ANANTHA JYOTHI
The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hill-side’s dew-pearl’d;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven–
All’s right with the world!— The Pippa’s Song, Robert Browning
Just because everything is in place does not mean that all is well with the world; yet, ‘Pippa’s Song’ is one of hope. The nearest experience to this is the Covid. That March, all students and most staff had already gone home. The school looked desolate and fear was rife in the air. A pall of gloom had spread all over the world. I vividly remember that evening when the fragrance of neem flowers just blossoming filled the air. It reminded me that the spring was here and the new year (Telugu) was dawning. It was an inexplicable moment—one felt a glimmer of hope. The worst was yet to unravel but the kernel of hope was alive. Covid brought out the best and worst of mankind. Almost every household held a tragic tale; but every day you also heard a story that ascertained your faith in humanity. One such story was that of a mother who went on a long solo scooter journey across states to bring her son home from college. It is this kind of synergy that makes our otherwise fractured lives meaningful and almost whole. It always brings these lines alive:
To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;
To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;
To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;
To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;
This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory.— Prometheus Unbound, Percy Bysshe Shelley
There is an old Cherokee tale of a grandfather telling his grandson The Tale of Two Wolves where a fight goes on between a dark wolf and a light wolf inside all of us. The dark one is evil—anger, hurt, envy … while the light one is good—joy, peace, kindness… The grandson queries as to which wolf wins. The grandfather answers: ‘Whichever wolf you feed’. The story does not end there. Grandfather goes on to explain that if you feed them both, they both win. He says: ‘You see, the Light wolf needs the Dark wolf at his side. To feed only one would starve the other and they will become uncontrollable. To feed and care for both means they will serve you well and do nothing that is not a part of something greater, something good, something of life …How you choose to interact with the opposing forces within you will determine your life. Starve one or the other or guide them both.’
Many faiths advocate the purging of passions to attain the whole. However, I favour the Cherokee tale which teaches you to navigate your passions instead of avoiding them, however turbulent they may be. Only by understanding the turbulence can one attain balance. Being whole is then mostly a balancing act.