Feeling the heat? Don't worry, cool winds will pick up soon. Feeling cold? Worry not, the sun is just about to shine from the cloud's corner. Getting hunted? Don't worry there never is a prey who isn't a hunter itself. As the proverb goes, when it floods, the fish eat the ants. And as the waters recede and leave the ground dry, the ants eat the fish. The circumstantial winds are equally for and against all of us. So just dance to the tunes of life. Like grass does. Like flexible plants do. They dance and enjoy the most, open to the winds from all directions. No point in having a tiff with life. We may not have too much control over the music of life that beats around us. But we can surely take a jig and go for dancing the steps of our choice. Or even hop like a frog if you are dance-challenged like me. Hopping around is no less fun. Telling from personal experience.
**
Guys, individual freedom has always remained a fundamental
ideal since historical times. However, it is not to be achieved by casting off
all society and civilization or by going back to a so-called 'natural state'.
The perfection of man, his freedom, his liberty, his happiness, and the growing
mastery of his own destiny, all are dependent upon a clear understanding of
certain laws of nature and society. We have to accept that both nature and
society have worked according to these laws to enable us to get the idea of
this so called 'freedom'. So the pursuit of the interest of the baby should not
turn us blind to the interests of the mother.
**
Many a thing changed over the centuries. In fact almost
everything changed to take a completely different shape and connotation. But
the religious differences are the same. They seem beyond the pale of time.
Blood-shedding and hate in the name of religion is the same. Is not it high
time that the world community starts dismantling the hold of exclusivist
religious principles on people and states? It is the time for an all-inclusive
world religion, the religion of all humanity, humanism. It can have Allah,
Jesus, Buddha, Hindu and other major Gods and deities of other sects in its
fold. The main issue is how do we convince the beholders of Puritanism in
various religions, particularly the fundamentalist Islamists, to see beyond the
rigid confines of their unchanging tradition. Most of the religions are melting
under the warm sun of internationalism. But the medieval icy blocks in the
stream of Islam are holding their archaic laws and principles solidly
crystallized like the polar snows. The question is, will Islam ever be lenient
to the non-Muslims? Modern Islamists will have to dismantle the institutionalized
psyche among the Muslim masses against the kafirs and welcome
non-discriminatory universal brotherhood as His Holiness Prophet Mohammad
envisioned. World peace and harmony depends on this question. If
internationalism succeeds to liberate humanism buried under religious
fanaticism, we can expect to have a peaceful world following the religion of
humanism. In any case, religion has to be systematically dismantled to lay the
foundation of a common world. China will attempt to do it with its atheist
state policy. But that will turn this world a big jail. Better that it’s done
under democratic principles.
**
Pick up a dry leaf and take out the carpenter ant that has
got into the toilet seat. I sometimes rescue even house flies and mosquitoes.
They will be a nuisance, one may say. But the chance to be a savior is too big
a reward for such deterrent considerations. I try to keep my foot on a hold as
a beetle crosses, or a skink crawls away, or a frog hops away. I know a tread
of caution is for my own benefit. It will save me from a fall sometime in
future. If you learn to not walk ove insects and beetles on the way, you will
surely escape the thorns and potholes of life that come your way. If you can
rescue an insect or bug of your dislike from a basket, basin or drain, you are
prepared to forgive people. These tiny acts of salvage hone the spirit of
sympathy, love and care in you. They blunt the edge of apathy and neglect that
sees us turning a blind eye to so many unbecoming things around us, where we
can bring a positive change without creating too much turbulence in our lives.
It’s better to have a little bit of time to stop and take out a drowning
beetle. If not for this, you will hardly try to save a drowning man in future.
Goodness is a habit. It can be practiced. The vast workshop of life has so many
tiny tables for us to carry out our little experiments. To me rescuing an
elephant and saving an ant is more or less the same. That particular savior
emotion is the main thing. So watch your step and avoid crushing insects
unnecessarily. You gain a lot from it. You learn to be careful and responsible.
Most of the times when we think we are helping others, we are in fact helping
our own selves.
**
The first half of November is supposed to be the best. The
winter is opening like a soft bud. The birds sing at their best. It proves it’s
the best part of season. A beautiful, fluid mix of balmy cold and warmth. But
we have turned it the worst. The metallic haze and toxic smog grips the skies
like the steely talons of an eagle strung over the soft fur of a rabbit. The
eyes burn. Throats ache. The sip of life, the air, turns a slow dose of death.
The north Indian planes look like a huge prison. The sun looks pale and
sick-faced as it peeks weakly over the polluted planet. But then even on such a
sickly gloomy morning there are thousands of swallows flying in the sky. So
many of them! With so many birds, it seems as if everything will be all right.
The sky seems to bless the earth through these freely flying birds. It’s the
time to plant more trees and flowers. It’s the time to walk a bit slower and do
something that will leave the planet worth staying for the coming generation.
**
Most of the time our hate for someone is merely an
instrument to undo and hide our own guilt about the incidents and happenings
which took us to a point of unbridgeable differences with that person. Hate is
a very convenient tool. It’s fuelled by anger. With the tools of hate and
anger, it’s very easy to put all the blame on someone else for the fallouts. In
our own court, the hammer of hate and anger sets our conscience free while
holding the other party culpable for all the wrongs that have befallen.
**
All of us want to leave a mark on the running water and
blowing air. And all of us fail. Only this unquenchable urge wins. But then
maybe a bit of laziness is what we need after all this burnout. Slowing down
helps avoid the explosion, both individual and collective. We have run too
blindly and now stare at the edge of a blind drop. Treading carefully will save
us. Walk slow and with poise.
**
A little ant is dragging the huge carcass of a carpenter
ant. Hasn't creation got an instinct for carrying burden ingrained very deeply
in its fabric? There is an everlasting pull for expansion and more complexity.
How can we avoid complexity of life then? Going against the primal instinct is
a sort of reverse engineering. This is the evolutionary challenge. A kind of
lavitation instead of gravitation. Fording the river. The ultimate salvation.
The cessation of the urge to pull the burden and still be joyful. A state where
every burden transforms into bliss. Pull your burden little lady. But don't
forget to rest under the shade of the fragrant roses on the way. They are as
meaningful as the weight you pull. And the journey turns joyful if you pause
and greet the flowers on the way. And don't forget to acknowledge the presence
of thorns on the path as well. Just be careful of them as they have their
meaning also. They are there to help you watch your step and avoid a fatal
fall. A bit of pinch now and then serves it purpose because it maybe avoids a
fatal fall in the long run.
**
A powder blue beauty is seen in the washbasin. A woodlouse,
a dweller of old, rotten woods. Maybe it got its adventure too far and landed
into the basin. Now it's a fun game, go up and slump down again. Maybe they
take their struggles as easily as feasting and fun. So here it goes with its
business. I take a pic and since it's a patient model for the shoot, it gets
its reward. It gets rescued on a dry leaf and I leave it near a pile of dead
wood. It's a very interesting little bug. Look at the range of its names:
Granny grey in Wales, boat-builder in Newfoundland, Butcher boy in Australia,
Carpenter in Labrador, Charlie pig in Norfolk, Cheesy Lou, Cheesy papa, Cheesy
pig, Daddy grampher, Dandy postman, Fat pigs, Grumper pig, Granny grunter and
scores of more interesting names. In every English county it has a different
name. It can be a good pet for buggy parents. And is, most importantly,
harmless for humans as it doesn't spread diseases. So raise a brood and give
them as many names as your funny creativity allows you because they take
name-calling very easily and in good spirits.
**
The hare may have its huffing and puffing competitiveness.
But it lives very anxiously. A tortoise, on the other hand, goes on its journey
that isn't defined in terms of mileage and distances. It's both joy and motion
at the same time. Welcome to the snaily pace of the tortoise world! Here you
acknowledge the smile of a wayside wild flower and greet the lone beetle on its
journey.
**
And now dear earthlings, the winter softly coos: 'Dear, I'll
cool down the burning hot field of realities that tortures your soft feet!'
Open up to the invitation. Give mother nature a helping hand. She will put our
house in order far too soon than we believe. But we have to do our bit first.
Please resolve to plant a few trees and see them grow up strong with mandatory
post-plantation care.
