Wednesday, March 7, 2007

The Fall and the End

"There is providence in the fall of a sparrow..."

That was the tagline for the last HDC play. Never thought something would remind me of the same few words so soon...

After all, what providence can you find in a fledgling (I can't even call it a pigeon) falling from its nest, lungs quite likely crushed and trying most probably in vain, to breathe some air, to somehow increase the duration of its very short life? Maybe, it would have been better if it had died immediately upon its fall...It definitely would have been better had it not fallen at all...

As the strains of 'DJ's Breakdown' from Rang De Basanti fall on my ears, as I contemplate whether it would be better for me to solve a couple of Physics problems before I leave for my ASP.NET class, I also feel the pain of the chick's fall...I can imagine the Herculean efforts it must have taken for it to take that one more breath...I can see its mother watching a couple of friends as we tried to pick it up gently and placing it back in its nest - all of us knowing unconsciously that it was only a gesture to help the mother have a last look at its chick.

And yet, as soon as I stood on that chair, the mother, possibly feeling threatened by a human, flew away. I placed the chick on the nest and got down, but I don't think the pigeon ever returned to its chick.

It is in times like this that you realize you are humans...The pigeon will forget its grief and will soon begin to look for a new mate to give birth to more chicks...It will not wallow in self-pity nor will it linger in the past. For the pigeon, there will always be challenges around the corner - ones that it must overcome to ensure its own survival - everything else will come later...there will always be the promise of a better future without the sceptre of the past hanging on its head...

But what of humans? What about those who have undergone such innumerable sufferings in their lifetimes? Why can't we forget? Why can't we move on? Is this what it is to be 'higher' beings? Is this what humanity does to a living being? Is such a life of remembering depressing moments and lingering on the memories of lost opportunities worth living for?

I don't pretend to have felt all these personally in my life (a fact that I'm very thankful for) but I know these things do happen. It's only when it happens around you or to someone you know that you really sit up and take notice. And even though you wished you never knew about it, there's nothing you can do to forget...nothing you can do but move on with a heavy heart...wishing that time will mend the wounds and make the scars fade...

0 Responses: