November 28, 2025
Everything that exists on this planet has its beginning and end. Often, we associate the term “expiry date” with products, medicines, and materialistic things. In human beings, it is birth and death. In products or goods, it is the date of manufacture and the date of expiry. The underlying concept in all of these is the same: everything has its own ending.
But recently, people have started saying that relationships too should have expiry dates. Yes, nowadays the trend appears to be like this. Every relationship is short-term and conditional. These terms and conditions dictate the lifespan of relationships. Earlier, marriages especially lasted long because they were considered sacred, divine bonds, and both partners—especially females—used to adjust, make sacrifices, and stay until the end. But today, both partners come with many things—live-in relationships, situationships, temporary marriages—so now, along with products and human life, relationships too seem to have an expiry date.
The irony is that when a relationship expires, the partner who is deeply involved in it also “expires” (ends their life).
Change is constant, but this particular change in modern relationships is not right because it is not only damaging one life or one family but also sending the wrong message to the current and future generations. Marriages have now become a game. Many don’t even last for a year.
Nothing and no one in this world is temporary. Despite knowing this, humans run behind accumulating money and wealth as if they are going to take it along with them. Greed is leading people down the wrong path. They are indulging in various activities that are harmful to society. There is a saying: “Money is never bitter for a person,” which means no one on this earth will say, “I don’t want money; I have enough of it.”
Daily-use goods come with a short shelf life. A shopkeeper tries his best to sell all the goods before they spoil or expire. Humans too know that one day or another they must face death. Then why, like shopkeepers, don’t humans try to make their lives remarkable or do everything they can before death knocks?
A perfect example is a flying kite. A kite is made of paper and a broomstick and tied with a thin thread. It knows it will eventually fall to the ground, but before that, it must reach the top of the sky. Even though the kite knows where it will end up, it still flies higher and higher when it has the opportunity to see the sky.
The lesson here is that we humans do not make use of our opportunities and abilities to the fullest. When even a small incident happens in our life, we stop there and blame.
We all know the story of the 99 Club. For those who don’t, I will explain briefly. Once, a king saw a happy poor farmer sleeping peacefully, whereas the king, despite having everything, was not happy or peaceful. The minister then advised the king to place 99 bags of coins in front of the farmer’s house. When the farmer counted them and saw only 99, he became sad and anxious, constantly searching for the one missing coin. From that day onwards, the farmer’s peace of mind was lost. The minister told the king, “Now he has joined the 99 Club too.” The king realised that happiness does not come from money. From that day, he decided to be happy with what he had.
This story reminds us that to be truly happy in life, we must count our blessings and be content with what we have instead of searching for and complaining about what we lack.
The kite and the story of the 99 Club always inspire me in two ways: first, to give our best while we are here; second, to count our blessings and be happy with what we have. These two golden lessons should remain in everyone’s mind whenever they feel sad or begin blaming life.
Before we leave this world, let us do our best, spread happiness and kindness, support good people to excel, and be generous towards animals and the earth. Let us leave behind a mark of goodness and kindness on this planet.