harmony

I was all of five when I realized that harmony in life was a difficult note to strike. And I was also sure that there would not be much of it scribbled in any of the books that the schools or even the colleges would later prescribe. Education is more of a tool to plough the ignorance deep inside the vestiges of human intellect. And what remains is just the ‘fat-free’ (read bland!) fluid of articulate wisdom.
The coconut tree in front of our house would disembark the fruits in erratic intervals. Sans the sound, it did not do much of a harm- you see, nature has a way of its own… serve and protect with a constant life cycle! But lo! Humans don’t find the exact spot on the reed… and so we would have verbal outbursts over coco-jumbo! How dangerous it was! How the owners should periodically get the fruits plucked! And how any day the ambulance would be needed and all cause of the harmless coco! Actually they needed an issue to hurl against each other- as I said, the heavy layers of educated cloak never did calm you down…
We had a fight over the play ground when I was ten! We had just shifted to this new place where the township was planned and well endowed with greenery, space for the kids to run around and even markets and shops et all…
The locality was divided into blocks. And the shared ground was the eye of the storm! Since physically the lay of the land was in a particular block, they would assume full rights!! There was ample space to divide and rule but my! The Brits have taught us a nasty lesson nah…
The afternoons were more of heated banter, scuffles and sore abuses aimed at poor elders, relations or even yet unborn issues!! Again, the harmony seemed to have been damped in the vibrations of life! The football, the cric bats, all watched with in-animate wonder as the symphony of life went into destructive resonance!
Over the house captainship at school- I was edging towards 14 then- we had the juvenile politics. My friend would not be given the hat ‘cause of his poor academic and behavioral records and I was there with decent grades and more than a decent conduct (amen! I was actually trying to find the point of harmony and had missed my earthly lessons…). Now he was all into sports and strategizing for the students’ welfare while I was lost in translation. They gave me the baton, starting as a vice-captain as the norm was, in class 11 and then with the turn of the year put academic excuses to bring my friend in the hot seat… Ha-Ha!! As if they were so concerned about my academic progression and all… The much ado about nothing followed and sides were taken and opinions were given (asked for/unnecessary) while I watched bemused how they were orchestrating the whole score- again, you would know the missing beat!
Over Holi, the festival of colors, our college principal and his entourage created a fuss. I was just about 16 and a half, living away from home… hostel, mess, self-service and selfish interests!! They did not give the holiday, did not allow students to celebrate and even refused to acknowledge the festival with the regional venom. What followed was a mockery of teacher student relationship! Pilferage, fights, abuses and a near naked dance around the staff quarters of our college… ha-ha… vibgyor of life indeed!
Into the wee hours of dawn, the students kept boiling with rage as then the authorities came for meaningless sermons/negotiations/ compassions. Harmony wasn’t missed again!
With the 20’s it was more of a personal issue! The matter of heart and again this time there was hara-kiri! The end of the road brought with it the beginning of a landslide. The wise crack that I was seemed to have lost my notes on the subject! And yet again, all that was left of human emotions can just be classified as a residue of human acrimony. Who was to be blamed and why it happened, knows the almighty, but the ‘silly’ point albeit- harmony was left behind…
Be it collective, be it personal or be it a third party crisis, life never stops, never stares and halts for a helping hand. Be it people, process, policy… we all are just dangling modifiers waiting to be hit and run over by someone else and vice versa. Cause we all have learnt either engineering sciences, medical mantras or judicial artwork! We have been armed to the teeth with degrees, positions of power/money and even a self obsessed curtain of chauvinism!
We laugh for the self, cry for the self and live for the self… in this selfish democracy we vote for the society, we pay tax for the governance and welfare of the state and even salute the tri-color in specific days of national glory! Feigned harmony! We write to sell, we sell to get written about… and then we cry foul when there is harmonic misbalance between the expectations and the rewards!!
I still remember the coconut fall due to the old age gravity and look back at the old age wisdom projecting this act of nature to a harmonious rant! Well then I realize that I have not learnt a lot in this education cycle and the moments of truth have been quite a few… even though the harmonious tune seems not a matter of concern as life flows like water of the Ganges…
And as they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing- hope you get the pun intended!!