The Essence of 'i'

Ever wondered why in English the first person is referred to in caps, as 'I' and not as 'i', like we do in the second and third person (you, him/her). The literal history suggests, the German for first person, 'ich', was trimmed and made the English 'i'; and to prevent this little word to be mistaken as a part of the preceding or the following word, was capitalized in usage. Thus the 'I' came into existence, so is said.

The literal 'I' though seems to have entered our minds figuratively, that 'i' is capitalized to show the superiority of one's individuality. And the same is the reason why people point fingers at others while they still happily ignore the ones he/she has erred. Take this, there's a brand new rare crystal show piece you bought. And your bro/sis/kid breaks it in the process of admiring its beauty. Whoosh! There it goes into pieces! How mad would you not get at him/her! And keep the entry in your mind for quite a few years for sure. And if it were you who broke it, would the spite still remain in your mind few years down the lane?

Courtesy: Google Images

In Indian philosophy 'i' has been a subject of abundant discussion, teachings, learning and epics. In the Mahabharatha, Lord Krishna speaks of ‘aham’ the Sanskrit synonym of ‘i’, the illusion called ego. He says, "The self alone is a friend of him who has conquered it and an enemy who has not." He who has won over the 'self' has gotten to the Supreme. 

An article in one of India's leading national dailies, The Times of India (TOI), first sowed the seeds of this thought in my mind, while in college. The newspaper had published an interesting article on ego and the letter 'I'. Although i don't recollect much of the article’s content, what i do remember is that every edition since then, the daily made it a point that its guest writers do use 'i' rather than 'I' while speaking in first person. Check out some article on their editorial page, and how most of the authors refer to themselves.

May sound like a 'copycat', but then is when i felt “this seems true”, and started writing with a small 'i'. People may disagree and say "you eat, sleep, read, work, all for yourself, and then you speak of ego being an illusion!?" Well, i am no saint or philosopher! Yet, i do believe that it is important for one to know that it is not the ’me’ that is doing stuff. There’s a higher force that is driving each of us do what we’re doing. That does bring one question to my mind. If i’m being driven by someone/something else then why should i be held accountable for it later! May be someday i would get an answer to that.

All said, it is true, i consider, that ego could take you places, sometimes where you didn’t want to see yourself. How we approach it, is what counts, we could either be friends with it or be shattered by it.

Hey! The spell checker’s changing all my ‘i’s to ‘I’s! Well, that’s how the world wants it to be, I guess! Sigh…there it goes again!

“One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star!” 

- G. K. Chesterton, English born essayist, novelist