Life has a way of teaching us lessons when we least expect it to. Sometimes these lessons can be so simple that we are left wondering as to how we missed it. One such lesson came to me on the shining rays of the moon one evening a couple of days ago.
My husband's ninety-year-old grandmother is in the hospital and a few evenings ago I was on the night vigil. To take a break I went down to a little public park next to the hospital. Finding no other place to sit except the benches in the kids play section I sat down. I hadn't seen my son the whole day and was missing him. Just then as if on cue, a young woman walked in with her friend and her infant daughter in her arms. After walking around a bit they turned the child's face skywards and pointing out the shinning disc in the sky to her said, "Moon, chanda mama (uncle moon as he is fondly called by many here in India)". The child's eyes widened and she lifted her tiny fingers to try and touch this wonderous object. I could not help but smile. My son does exactly the same thing. Ever since we introduced him to this constant companion of the night sky, it is his daily routine to look for it and wave to it and beckon it with full fervour.
All over the world, parents and caretakers introduce a young child to the world around them. I am sure what a child learns and perceives differs from culture to culture and family to family. But seeing that little girl do just what my son does, I could not help but wonder how there are some common things that transcend all barriers. The sun, the moon, birds and dogs and cats seem to make their way into a child's life very early. Somehow they have a universal appeal. Maybe it is born primarily from the fact that they are everywhere, but I think it is also because they are simple things that are easy for children to love and relate to. Easy first steps as it were to getting acquainted to the new world they come into.
A child's world then perhaps begins out really simple and uncomplicated. He or she first learns things that are universal and transcend divides of language, culture or geography. It is only with the passage of time and greater adult intervention that complexity begins to arise. This is not to say that culture specific learnings are somehow undesirable. Contextual learning is natural and critical to social survival. But the loss is when we are unable to see that we all really start out the same. The same things fascinate us; there are many common things that make up our world. In fact as adults we lose site of the common threads that tie us. In pain we all seek an affectionate physical touch. When hurt most people will instinctively cry out for their mother. When scared we all have similar physical reactions. Our adrenalin will rush, we will get into a defensive pose etc. Before being anything else we are all humans with deep-seated common instincts. But somehow with age we all forget that and before being human we become part of a country, a religion, a caste or a group.
That day this encounter with the child got me thinking that maybe the world would be a friendlier place if we all kept our eyes and ears open to these common things that tie us together as a race. Maybe it would be a brighter place if we all kept the child in us alive and didn't forget to be fascinated by the gentle rays of the shinning moon.
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