Cream teas and flowing rivers

I used to love afternoon teas. But that was way back in the days when I could guzzle umpteen cups of tea and scoff down all the carb-loaded scones and sarnies without them affecting either my waist or my bladder. Today I am not that keen on the afternoon teas anymore for various reasons and I think basically my taste buds have also changed.

But who observes these minute changes in you? Sometimes I think we ourselves are not totally conscious of how much one changes over the years. Not only in tastes but also in personality. Hopefully one is growing and evolving all the time.

I am convinced though that sometimes even close family and friends do not or cannot keep up with these changes. That struck me when a close relative recently treated me to an afternoon tea because she remembered that I liked them and another sent me a link to a themed tea which he thought I might enjoy. As both occurred one after the other, it got me thinking: how well do we really know people? And more importantly how can we keep track of their changing tastes as well as nature?

According to Heraclitus, who reasoned that everything is always changing and that this fact is fundamental to the functioning of the universe, it is not possible to step in the “same river” twice because the river is ever-changing.

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

“And he’s not the same man.” That’s the crux. Like the flowing river, people are also ‘flowing’ from one day, one moment to the next. That is why it is suggested that when you meet a person, be so open as to see him with fresh eyes, as if you are meeting him for the first time. This is especially true for people near and dear to you, because one tends to assume and take their traits and proclivities as set in stone and as they are so close, (in proximity as well as relations), one needs to step back a bit and be alert to be able to notice the changes which can sometimes be quite subtle. Easier said than done, I think.

Yet worth keeping in mind, wouldn’t you say?

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