India, Jan. 12 -- Human existence seems forever to be in the cliffhanger mode, We are like dew drops on a leaf, said the saint, so tellingly. Transient, ephemeral and impermanent are our lives after all. Time, in any case, is fleeting and racing ahead at breakneck speed. Even a healthy, "full course" life of 90 years, perhaps, might seem to have rocketed forth, towards its conclusion.

In any case, even a nonagenarian's life is akin to a blip upon the vast and timeless landscape of the universe itself. What's more, the cosmic forces offer no clue as to when and where one's time would be up. The sheer uncertainty of the final moment is in stark contrast to the increasing certainness of the designated date when a baby is to roll into our ca...