Life, some say, happened by chance. They say that it is a result of the culmination of infinite number of sequences starting from the start of the universe. Others say that life is a divine creation. Like one fine day the almighty decided that life had to happen. Who knows where the truth lies, it is most likely somewhere in between. But I often wonder; if I have to be, then who would I rather be?
Hindus say that you are born a human after going through millions of other lives. Who wouldn’t want to be a human? We are of course the most intellectual of them all. We can manipulate every living and non living thing around us for our own comfort. We know that life is not just about living but it is also about leaving a legacy. Our intelligence empowers us, gives us the confidence to change our world. The same intelligence however, gives us greed, envy, pride and other sinful traits that are so uniquely human. This struggle of good and evil within the human mind is sometimes so intense that it makes me question the value of intelligence.
So what about being simple non intelligent bacteria? Eat when there is food and go dormant when there is none. There would be no worry of the future and no regrets of the past, life would simply be in the present. But replicating every 20 minutes is crazy. I can barely handle one of me, having thousands of me around is a scary thought. Plus bacteria do live in the weirdest of places and I don’t think I can handle that.
Maybe I could be a predator like a lion. I would be the king of the jungle the ruler of my domain. There would be no one stronger than me and the whole world would be at my feet. But I think I would be a terrible predator because I just don’t have the cruelty in me to kill that newly born fawn just so that I could have a meal.
So how about a tree, the most benevolent of all beings? Trees of course provide us with our basic needs like food, shade, shelter and clean air. What attract me to trees though are their deep roots. Roots that keep them grounded to a place for ever. Like all living forms a tree will perish due to the act of god, greed of a logger or need of a weaker creature. But until that day the tree clings on tight and never leaves that piece of earth that first helped it sprout.
I have lived in 4 different cities in the last decade. With every move there is always a struggle to form new roots. In every move there is that elusive search for the piece of earth that will ground me forever. And every move makes me wonder; if I had to be, why was I not a tree.
Thank you for visiting a small piece of my mind, I hope you found it just like yours.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Nice one Himanshu, well thought!
Aditi
Well Written- just to elaborate on your thought-
The tree is grounded to its roots and so does not have a choice to move. The more choices we humans have the more confused we get and the more unsatisfied we remain. Its sad- when i was younger i thought having many choices was always a good thing- clearly it is not. No matter where you are in your life you will tend to go back in time and rethink:"what if i had.."
and that is just the reality of life. We all will have choices and we all still will remain with wanting more...unlike the tree!
Do you think the tree has feelings? maybe it wants choices- The grass is always green on the other side you know:)
great job as usual!
Dhanashri
Thanks Aditi
Dhanashri,
Choices are not always bad after all happiness is also a choice. The problem is that we equate happiness with all the wrong things and run after them endlessly, when what we are looking for is within us. All the tree needs is some sunshine, some water and a small piece of land, why would the tree want to move when everything that it wants is around it? If we reign in our needs we can be like the tree too. After all not choosing is also a choice!
Thanks for your thought provoking post.
Post a Comment