OUR MISSION IS TO BUILD
Forsome days now, I have been watching these little birds building their nest,
just outside here. They have set their goal: to build a home for themselves…
and, they are so faithful and committed to the task of realizing it. I am
fascinated by their team work, their strong faith in the consistent work done
in almost molecule size – go far and wide in search of one tiny straw, at a
time… drop it here… and go back to fetch the next one… and, then, another… then, another…
In every season, I have seen them
doing it here, unfailingly. When the nest is ready, it leaves me speechless:
“What a craftsmanship… What a masterpiece!” I marvel. And then, some one like
me, a human, comes and ‘clears off the mess’, in one single sweep… Gone!
Just like another Emperor invades
the city of Agra
and pulls down Shah Jahan’s Taj Mahal… Yes, as soon as he has finished building
it!
In what way is the work of these
little sparrows less superior to Shah Jahan’s?
And, in what way our act of
destroying their lovely monument less barbaric than any invading Emperor’s?
“Somebody has to pull down your
dream house the moment you have raised it!” Once, I heard a young lady yelling
at the man who had ‘cleared the mess’ outside, here!
Well, my thoughts went to the
mighty beehive, raised by thousands of small bees… so faithfully, so single-mindedly,
so consistently… Yes, nearly eighty thousand bees doing it… all knowing that they
will not even live for a month and a half… knowing that all that each one of them
would be able to contribute to their Queen’s Project is just one or two spoons
of honey… Still they go, far and wide, hopping from one flower to another, suck
a tiny, tiny sip of nectar… come back and offer it so lovingly!
Perhaps, what they do not know
is: that as soon as they complete their dream-work, humans will come to smoke
them out and take away all the honey home… and, yes, pull down the mighty
monument built with such devotion!
My thoughts also went to those
little ants – millions of them – coming together with a single mission of
building a home for their Queen. Just imagine, how much load each of those ants
can carry at one time! Yet, they do it… and, they do it so brilliantly! The
anthill – the Taj Mahal – is ready… And, alas! Now, they come – the invaders…
the poisonous snakes…!
“Remember,
it is the ants who build their home; but, it is the snakes that come to live!”
Many years ago, when I was dreaming about my own desire to raise an institute
to serve, a very respected and experienced soul had ‘warned’ me.’
Today, all these images flashed
back before me…
Felt sad?
Yes. No.
“That’s how it is… for little
sparrows, bees and ants,” I consoled myself, “Then, why not for any of us – the
humans?”
GERALD D’CUNHA
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---- Neelam