All Rights Reserved by the Author
18 September 2026
The older I get, the more I think that we leave behind far more than we realise.
Not necessarily the things we worked hardest for.
A person may remember something we said years ago, although we ourselves have forgotten saying it. Someone may remember that we stood beside them on a difficult day. Someone else may simply remember that we always smiled when we met.
We rarely know which part of us stays with another person.
I sometimes think about people who crossed my path many years ago. Some were colleagues, some were friends, some were people I met only briefly. Yet a few small things about them remain with me—their way of speaking, a particular kindness, perhaps even a joke that made everyone laugh.
Life moves on. People change places. Telephone numbers change. Some people disappear from our lives altogether.
But not everything disappears.
A little of every meaningful relationship seems to remain somewhere inside us.
Perhaps that is what we really leave behind.
Not our possessions.
Not our titles.
Just small memories in the lives of people who knew us.
And if those memories carry a little warmth, perhaps that is enough.
Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Instagram @rajatchandrasarmah5
YouTube: conversewithasmile
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
