The relentless pursuit of living. , Photo Credit: Getty Images
SSummer has arrived with fury in North India. It’s that time of the season when you have a rising heat followed by a brief cooling that brings mostly dust storms; If you are lucky, you might be blessed with a few drops of rain. Today was one such relatively cool morning, when I saw birds flying in the sky. There were also some eagles who were circling the sky in ever-increasing circles. I sat down at my laptop later in the morning, and an eagle was still in the sky.
“Birds have wings; they are independent; They can fly wherever they want. He has the kind of mobility that many people envy. These words of Roger Tory Peterson, the famous American naturalist, ornithologist, painter and teacher, summed up my anger very well. Is my life going nowhere! Am I not free to do what I want! These were just a few of the feelings running through my mind, troubling me.
Some memories surfaced.
During my professional life as a railway officer, I had participated in several train accidents. Gone are the days when the four hydraulic jacks used to lift a derailed coach or wagon had remote-control operation. The workers would stand at the four corners of the vehicle and shout ‘Hadiya’ or ‘Hadiya’, depending on whether they wanted to raise or lower or stop the jack at their corner. The four workers and the hydraulic jack operator would be immersed in the activity, oblivious to the weather or the surrounding environment. Of course, it was on the Eastern Railway; Other parts of the country may have different terminology.
Another memory is of the laborers who put pressure on the underdeveloped muscles while doing heavy work like lifting a heavy object while singing haisha. This anecdote will make them forget the pain their body might be in, and they will complete the assigned task in no time, waiting for the master to pay them a negligible amount for the hard work.
These were people, and still are, who fight for their sustenance every day of their lives, not only believing, but with a vested faith in a Supreme Power, that they will surely win one day. I have not yet found anyone who would come to me with a complaint against the supreme authority. He only wishes to be called the next time I have work for him.
Just like the birds were flying in the sky, not for any thrilling experience. They also need to work hard for their daily living. They also need fodder for their food. They may also be thinking, when they look down upon us, from their lofty position, that humans are indeed blessed. But they never complain. They seem happy to do what nature intended them to do. Come summer, come winter, come wind, come hail, they will work tirelessly for their lives. He is his master.
I met a family a few years ago – a young couple and their son. The son was in seventh. They had fallen on hard times due to the pandemic. They wanted their son to continue his studies but they did not have the school fees. He had dreams for the future, which seemed on the verge of collapse. I am glad that my wife and I could be of some use to them. The young man is in 10th now. He wants to become an astronaut.
Australian author Roger MacDonald said, “I am the master of my own destiny, and I can make my life whatever I want.”
And yet, each day of our lives, we find ourselves slaves to our lives, thrown into petty prejudices of gender, caste, creed, religion by people who don’t even know we exist. Are, leaving the numbers out of the 1.3-billion strong population that we are.
We have the power, and we must, and we will change the direction of our lives to be “masters of my destiny”! Lord of my life!
sanjaychandra59@gmail.com