Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Digging deeper into the ‘Who Am I?’ riddle

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Lakshmi Kothaneth -


lakshmiobserver@gmail.com -


How do we identify each person? Is it necessary to know what a person’s profession is in order to start a conversation?


A few years ago when we did the radio programme ‘Body, Mind and Soul’ on Radio Oman with Islamic Scholar and life coach late Sheikh Khalfan al Esry, he would ask this question, “Who are you?”


It is a question of just three words. Many philosophies in the world have asked this question. After all these years, I still ask myself, “Who am I?” My grandmother had told me she used to ask this question since her childhood days. She would ask, “Actually who am I? Where did I come from?” And together we would sit in silence. Today, of course, I also ask, “Where do we go?”


Yes, I agree there are questions that are beyond our imagination and knowledge. Nevertheless, the mind does wander in these directions. The depth of the question, “Who am I?” is deep. Maybe the scientists are now getting to dig the earth’s mantle, yet we are not able to comprehend the depth of our mind or whether we are using our brain to its full capacity.


Sit in a conference and you realise how many strains of thoughts can be managed at a time even without being aware about it. Obviously it also means you have lost focus. On top of it, let us say we are busy analysing people in the crowd by the way they dress, behave and so on, we will be surprised how much we can pack in as part of our thought process.


When we are so busy portraying the subject under scrutiny, it only takes a few seconds to ask oneself, “Who am I?”


Many of us may not want to know the answer to the question because quite often we are running away from ourselves. We conclude most of the time the problem we are going through is because of someone else’s fault. This is what we would like to believe, but deep inside we know that the opportunity called life has always given us choices.


Today technology is considered disruptive and it is acceptable. The traditional trading system will change, say the industry experts and the traditional traders will have to think of innovative ways to make the transition.


If you look back in history, we realise that time has never stood for anyone. Yet, there have been timeless ideas that have withstood the test of time. On the other hand, destruction, however tragic it might seem, has always brought about new growth.


The end is the beginning.


So it might be electric car today. It was horse carriages a few decades before motorcars that used fuel. If we think we are going through a crisis, it is actually time for the beginning of creative process.


Nature is creative. It is never standstill. Looking at the volcano Bromo in Indonesia, the thought that came to mind is how the nature has incorporated ash-laden land into its creative process. Nothing goes anywhere it seems. Change is inevitable and probably the only constant factor in the universe.


As a kid, the first question you wanted to ask a new friend was, “What is your name?” As you got older it became, “What do you do?”. The innocence moved into the company of ego.


So going back to our question, “Who am I?” it is beyond our ego, which prefers to state the name, job title, profile on your social media, the earning factor, lineage to DNA. Is it our thoughts or our values that make us who we are? Is it the colour of the skin or our traditions?


When you find your answer, do let me know. Eagerly waiting until then.


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