Just when I was meaning to blog about Onam, an interesting article about the conversation between an ant and a boy catches my attention, and am taken back to my childhood days once again. Hence Onam can wait :D
As a child, I vividly remember how interestedly I would watch ants march across the ground. Then there was a sense of amazement in watching ants carry its fodder which weighs more than itself and then march along like an army. I would marvel at the sight of earthworms and centipedes .. it was amazing then to see a living creature with so many legs. And the manner in which spiders weave their webs was something fantastic. There was an insatiable curiosity to watch them all go about their tasks.
The enthusiasm of a child is unmatched. A toddler may keep falling down every time he tries to walk, but just doesn’t give up until he succeeds. No matter how many times he may fall down, he just keeps walking. Tirelessly. How often do we, grown ups, keep forgetting to get up and walk when we stumble upon difficult situations at various stages in our lives. They can draw the same picture repeatedly without getting bored, giving the picture a different interpretation at every color pattern change. They don’t have any memories clouding their judgments of the present time. Their beliefs and value systems keep evolving as they check and explore the boundaries, and they have a totally different model of the world altogether. It seems that certain features in them are wired into our minds such that we respond to their need for compassion and love with unquestioning support and nurturing .. and we don’t forget to smile as we do so!
I no longer spend time watching ants and spiders..maybe because I've 'grown up' and have time only to browse the web, but not to watch a web being woven.
I guess one has to be a child to observe such small yet wonderful things in life.
-Balu
10/9/08
3 comments:
i believe one just has to take time off and not be a child to look at such things. we miss out on so many good things by not taking time out to observe.
be a child, yes. somehow growing up makes us cynical.
i was recently watching this HUGE line of ants - big ones - not marching, but running, in a frenzy that made me gape in awe. i even tried interrupting the line with a leaf, but they just wouldn't be deterred!
that is why its such a plessure to have children..you begin to see the world through their eyes and they help keep alive that child in you...:D
and yes, ants are interesting creatures...
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