F for Fly

 

I watched intently as the plane took off in Dubai this morning. It was broad daylight. The buildings at the airport and beyond kept slipping behind rapidly. The fast wheels of the aircraft sprinted several hundred meters before they let go of the runway and took a leap of faith. The temporary community on board, rounded up for the next sixteen hours, appeared to me as if they sat on a large bird and soared up together into the sky. Or joined Alladin and the princess on a magic carpet ride!

The feeling brought joy. The thought, of literally, bodily, being off the ground that moment, brought joy. 

And then, the very next moment, it occurred to me that it is not any different when the mind takes flight. It is the sense of freedom, of breaking loose from something that has become “a same old thing” that brings the joy. Indeed flight is synonymous with not just freedom but also  creativity. 

And in that instant I realized how inherently beautiful the mind is. Its beauty shines when it learns to fly. Freedom gives it wings to soar outside the confines of the boring world of “normal” and “routine”. Creativity lends it color and makes it recognizable.And once it has tasted both freedom and creativity, and seen its own beauty in the mirror, there is no going back to “normal”!! To experience this heavenly beauty it must and will try to return to solitude because only solitude knows how to reveal the mirror within. 

Yene sukhe ruche ekantacha vas!

Two years back when I leaped out of the open door of a plane, from an altitude of 13,000 feet above sea level in Moab,Utah, I could sense how the birds must feel to glide so high in the air and experience the vastness of the earth. It feels a bit ironic that we can’t grasp that expanse when actually standing on the ground. In an almost identical way the scope of our mind cannot be grasped until it breaks free from the humdrum of daily chaos. 

I wondered how many minds on the plane today could get the same feeling of “flying” and enjoying the flight! How many were indifferent to the experience? How many had butterflies in their stomach and wanted it all to be over fast? I did hope secretly that everyone got a taste of the beauty of the take off like I did in that one special moment!! 

It made me go back to my very early childhood.

We learn alphabets and words when we enter school. From what my parents recall and what I vaguely remember, I learned about alphabets and the earliest words on my own, from pictorial charts, much before I went to school.  A for apple, B for bat, C for Cat……

After over five decades I find I am learning on my own again. This time same old simple words but with much different meanings.

Today I learned F for Fly!

Fly ! A three letter word that literally and figuratively transports you to faraway places and widens your horizons. 

Fly! That gives you wings to leave a cage, sometimes even a golden cage. 

Fly ! That which inevitably makes you leave some things behind to explore new ones.

Fly! That makes your heart and head feel lighter. 

Fly! That really implies one direction. Upwards or Higher. 

Fly! That teaches you to adjust your flaps according to the winds in your way. 

Fly! A practice of a lifetime that will hopefully enable that final solo flight to be graceful and honorable.

Words are beautiful, aren’t they? It isn’t surprising that just like divinity manifests in the fragrance of flowers or in the innocence of children, it reveals itself in words. We just need to see it. 

( These thoughts were written down yesterday while I was in transit. I am home now and as you may notice the rain has accompanied me here, just so I don’t miss India suddenly.)

Saree is a pure linen weave in white with checks in silver jari on the body. Pallu has silver jari also.