for, to find out who I am.8221; Such was the intensity of his search.

Most of us have been given names for identity, but would we have positioned our quest for our real identity, our purpose in life, centrestage in reply? This quest used to be the thread that linked every activity, every pursuit, in harmony. Even as advanced a discipline as quantum physics had the renowned Schrodinger thinking reflexively in his Who Am I on his purpose: 8220;I consider science an integrating part of our endeavour to answer the one great philosophical question which embraces all others, the one that Plotinus expressed by his brief: 8216;who are we?8217; And more than that, I consider this not one of the tasks but the task of science.8221;

It seems that we have lost faith, forgotten that life has space both for this exploration and for survival as well. And so we merely pursue problems instead of pursuing a purpose through which we could realise ourselves. But, as the Mock Turtle said to Alice, 8220;No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise.8221; Today we turn away from ourselves and always know who the other person is; we know that politicians are scoundrels, doctors are quacks, bureaucrats are daft and corrupt both, and teachers are imbeciles. But do I know myself? Or do I duck when faced with this question? Am I like the turbaned rustic who, when on entering a reserved compartment was asked, 8220;Who are you?8221; retaliated by turning the interrogative pronoun into an expletive: 8220;Who are you, you are a WHO!8221;