Loneliness , Solitude and Insanity

When i was a child , i read a poem called The Solitude Of Alexander Selkirk. The poet demonstrated with exquisite beauty , the loneliness of a man who was left deserted on an island as a result of a ship wreck. The man stayed there for four long years until he was rescued. The poet shows how his life went then. In his initial days he was very sad and gloomy. Nights were spooky and eerie for him. The land was alien and so were the animals that lived in the jungle. The poet writes:

" Ye winds that have made me thy sport,
Convey to this desolate shore,
The news of a land that i shall visit no more"


"My friends, do they now and then remember me,
Oh tell me i yet have a friend,
Though a friend i am never to see."

And then slowly and steadily he started to get used to the environment that surrounded him. One day the man realizes that life is not all that bad. He sees how the beast goes to his lair everyday when the sun sets. How life in the jungle comes to peace and everybody rests in the night. He realizes that God blesses his creatures in every form no matter where they are and then he thanks God for keeping him alive and says:

"There is mercy at every place,
Mercy encouraging thought,
Gives even affliction a grace,
And reconciles man to his lot."

But does all this have a meaning still after so many years of a man being deserted on the island, after so much of geographical discovery that no more land on earth is left undiscovered so that no man can remain physically aloof from others. Yes , it does have a meaning , it does carry a significance.

With the kind of life that we are leading nowadays we need no undiscovered islands to be lonely or to be in solitude. It comes to you even in a crowd of thousands. And does it drive a person insane? I believe it does , because it has done that to me on times.

Attachment to another heart , love for friends are the things that kill the most when they go away. As a child i never had to part with friends because i studied in the same school for more than 10 years. And then the day came and it comes again and again , in college , in office everywhere. And then you feel as if some string has been pulled from your heart and it has left behind a wound that is irreversible.

This present day when i am writing this blog , i am all alone. My friends have had a change of office due to professional commitments and they all were people with whom i have lived , laughed and cried. And it becomes so difficult to adopt to change , just so very difficult to Let Go.

And are solitude and insanity related. Yes they are. The heart longs for a look of the loved ones , it craves to hear their voice and when there are so many of them who went away , the mind stops to respond. You are so engrossed into thinking about those who went away , that your mind stops behaving rationally and things go hay wire.

You see the chairs occupied by people that were once occupied by people who have gone and you feel that you are in solitude , all alone even though there are twenty hearts beating in the same room . But your heart does not beat in resonance with theirs . A string does not connect your heart to theirs . The string that will pain when it gets detached.

But then someone said "Time is a Great Healer" . And it indeed is . The only medicine that cures insanity caused by the departure of the loved ones. And right now all i am doing is taking that medicine. It is curing me i know but it takes time. Till then i just hold on with the sweet memories that i have gathered in this life's journey with all those wonderful people by my side.

But at the end of the day , i can't help but thank God for bringing some wonderful people in my life. Maybe he takes away those people so that we can realize how much worth they have.

The string always remains attached between your heart and theirs no matter what happens.

So now i hold on till "time" just cures my insanity and strengthens the string that attaches me to my friends.

I miss you people.