September 4, 2026
All rights reserved by the author
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” — Søren Kierkegaard
Last Sunday, I found an old shirt at the back of my cupboard.
It was no longer useful. The collar had faded, one button was missing, and the fabric had become thin with years of washing. Yet I stood there holding it longer than necessary.
I remembered the first time I wore it.
A new job. A nervous morning. A train I almost missed. Someone had smiled at me that day and said, “You look confident.”
I had not felt confident at all.
Funny how an old shirt can remember things that we have forgotten.
We spend so much of life moving forward that we rarely notice what we are carrying with us—small victories, embarrassing moments, people who changed us, words that stayed, and days we thought were ordinary.
Perhaps that is what looking backwards is for.
Not to live there.
Only to understand why we became the person walking forward toda
Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati , Assam , India
mail : rajatchandrasarmah# gmail. com
