Breaking Boundaries, are we?
Breaking Boundaries, are we?
Let’s begin with a small disclaimer - This is not a rant.
This is not an account of some great human achievement or an inspirational philosophical
narrative with clichéd phrases.
This is a story.
A story about Breaking Boundaries and why there shouldn’t be any.
Scenario I
She grabbed her handbag and got off the bus. The bus ran away as she stared at it for a
while until it wasn’t visible in the brumous October morning. It just left, so ignorant about
letting go of a passenger who clung on to its seat right from the start.
“Things are selfish.” She thought.
People in her life were no different. They left her and went on to disappear in the mist of
time.
Her blank eyes were now set on a glimmery glass building. The signboard in front of her
read in bold- “ARRIVALS” in darkest of blue on a white background. She entered into the
building after swivelling through a rotating glass door and ran her blank eyes in search of a
familiar face. There were stoic faces behind every white mica desk and a constant rumbling
of luggage trolleys was the only music available.
She took small steps towards the glowing electronic board that read-
“AI512 - 08:15 - On Time”
She could barely manage a smile as she hurried towards a door which had people with
smiling faces, dragging trolleys, walking through it. She stood there as a pillar, breaking the
flow of people as the crowd raced past her. Soon it was just she, watching herself in the
reflection from the glass door. Her wait had once again resulted in disappointment. There
was no one she could receive.
She dragged herself with almost tipsy feet to the nearest seating available and grabbed
something from her handbag. It was a photograph of a well-built man in an army uniform
with a little girl in a white dress and a tiara. The tear that rolled down from her eyes tried its
best to hold on to her cheek but, like all the people in her life, it left her, and fell right on the
photograph. She wiped it off, wore a straight look on her face, thrust the photograph in the
bag and stormed past a book stall that showcased magazines with the same photograph on
the cover. The cover had quotes on bravery and patriotism.
It read, “Martyrs Never Die”.
Scenario II
I forcefully open my eyes. My eyelids are too heavy to lift and they fall over my eyes again.
While I try to summon all my strength to open my eyes, I try to ruminate on the glimpse of
what I saw. I saw white. There is hardly any light but I can make out it’s white all around me,
something white. And it’s bitterly cold. I try to move my limbs but I can’t feel them. Where
am I? How did I get here? I see images of a storm, a powerful one. It is a snowstorm, an
avalanche! I can’t breathe. Am I dead? I can’t die. I pass out.
I see myself talking on the telephone. It’s hazy.
“I won’t be able to come home this time, I’m sorry” I tell my mother as she keeps sobbing on
the other side of the telephone.
“Not even for a day or two?” She tries again, very hopefully.
“No” I answer, crushing all her hopes at once. I know she cries herself to sleep every night
since I left. I know she is always around the phone expecting a call from me. But I have
duties.
“I will come, as soon as I can” I try to pacify her. I know I can’t go home. I disconnect the call
before these emotions make me weak. I hate giving false hopes to her but I know this is
what keeps her going till the time I see her.
“You okay, soldier?” An ear-piercing voice disrupts the scene. I can barely feel taps on my
cheek as I see a familiar face smiling at me with moist eyes and a group of people
surrounding me. All of them look familiar.
“Six days beneath the snow and look at you, tiger!” I hear the same voice and they put me
on a stretcher. The stretcher is taken aboard a helicopter and I feel gusts of wind against my
face. It feels new. I reminisce about the world before the storm. I think of my mother. I think
of home. I look around and see worried faces that suddenly turn hazy. People around me
panic and I feel lighter. Apparently my heart rate is going down.
“Here, talk to your mother!” I hear the same grave voice. I don’t have the strength to
generate any sound whatsoever. I wish I could say “Mom, I’m coming home.” I want to lie to
her once again but I know, this time I’ll not make it.
These are just two scenarios where boundaries were broken by some brave souls.
Why?
They broke boundaries for the sake of safeguarding some created by the centres of power
among us mortals. While irony has a good laugh at the previous sentence, I wonder if all the
advancement that has lead us to these modern times has been able to inculcate in us the
very basics of life. We’ve been to the moon and back. We talk of finding life on planets far
away while we fail to value that on our own. The defence budgets of countries all over the
globe far exceed the expenditures on welfare. All the ruckus, all the quarrel for what? Look
for a scientific explanation and you might say this is the competition for limited resources.
Quote Darwin and put forward arguments like ‘survival of the fittest’ to justify all that’s
wrong with this world but imagine a scenario with equal distribution of these resources
among every breathing soul on the planet and you will know what I mean. Wars are never
won. You never win a war. You just survive.
This is a perspective on what boundaries should be broken first, because we talk about
people breaking barriers – personal, social, mental and what not! Seldom do we say a word
about the ones we create.
Let’s begin with a small disclaimer - This is not a rant.
This is not an account of some great human achievement or an inspirational philosophical
narrative with clichéd phrases.
This is a story.
A story about Breaking Boundaries and why there shouldn’t be any.
Scenario I
She grabbed her handbag and got off the bus. The bus ran away as she stared at it for a
while until it wasn’t visible in the brumous October morning. It just left, so ignorant about
letting go of a passenger who clung on to its seat right from the start.
“Things are selfish.” She thought.
People in her life were no different. They left her and went on to disappear in the mist of
time.
Her blank eyes were now set on a glimmery glass building. The signboard in front of her
read in bold- “ARRIVALS” in darkest of blue on a white background. She entered into the
building after swivelling through a rotating glass door and ran her blank eyes in search of a
familiar face. There were stoic faces behind every white mica desk and a constant rumbling
of luggage trolleys was the only music available.
She took small steps towards the glowing electronic board that read-
“AI512 - 08:15 - On Time”
She could barely manage a smile as she hurried towards a door which had people with
smiling faces, dragging trolleys, walking through it. She stood there as a pillar, breaking the
flow of people as the crowd raced past her. Soon it was just she, watching herself in the
reflection from the glass door. Her wait had once again resulted in disappointment. There
was no one she could receive.
She dragged herself with almost tipsy feet to the nearest seating available and grabbed
something from her handbag. It was a photograph of a well-built man in an army uniform
with a little girl in a white dress and a tiara. The tear that rolled down from her eyes tried its
best to hold on to her cheek but, like all the people in her life, it left her, and fell right on the
photograph. She wiped it off, wore a straight look on her face, thrust the photograph in the
bag and stormed past a book stall that showcased magazines with the same photograph on
the cover. The cover had quotes on bravery and patriotism.
It read, “Martyrs Never Die”.
Scenario II
I forcefully open my eyes. My eyelids are too heavy to lift and they fall over my eyes again.
While I try to summon all my strength to open my eyes, I try to ruminate on the glimpse of
what I saw. I saw white. There is hardly any light but I can make out it’s white all around me,
something white. And it’s bitterly cold. I try to move my limbs but I can’t feel them. Where
am I? How did I get here? I see images of a storm, a powerful one. It is a snowstorm, an
avalanche! I can’t breathe. Am I dead? I can’t die. I pass out.
I see myself talking on the telephone. It’s hazy.
“I won’t be able to come home this time, I’m sorry” I tell my mother as she keeps sobbing on
the other side of the telephone.
“Not even for a day or two?” She tries again, very hopefully.
“No” I answer, crushing all her hopes at once. I know she cries herself to sleep every night
since I left. I know she is always around the phone expecting a call from me. But I have
duties.
“I will come, as soon as I can” I try to pacify her. I know I can’t go home. I disconnect the call
before these emotions make me weak. I hate giving false hopes to her but I know this is
what keeps her going till the time I see her.
“You okay, soldier?” An ear-piercing voice disrupts the scene. I can barely feel taps on my
cheek as I see a familiar face smiling at me with moist eyes and a group of people
surrounding me. All of them look familiar.
“Six days beneath the snow and look at you, tiger!” I hear the same voice and they put me
on a stretcher. The stretcher is taken aboard a helicopter and I feel gusts of wind against my
face. It feels new. I reminisce about the world before the storm. I think of my mother. I think
of home. I look around and see worried faces that suddenly turn hazy. People around me
panic and I feel lighter. Apparently my heart rate is going down.
“Here, talk to your mother!” I hear the same grave voice. I don’t have the strength to
generate any sound whatsoever. I wish I could say “Mom, I’m coming home.” I want to lie to
her once again but I know, this time I’ll not make it.
These are just two scenarios where boundaries were broken by some brave souls.
Why?
They broke boundaries for the sake of safeguarding some created by the centres of power
among us mortals. While irony has a good laugh at the previous sentence, I wonder if all the
advancement that has lead us to these modern times has been able to inculcate in us the
very basics of life. We’ve been to the moon and back. We talk of finding life on planets far
away while we fail to value that on our own. The defence budgets of countries all over the
globe far exceed the expenditures on welfare. All the ruckus, all the quarrel for what? Look
for a scientific explanation and you might say this is the competition for limited resources.
Quote Darwin and put forward arguments like ‘survival of the fittest’ to justify all that’s
wrong with this world but imagine a scenario with equal distribution of these resources
among every breathing soul on the planet and you will know what I mean. Wars are never
won. You never win a war. You just survive.
This is a perspective on what boundaries should be broken first, because we talk about
people breaking barriers – personal, social, mental and what not! Seldom do we say a word
about the ones we create.