Lessons from Monkeys

I know that I have been away from the ‘blogworld’ for quite some time. Believe me it is not a deliberate break (At this time I do not need break to search for peace or to bring things in order in my messy life). After I graduated, I went for a tour to J&K and then immediately joined my current work place which is giving me very little time to write anything. But I hope that I will continue to contribute to blogworld in my own little way.

A couple of days back, on my way to office, I spotted two ‘Madaris’ (I do not want to bring in some ‘effect’ by using this word. I used this terminology because I do not know the English of ‘Madari’; I have put tremendous pressure on my Grey Cells but the English database present there seems to be considerably small to help the matters; The fact that none of the people, whom I have asked this question, seem to know the answer is the only consolation point that has emerged out of this crisis). For the benefit of those who took Hindi lessons casually or are completely unaccustomed to this language I will try to explain the meaning of this word. ‘Madari’ is a person who captures and trains monkeys and then performs street shows with them.

Those two ‘Madaris’ were sharing the responsibilities of carrying four monkeys amongst themselves. One was guiding the way for two grown up mature monkeys while the other was handling two ‘new kids in the block’. However, what struck me at that time was the difference in the behaviour of the two sets of monkeys. The grown, mature ones were simply following the lead of the ‘Madari’ without resistance as if they knew their fate (It could be that either they had resigned to their fate or were convinced of ‘this’ way of life). On the contrary the young ones were restless: they were trying to climb the trees and were constantly in look out for new things (I might have said they were looking for an opportunity to break free from the control of the ‘Madari’ but that did not seem possible to me at that point of time. Any how that Madari had some really tough time). I was taken aback by the similarity between their behaviour and ours (Though I do not want to generalize things). I have seen men (and of course women) of vibrant energy, ideas and zeal losing to the ‘set ways of life’. People who want to bring in ‘good changes’ in world often find it difficult to swim against the tide and finally accept the set norms of the society and live in peace (I do not know for sure. I think they remain in conflict with themselves throughout their lives). Stagnancy creeps into the lives of millions of people like these (almost like the life of the matured, grown up monkeys).

However, I believe, that most of us who have just started their career (or are still studying) belong to the category of ‘young and the restless’ who wants to explore new things, introduce new ideas and strive for making this world a better place. I think it is important that this zeal should remain with us throughout because though the ‘right intention’ is always the first step towards achieving something, we can complete that journey only with right direction and methods. Thus there will be times when we will have to wait till we become capable to bring about that change (in our life, society or any other dimension of our existence). And it is important that at that point of time we have not lost to the ‘set ways of life’ and have the zeal to pursue our conviction. I do not know if I make sense through this but something inside me tells that if those young monkeys continue looking for a route to escape, they will eventually succeed in setting themselves free from the ‘control’ of those Madaris.