Looking back at life can be quite a challenging feat, especially when you have already lived more than half of it. And to summarize it in just six words can only be close to impossible, when brevity is not in my nature. Now this post is being published as part of  "CBC's six-word memoir tag" where I have to describe my life in just 6 words. Check out this post by Sowmya Swaminathan who is a journalist in the making to understand what this is all about. And CBC (Chennai Blogging Club) by the way is a group of fun loving bloggers from in and around Chennai. 

When looking back, I come to realize there have been ups and downs, goods and bads, successes an failures, happiness and the otherwise, and I find it quite a task to be able to bundle the whole of it in a 6-word package. And so I thought, why look back, when I can look ahead and see how I want my life to be from this point on. I probably can learn from the past and script my future the way I want it to be. Given that, I cannot think of my life as being anything but a "brilliant, unforgettable, and a successful experience".

This is a poem I wrote 8 years ago when 6-word memoirs did not exist. But today, a one line excerpt from these lines have been used to fulfill the purpose of this tag :)

My achievements, I try recalling.
The ones noteworthy,
the ones that made a difference,
the ones that changed a life,
the ones that moved a soul,
the ones that made my parents proud,
the ones that made me stand tall.
To my shock, my memory fails me.

As I retrace my path,
I try looking
for the flowers in their full bloom,
from the garden that I nurtured,
for the adherents following my footsteps,
for the mark that I have left behind,
for the memories that I have been part of,
for the soul that could distinguish me.
To my dismay, the search proves futile.
Barren is the entire trail,
bearing no inkling of my stride through it.

A startling revelation it was.
Now,lies with me the challenge,
of making my life memorable,
of making myself treasured,
that I remain etched in the minds of my posterity.
As I take up this trial,
I vow ,to make my journey,
a brilliant, unforgettable and a successful experience.

Gomathi Shankar, it is now your turn... Go on. Let us know your life in Six Words.

~ Somu