I
Once upon a time, there was a wild dog. He was a bit
different from the others in his pack. While the others spent time playing and
fighting over trivial matters, he preferred to sit and muse. He took no special
delight in hunting like the others, and looked at it rather dispassionately, as
a necessary activity. As the days passed, he grew unhappy. He felt that there
must be some higher purpose in his life, apart from what his brethren believed,
yet, he did not know what it was.
One night, he had a dream. He saw himself standing in front
of a large tree which he had never seen before. It was a beautiful moonlit
night. He was listening to a deep and sonorous voice that was issuing forth from
this magical tree. He was having a new sensation and it felt good. The night
suddenly dissolved into dawn and he saw the sun rising over a river. A log was
floating along with the river current close to the shore.
He woke up early next morning, puzzled and apprehensive. It
was still some time till dawn. He went down to the river bank for a drink. Just
then, a red sun peeped out and spread its crimson rays on the gloomy waters of
the river. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a log floating uncertainly
near the edge of the shore. He was thrilled as a feeling of deja-vu overtook
him. He did not give a second thought and pounced upon it just as it went past
him. The log sailed forth, taking him away from his familiar surroundings, into
the unknown.
II
The log sailed for 2 days and
2 nights. The dog was assailed by hunger. And yet, he did not think much about
food. He was sure that some great destiny was unfolding for him, which would
change his life forever. On the afternoon of the 3rd day, the log
docked itself at the edge of a forest. The dog climbed ashore. Moving through
densely populated trees, he finally arrived at a clearing within the forest. There,
he was thrilled to see the same tree as in his dream. He felt that the moment
of enlightenment was coming closer.
As he settled down in front
of the tree he spotted a green insect flitting on his side.
He called out to the insect,
“Who are you and what brings you here?”
The insect replied, “I am
called a Preying Mantis. I am called so as I’ve spent my life preying on other
insects. But now I am growing old and strange thoughts occur to me. I feel ashamed
of the way I have mercilessly hunted down and devoured prey all my life. It all
seems so meaningless now. Why did it have to happen like this? Who has a hand
in making my kind fierce predators? And then I had a dream.”
The dog listened to him
transfixed, as the mantis recounted how he, guided in a similar fashion by a
dream, had arrived at this same spot looking for answers.
As they were conversing, they
spotted a furry, rat like creature emerge from the other side of the bush and
approach them. He addressed them saying, “Greetings, my fellow creatures. I
believe you have come here looking for answers?” Both the dog and the mantis
nodded in unison, perplexed. Seeing the astonishment on their faces, the
creature continued, “I am a lemming and I used to live in the Arctic
Circle. What hardships we bear to survive in that climate, you
cannot even imagine. Yet we have endured and are continuously growing in number,
while our resources are limited. Now, we fight not only against nature, but
amongst ourselves as well. No one wants to lose and the collisions turn gory.
This made me think. Could there be a solution so that we can maintain unity
amongst ourselves and provide for everyone. This question has been gnawing at me
for some time now. Then, I had a dream”. The dog was now exhilarated. All of
them, coming to the same place looking for answers could not be a mere
coincidence. This was bound to have a meaning!
He was no longer paying
attention to the lemming’s words. His train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted
by the lemming’s following words, “But my friends, you have come in vain”
The dog started and said,
“What do you mean?” The lemming continued, “I arrived here 2 days ago, but have
never encountered the tree speaking. I have risked leaving my habitat, sitting
in this hot weather for 2 consecutive nights, yet have not been any more
enlightened than I was before. It must all be a mistake. We were fools to
imagine that a tree could speak. Today is the last night I am going to wait here.
Tomorrow, I will return home”
The dog and the mantis both
felt their hearts sink upon hearing this. Was it all really a big mistake?
III
Night had fallen. But there
was still no sign of the bright moon of their dreams. The sky was rather cloudy
and with the frequent flashes of thunder, it looked as if it was going to storm
and rain. The dog felt a sudden upsurge of emotions. He couldn’t take in the
fact that after all the troubles he had taken, he would not be enlightened. In
a fit of rage, he ran towards the tree, started scratching its trunk and
barked, “I want my answers!”
Just then, a feeble voice
issued from a hole in the trunk of the tree. “What is your problem? Why don’t
you let me spend my last moments peacefully?” it said.
The other two came running
towards the tree and the three of them yelled in unison, “O holy tree, you have
spoken at last!”
The voice replied, “O Wretched
fools, how do you expect a tree to speak? Have you lost you minds?”
The lemming was adamant “We
all had similar dreams which guided us to this tree. We expected to seek
answers to the questions which had been troubling us”
There was a moment of
silence. And then the voice spoke again. “I see. You all have developed the
faculty of thinking.” it said. “Every thinking-being goes through a phase in
life when such questions arise and he becomes desperate to find answers”
“But who are you”, barked the
dog. The voice replied, “All in good time. As I was saying, I have been through
such a stage in my life as well. I may be able to help you all in this regard.”
Hearing this, the lemming asked, “Will you answer our questions?”
The voice replied, “Yes and
No. I am not a preacher. I can only tell you how I found my answers. I can share
my story with you. Do you want that?”
The 3 of them nodded in
unison.
The voice continued, “Then listen
carefully. I am an ant and I have lived longer than anyone of my race”
IV
“I hatched from a larva a very
long time ago, longer than you can imagine. In the beginning, I was like a million
other workers, helping to feed the queen and the young ones. Since birth,
everyone sensed that I was a bit different. I asked a lot of questions, much to
the displeasure of the others. I didn’t know what my problem was, but somehow,
I couldn’t bring myself to accept a monotonous lifestyle like others of my
colony did. Day by day, this way of life seemed more of a compulsion to me. It
was around that time that I started observing the humans. Our colony was
situated at a place very close to their colony.”
“Humans? What are these
creatures?” the dog inquired.
“Oh! You are not acquainted
with them, I suppose. Humans are the most fascinating creatures I’ve ever seen.
They are huge in size and are possessed with high levels of intellect.
It was these humans that interested me
tremendously. I would observe them closely, often eavesdropping on their
conversations. You must be wondering what it was that drew me to them. Well,
the first thing which I noticed about them was something in stark contrast to
us. They indulged in a lot of things which were not at all necessary for
living. They wrote poetry, they sang, they drew, and they sculpted. At first, I
could not comprehend any of this. But I gradually realized that these were
things that gave them immense pleasure, precisely because they were not a
necessity. They found meaning in this apparent meaninglessness!
Another major characteristic
which I noticed in them was the faculty of thinking. They wanted to find a
meaning in everything. They set up questions and sought their answers. This
aspect of their nature resonated with me. It was only instinct and chemical signals that drove all the other ants,
but I had somehow developed the faculty of thinking. So how could I accept
everything without questioning?
For instance, why do ants
have to spend all their lives doing only the necessary? We hatch from larvae, serve
as workers or soldiers, take care of our queen. When the monsoons approach and
we start growing fragile wings, we can sense that our end is near. But we cannot
do, rather, do not do anything about it. And one day, the time comes for us to
fly to a new nest. We take off, knowing that only the queen and a select few
drones would reach the destination. All the others would lose their wings, fall
to the ground and die. The whole prospect seemed absurd. I thought, why can’t we
choose not to fly? Why didn’t someone think of this simple alternative?
In the end, I made up my mind.
I would not be like the rest. I would live and see the world.”
“But haven’t you ever
wondered why things are the way they are?” interjected the mantis.
The ant replied, “Yes, I
have, often. In fact, this is one of the greatest quests of the humans
themselves. They are divided in their opinions on this (as about any other
thing - thinking, and not instincts, enable that). Some say that there is a
supreme being who controls everything that happens in this world. They use the
term ‘God’ for this being. Others say that
there is no God and that everything that happens is a pure interplay of events
and possibilities. I have never been able to decide between the two. If you
consider my choice to avoid a voluntary death at an early age, it was my own
free will. But if there is a God, it could as well be his will that I be
different from the rest and follow a different destiny. Who knows?
But let me come back to my
story.
When the time came, I
developed wings like the rest of them. But on the morning that we were supposed
to fly, I quietly slipped away from my colony and started on the path laid down
by destiny (or my own free will, whatever you call it). I had no use of my
wings. I traveled on foot.
Since then, I have traveled
far and wide, seen a lot of things. Not all of them have been pleasant. I have
seen the humans, whom I revered so much; engage in battles driven by pure greed,
being cruel to each other. I have also seen saints and thinkers who wanted to
make the world a better place to live. This duality disillusioned me. I
realized that thinking and free will can be as menacing as it can be benevolent.
However, those are indispensable qualities. So it ultimately boils down to how
one uses them. In the end, it is this choice which makes them virtuous or fiend.
Throughout my journeys, I
often came across other ant colonies. They generally shunned me. I was
something they had never seen, were afraid of. This saddened me and often made
me wonder whether it was right to become so alienated from my own brethren. But
then, I would visualize a life within bounds, restricted to the knowledge of
all that you need to know in order to survive and nothing more; a life that
would end with that limited knowledge. That thought suffocated me. You see,
thinking had not made me afraid of death, it had made me afraid of dying with so
less knowledge.
But now, I have lived far too
long and have learned all I had wanted to learn. I am content. Now I can face
death as an old friend whom I have eluded for long. That is what I am about to
do tonight. I am about to fly!
Goodbye my friends. It was
nice to tell you of my experiences. Hope you make the best out of your lives.”
It had started raining. The
ant emerged from the hole of the tree and the three of them could finally see
this creature, old with fragile wings, yet shining with the light of knowledge
and contentment.
The lemming cried out, “Wait,
I don’t understand. Should ants die with their limited knowledge or should they
diverge from tradition and follow in your footsteps?”
The old ant smiled gently,
“Haven’t you understood that yet? What an ant should do depends entirely on him,
as it does with any other individual. I believe that the faculty of thought
should be inculcated in every living being. It is only then that they can
choose, for themselves, not only about living and dying, but also about what to
do with their lives, about their free will. You see, life is what you make it out
to be.”
The lemming was still
adamant. “Why do we have to have such contradictory ways? Can’t there be something,
which can take everything into account? Did you with your long life or the
humans with their superb intellect find such a solution?”
“What you want is an absolute
meaning!” the ant considered the question for a while. “There may be such a
thing, but we will probably never be able to comprehend it with our limited
faculties. Yet it is that quest that keeps us alive. In the process we arrive
at a meaning which is entirely our own, free from the dictates of anything
else. In the end, you yourself are solely responsible for giving a meaning to your
existence, a meaning that would truly satiate you. As for me, I have done
exactly that.”
He continued, “Off late, I
have been thinking about something else. What happens to our existence, when we
cease to exist? What would happen to my consciousness of ‘me’ when I pass from
life to death? Would it reduce to nothingness, or would it assume a greater
proportion and would fill up the universe itself? Now I am eager to explore this
new mystery.
So Farewell Friends”
With these final words, the
old ant flapped its wings for the very first time. He flew upwards gracefully
for a while through the sheet of rain and then disappeared from their view. He
had finally gone to meet death as an equal.
V
The dog, the mantis and the
lemming were lost in their thoughts for a long time.
And when they finally awoke
from their reverie, each had found his answer. They bade farewell to one another and went out,
each on his chosen path.
The lemming had decided that
he had nothing to do with surplus knowledge. He reflected that even after
learning so much, the ant had to die in the end and could not comprehend what
difference it made in the bigger picture. And if an absolute meaning could not
be found, what was the use of seeking it. He made up his mind, if he had to die
it would be better to die voluntarily like the traditional ants and make way
for the following generations.
He went back to the Arctic and shared his point of view with the others. He
was joined by a large number of seniors, on his final journey to the ocean.
Since then, every year, a
large number of lemmings race towards the sea and dive into it in mass suicide.
The mantis was very taken in
by the concept of God. He inferred that if everything was God’s will, then it
was also his design that all mantes kill and feed on other insects. However, he
decided he must always be aware of the generosity of God in making them so
sturdy, so fit to provide for and defend themselves and thank him for his
kindness. And accordingly he started holding his folded forelegs upwards and
joining them in prayer whenever he was not using them for hunting. He found out
that this also gave him a better balance. He shared this discovery with the
others of his race and the notion of praying was unanimously accepted by most
of them
Since then, these creatures
have come to be known as Praying Mantis (with an ‘a’ in place of an ‘e’).
The wild dog was fascinated
by all that he had learnt about the humans. He decided that his life’s purpose was
to be in the proximity of these intelligent beings, who would understand his
worth. And likewise, off he went in search of them. After a long journey, he
finally came to a human settlement and was accepted into their shelter. He
found out that he could learn to understand the humans’ gestures very well and
in a short time became immensely useful to them. In return the humans adored
him, fed him and caressed him lovingly. Once, he took leave from them and went
back to his pack. He narrated his experiences and convinced some of the other
dogs to come back with him to the human settlement. A permanent bond of
friendship was established between the dogs and humans. Their descendants gave
rise to a new breed of dogs that could be domesticated and came to be known as
‘Man’s Best Friend’
So, that was how the domestic
dog, the praying mantis and the lemming came to be the way we know them. But,
had it been any other way, would that really have made any difference?
Author’s Note: This is
an allegorical tale and I would request my readers to view it from a metaphorical
standpoint rather than a scientific one. The mass suicide of lemmings and the
connection of ants’ wings with their death are myths and not scientific facts. There is debate even on the fact whether domestic dogs evolved from wild dogs, or from a species of grey wolf.
However, if I had taken all this into account, I would never have been able to
write this story.
This also serves as my
tribute to Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre, whose philosophies of absurdism
and existentialism respectively have had a profound impact on me. Finally, I
would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my friend and ex colleague
Anupriya Biswas(Roy), who has taken out time from her busy schedule to go through
each and every story and give her valuable suggestions, correcting grammatical
and constructional errors(especially with dialogs) and often making me rewrite
certain parts of the text, thereby making it more viable. None of these 3
stories would have been possible without her support. Hope to keep this
collaboration intact in future.
