Lessons from Nature: Unity

            It was a hot and sunny afternoon. This bright day was a welcome change after the long months of monsoon. There was joy on every one’s faces. The joy and excitement doubled up when some of my friends spotted monkeys on the terrace. Few clicked pictures, few just admired, some on cat feet advanced closer to get a better view. A couple of fellows playfully devised, evil and boisterous plans of catching and caging the smaller monkey. The little one was unaware and was happily playing. The farthest monkey who was observing us advance towards the little one made gibbering sound and warned the others. We chased the little monkey’s mother away, but the other monkeys teamed up and picked up the little one and carried it to safety. We didn’t manage to catch any.

The sight we saw later was admirable. All the monkeys gathered on a tree some distance away from our evil clutches. Called out in the typical monkey sounds and started comforting each other, while a few still focused on us started hissing and tried scaring us with their shiny white teeth which were glowing against the background of their black faces. The sight of the monkey trying to scare us was funny and we too tried to imitate it. we told the guy in our group with the biggest teeth to take the lead. When I came back to my desk and started analysing the incident one thing that was striking was the unity.

Moral: when we live together no one can harm the weak. There is great strength in unity.

Lesson from nature: Life is short

One morning as I went out for a walk to admire God’s creation a tiny yellow insect with large scaly wings caught my attention. It was the first time I had really spent time to admire this particular creature in this part of the earth, we don’t see butterflies in Sutgatti-Hubli very often. I was delighted and followed the butterfly as it was skipping in the air. I forgot all my worries and lost track of time, I began observing it’s every move. I even tried capturing it on the camera. But the butterfly was very lively, active and too fast for me.

All of a sudden, the butterfly had stopped moving. It seemed like it was stuck in mid-air. By the time I made sense out of the whole scene, it was too late. A spider on all his eight crawled up to it and right away began enjoying the fruit of its hard work. The butterfly was stuck in the web that the spider had perfectly and patiently fashioned. The venom took effect and before I could act the butterfly was dead.

Moral: We never know what will happen next. The cure of the smile may be inverted in split seconds and turn into sadness.

Synonymy between Family and Heaven

As soon as the word ‘heaven’ strikes our ears door the first thing that comes to mind is

choirs of angels singing, people with spotless white clothes, flying shiny unicorns and other

things alike. But thinking about it seriously our image differs. Heaven according to the Oxford

Dictionary is “the place believed to be the home of God where good people go when they die:

the Kingdom of God.” This can be one explanation; but what are the other things we hear about

heaven? Some say heaven is a state of being and not a physical place; some say it is a fantasy or

imagination created by certain individuals to cozy themselves. Some others say heaven is a

concept created by morally sound people to scare those who do not live a moral life. Many are of

the opinion that heaven is participation in the life of the Trinity. These are all noble thoughts but

there is also a big group of people who believe that heaven can be present even on earth. These

people believe that heaven is a place where everybody lives peacefully, helping and loving each

other. Heaven need not be some place out there. It can be right here but this requires love and

sacrifice.

What is a family? A family according to Oxford Dictionary is a “group consisting of one

or two parents and their children.” This is the formal meaning of the term family but what is

family according to the common man or woman? Family is a group of people living together,

united in love and responsible for each other’s wellbeing. They may or may not be related by

blood ties.

When we speak of “family”, a sociologist will say it is ‘the basic unit of society’, a

psychologist would say it’s ‘the place where the child feels safest’, an educationist would say it’s

‘the first school of an individual’, a religious or a devout person would say ‘a cradle of love’, a

person living on the peripheries would say it’s the ‘support system of a person’; the list goes on

and on. Each person or group has a different opinion regarding family, but the fact remains that

family is a necessity for a healthy and happy life. If given a chance to propagate my idea of

family, I would compare it to a breath (the air we breathe). We need it the most but we don’t

realize its presence. We know or realize its importance only when it is taken away from us. We

do not make any effort to take care or know about it, but unconsciously we reap the benefits.

Every person may have a different opinion or a perspective about family but it surely boils down

to love, care and security.

A normal or a so called ideal family consists of father, mother and children, but there are

also extended families with their own positive and negative points. The family is or will be

peaceful if each member does what he or she ought to do. Nowadays we see people doing their

aptitude tests to know the right job or field of studies they will be good at. There are some

women who show very high potential in office work or business, will her family life be a

disaster? This depends; there are some very understanding families where husband and wife

complement each other. In the traditional sense, women ought to do house-hold chores and men

to work and earn for the family. But when a woman is more inclined to business there occurs a

problem in an Indian family not because she is not a good mother but because she does not fit

into the mould created by society for her. The movie Ki and Ka is a very good example of how

there can be a happy family even after man and woman switch their roles in the family. The

problem is not with who does what, but with what we think we /they ought to do. Sometimes it

so happens in the family that a member insists on certain practices so much, by showing hope of

heavenly life that the family becomes a hell on earth.

Heaven is not just a bi-product of living a good life on earth. If instead of living for

ourselves we begin living, keeping in mind the good of our family we can surely bring a change

and there won’t be need to wait to die to enjoy heaven. Heaven can be here on earth. And the

family is the closest and the most possible place that can be a heaven on earth.

Yes! I love you… No! I love you..

I first spoke to you by offering you chips
Sometimes we spent time watching funny clips
We liked dancing and moving our hips
As most students, in the hotel we never gave tips

You have always been a best friend
Can a girl and a boy just be friends to the end?
I have never kissed you just caught your hand
When together, we could have fun in any land

12 th boards ended our ways parted
After the farewell I felt disserted
Tried moving on but for some time it didn’t even get started
Physically distant, but online we chatted

Can a boy and a girl be friend who says no?
I experienced it; it’s possible… because I say so
Though away, our friendship I will never let go
The one destroying it will be killed with an arrow and a bow

I read a lot of novels in my free time
And realized our story needed some salt and lime
Oh God! My facial expressions, it was as though doing a mime
Friends caught me smiling it wasn’t a crime

Fictional Love - Feb 29th

You are the one who twisted everything around

I was so over whelmed with joy that my feet denied staying on the ground

My heart has realized the importance of the person it has found

When in 12th , my day was not complete without seeing you

I used to peep into your class when I used to pass by in a queue

In that split second I used to be anxious of anybody blocking my view

It was fun talking to the parrots and love birds in the school

For me it made a lot of sense but others thought I was a fool

But you by my side even the silliest things seemed cool

I am missing all the teasing and the bullying

Of course it’s me who troubled you, but you were my everything

And now without you, just looking at our pics I do nothing

Now the high pitched whistle has no goal in life

When I hear someone whistle, it is like I am sliced with a knife

I had always dreamt to take you as my wife

Rejoice at the moments we together shared

When I used to be in your arms, a kiss I dared

I’m sorry for times I hurt you, by listing to what others said.

When I think of you I feel sad but at the same time I smile

And when I desire meeting you even a minutes’ walk seems like a mile

Now that you are far away from me, my heart is scorched like a roof tile

The promises we made to each other still echo in my ears

I try to feel you close besides me whenever I am in tears

Nothing more to lose now, in my life there are no more fears

The day we expressed our heart, November 29th

We felt it would be difficult to go on, February 29th

The day that comes just once in four years but I never forget to remember, Feb 29th 

THE BEAUTY THAT FOUGHT THE BEASTS

           Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl. She lived in a land where all the people who resided there were more or less normal. No one had any super powers nor was the land any special…. Though I have began this like a typical Disney fairy tale this is very much a true story.

There was this extraordinarily beautiful girl who lived with her mother in a very ordinary house in a simple little village. Her mother was widowed when this beautiful little princes was barely able to talk. She is the only daughter of her parents and thus was brought up with lots of love and affection from friends and family. Apart from her beauty she was intelligent and good at moving her body practically to any beat; she was a fabulous dancer. All these qualities put together qualified her to be a brilliant student. In class and outside the class where ever it may be most of the eyes were on her, the masculine seeking for attention and the feminine in admiration or burning in envy. All said and done she was popular.

 Oh! How can I forget. This story will be incomplete without describing this attractive young sweet heart. She has beautiful charcoal black eyes which sometimes appear hazelnut brown because of her contact lenses. Her eyelids fringed with black eyeliner, artistically and patiently done by her, just looks perfect against her spotless vanilla white skin. The Happydent white teeth enclosed by her pinkish red lips make an immaculate smile. Her curls dangles over her shoulders playing hide and seek with the flawlessly carved ears. Nose slightly pointed nicely rounded is simply adorable. One look at her and you would know that she is one healthy, attractive, capable, bold and a well behaved young lovable babe.

It seemed like spring time happiness was in the air. Her mom fell in love with a handsome and hardworking man. He promised to keep this mother daughter duo always happy and under his protection. This was a welcome change; most were happy a few jealous and a hand full sarcastic and didn’t fail to spread nonsense. What went wrong than? Everything went wrong.

Joy knocked the door but disappeared in a jiffy, happiness that she experienced had not come to stay, though much awaited it had come to go. Despite the fact that she was showered with lots of gifts by her step-father or so to say new found dad there was something that wasn’t right. After a long and tiring day of schooling and other activities she was relaxing at home, she got hold of a pen drive, which she later realized belonged to her father. Young and adventures as she was she wouldn’t be at peace until and unless she discovered its contents. She inserted the external drive in her laptop and this changed her entire life. She felt that there was no roof over her spinning head nor floor below her cold and weak feet. She saw videos of herself, she saw herself naked and harmless, having bath peacefully undisturbed without even showing hint of awareness. She experienced how Eve from the book of Genesis (Bible) felt when God called her name as she was eating the forbidden fruit; she felt naked even though her clothes were on at that moment. She just wanted to believe that it was just a nightmare. The only sensible thing she felt she should do was press the magic keys on the laptop SHIFT + DELET. She felt that by deleting the evidence of her nakedness she would be at peace, but it haunted her. Her body was numb and brains no more functioning. After a few hours of sorrow, shock, shame, disgust, hate, betrayal and nothingness she approached her mom gathering all the courage she had. She didn’t realize that the worst was yet to come……. her mom didn’t believe her and having deleted the videos she had no proof. She couldn’t think clearly, her mind was like a blank slate yet with oodles of undecipherable thoughts.

There was a glimpse of hope because; the love of her life whom she loved and trusted the most had vowed that he would marry her. Since both the families had accepted their relationship, she felt that staying with him at his house would be a better bet than living with a father who never considered her as a daughter and a mother who would not believe her. She shifted to her fiancés house. There too, life was not easy; her to-be mother-in-law wouldn’t accept her in her house before marriage. She faced all the difficulties boldly; she felt lonely since the man who promised to take her as his wife was working abroad. No sooner he came they went in for a court marriage but that could not be possible since she was just 19. They lived together even though they weren’t married. But before things could settle down and she could find the peace which she most longed for, the only man she trusted now began to treat her as his servant. Although she didn’t live in a palace before coming to his house she still felt she was a princess and deserves to be treated better. Things had changed so quickly for her. Once again she was on her own now; she could not face it anymore. She decided to return to the house of which she was the rightful heir.

She came back home, despite the fact that the people in the house were her own she had lost faith in them. She could not face the man who never saw her as a daughter rather an object to fulfill his fantasies and a mom who wouldn’t believe and stand by her own blood. She wasn’t just beautiful she was brave as well. She confronted the man who had in a way tried to outrage her modesty. She courageously spoke to him and he accepted his doings but wasn’t willing to confess it before his wife, her mother. She was depressed, she knew her victimizer but could not make it know to others who didn’t believe her. She contemplated suicide several times. Three or four times she gulped in hand full of pills which if not for the intervention of the doctors at the right time would have been successful in reserving a place for her with the Creator. Her home reminded her of the man who showered her with gifts and affection, whom she considered her father and his love as filial, but the picture was clear, it was lust. Despite of all that had happened she tried living as any normal daughter would.

Things were cooling down, life was moving on. Though her studies were affected, she fought back. She did most of the house hold chores to keep herself busy. One fine day as she was sweeping the house, the man who was the husband of her mother (she no longer considered him her father) came in with breakfast for her. She was shocked but delighted since she felt that he was trying to mend his ways. She was a committed young lady so she decided to finish her sweeping and swabbing before she could have her breakfast. It took her almost half an hour to finish her chores. When she saw the glass of orange juice that was poured for her she was taken aback. The contents of the glass which were orange were half orange and half green now. She was suspicious. She called up a friend and her bestie appeared in no time they both decided to hunt for any clue that would enlighten them on the mystery of the juice, and right enough they found a small bottle in her so called father’s closet. The instruction on it read thus: 20ml of this drug added with any addible liquid (ratio- 1:3) can make the person unconscious for about an hour or more. Once again she felt a sward pierce her already frail heart. She told her mom, who once again as earlier didn’t believe her. As brave as she was, she went to the lawful authority who handled such cases. For the third time in a row her mother broke her trust into pieces. She forced her to take back the police complaint. She took it back not because of fear but because she loved her mother. She placed the life of her mother before her own. She didn’t want her mom to be alone. She didn’t want to see her mom growing old without her husband around her. She loved her mom, but did her mom love her daughter even half as much as her daughter had loved her?

As I have mentioned in the beginning the Beauty we read about was a strong girl and is even stronger now both physically and mentally.  She is working in a respected organization, financial independent, so much so that she has her own car; the fruit of her own hard work. Yes! she still lives with her mother and her so called father. But the only consolation is that he is working abroad and most of the year not at home. Life seems much happier now. As I said earlier she is still extraordinarily beautiful but I love and admire her more because she is extra-extraordinarily strong and brave.

The purpose of penning down this story is not only because of her bravery and courage, but because of what people spoke about her. When she went to her fiancés house, she was spoken ill of, people were grumbling about and questioning her moral character. When she began working whilst studying, once again people had problem with that. They said that she uses her beauty to allure people to get her way done. When she bought a new car, there were remarks which hinted that she may have sold her dignity to get it. In midst of all this she stood strong, she was turning 21 now. She with the help of a few friends and family decided to make it grand. She celebrated her 21^st birthday with a lot of pomp. The night after the party when she was sitting back and discussing her birthday bash with her friend she realized that even those people who were talking ill about her had gone home satisfied with joy, laughter and not surprisingly with their stomachs full. She recalled, before she could host the party she was afraid that no one may come, they even discussed what they would do with all the food that will remain if the guest wouldn’t turn up. The party was a grand success, she was happy and the people who came contented.

The Beauty which we just saw here is not fictional and unlike those in most of the fairy tales she isn’t very delicate either. And at the end of all these hateful experiences she has become even stronger. And it would not be wrong to say that the Beauty turned out to be stronger than the beasts she faced. We can fondly remember her as “The beauty that fought the beasts.”

Moral: The undying zeal and quest to be the master of one’s own future. (You can draw out 101 morals for yourself form this story impregnated with ethical values)