The Eagle had been watching 'it'. 'It' had travelled long and far, stumbling, challenging, slow and silent. 'It' finally felt tired and came to a halt. 'It' sat down, silent, both eyes watching in opposite directions.
“It's cold out here,” 'It' said to itself. “Yes, it always is,” 'It' replied to itself.
The Eagle could wait no longer. It had been flying for hours, watching 'It' without blinking an eye. The Eagle landed on a rock in front of 'It'. “Hello,” the Eagle said.
“Hello,” 'It' replied with all the excitement.
“How are you?”
“Good. Good,” 'It' said. The Eagle watched 'It'. 'It' was one seamless being, looking much like a human – two eyes, one nose with two nostrils, one mouth, two ears, two hands and all that makes up a human, a man or a woman. “What are you?” the Eagle asked 'It'.
“I'm the Horizon,” 'It' replied.
The Eagle laughed. It was glad to be finally having a name to call 'It'. “So, how are you, Horizon?”
“We said it, we are good,” Horizon said, a little irritated.
“We?” Eagle asked, perplexed.
“Yes, can't you see? We are two – East and West, fused into one body,” Horizon replied with irritation.
“Yes, yes, indeed,” Eagle said. “But you, I mean, you both, you don't look good!”
“What makes you say that? We are... just tired”
“Yes, I can see that. You see I've been watching you all the way. So what brings you here?” Eagle asked.
“Here?” Horizon laughed. “We don't know where we are. We ...”
Eagle cut Horizon short, “You can't see. I know.” The Horizon watched it with amusement, a question floating in both its eyes. The Eagle continued, “This is the Land of Nowhere. People only reach here after they've lost their sight, their eyes,” the Eagle said casually.
“The Land of Nowhere?” Horizon asked. “Its strange. We didn't know a place like this exist,” Horizon laughed.
“It does. It lies between the Lands of Unfailing Love and the Land of Absolute Hatred,” Eagle explained.
The Horizon laughed, “Strange names. Who would live in places like these?”
“For starters, you, I mean, you both, have been coming from the Land of Unfailing Love,” Eagle said casually, watching its sharp claws, looking for any scraps of last meal's remains.
The Horizon watched perplexed. It didn't sat anything. The Eagle watched them with equal silence.
Eagle continued, “You see, you, both of you, have travelled long and far and relentlessly from the loving lands into the middle of nowhere. And no one who reaches here is good,” Eagle watched, an inquisitive look that was.
"How do you know?" Horizon asked.
“Tell me more, I have nothing else to do.”
Horizon started hesitantly, “You see, we don't like each other any more,” both hands pointed each other. “You see, we were one being, one body, but now, we... we just can't exist together.”
"Were you always like that?" Eagle asked thoughtfully.
"There was once a time, many years back, that we loved each other, cared for each other. You see, we enjoyed each other's company. Then one day, a wind blew, a blinding wind of sand and dust and heat. The sand filled our eyes and made us blind. Since then, we couldn't come to peace with each other," West-Horizon said sadly.
The Eagle listened patiently. “Why is that?”
“You see, the East just wants to bully me, always,” the West-Horizon said.
“Yes, I'm afraid. The West might feed me poison,” East-Horizon said, looking away from West-Horizon.
“Why would West feed you poison? I mean, are you both not one body? Any one feeding you poison would kill itself. Isn't it?” Eagle asked.
“West doesn't know what's poison and what's not. It can't tell,” East-Horizon said haughtily.
“Oh yes? I don't know? You're the only one who knows everything?” West-Horizon said arrogantly.
“Yes, I do. And I won't let you feed me poison,” East-Horizon declared.
“You keep asking me again and again, you keep doubting me again and again and one day I'll do it,” West-Horizon shouted.
East-Horizon was aghast, left without words.
The Eagle let the war go on. West-Horizon continued.
“Whatever I do, just whatever I try to feed us, it thinks that I'm going to poison it.”
“That's because you don't know what all can have poison. You need to be guided. I do nothing wrong,” East-Horizon declared.
“Then what wrong do I do?” West-Horizon responded crisply.
“Stop. Just stop. So East-Horizon, you think that West-Horizon can poison you and that's why you want to guide it? It frustrates you when West-Horizon ignores your warnings?” East-Horizon nodded.
“And West-Horizon, you are frustrated because East-Horizon distrusts you? It continues to check on you if you're feeding it right or not, no matter you'd never do such a thing?” Eagle asked West-Horizon.
“Yes,” West-Horizon declared.
“Are you both not saying the same thing but from different sides?” Eagle asked. It got no reply. “What weather is it?”
“Its warm,” both replied together.
“No its not. Its cold, is it not?”
“No. Its warm. We can feel it,” both replied together.
“Are you forgetting, I'm the one with eyes here. Try again. You are tired. You must have misjudged the weather,” Eagle asked. “Its cold. Like all the happiness has been sucked out.”
“Yes,” both said after a moment.
The Eagle smiled, it looked at the warm and protective sun light around its feathers. “OK. I've to go now. What about you both?” They said nothing. Eagle continued. “Let me tell you something. I fly far high above these lands and I know it well. From here, you can either go to the Land of Absolute Hatred, which is straight from here, at a day's journey. Or, you can go to the Land of Unfailing Love.” Horizon listened carefully. “However, there is a problem. To reach the land of love, you need to get your eye sight back. Without your eyes, you can't reach there.”
“And how can we get our eyes back?”
“Far from here, at three days journey through a burning desert, there is the Gate of Forgiveness. You need to pass it. It'll take you to the Gate of Forgetfulness. Once you pass through these two gates, at another five days of journey through dense, dangerous jungles, you'll reach the land of Unfailing Love,” Eagle finished with a smile.
“But why must we take the long route then? We can easily go to the Land of Absolute Hatred. That'd be quick and easy,” both said together.
“That you must decide. Some things are always difficult that the other. I need to go,” Eagle flew off leaving them.
The Eagle flew higher and higher until the earth dissolved into white mist. Then it found its friend, the Pigeon.
“You left them?” Pigeon said after greetings. “Does it not bother you that they might take the wrong way?”
“Yes they can. But you see, their choice is not in my hands,” Eagle replied casually.
“Then why waste time? In doing this, you ever believe, that you might have made their days more difficult?”
“Yes. I might have made their life difficult from here. But you see, that's the whole point of me being an eagle. I can see what they can't. And because of that, I'm the only one who can tell them what is and what isn't. Did you see how they believed when I said that the weather was cold when it wasn't? These, these two beings, though part of the same existence, want to move miles apart. They see problems in each other but they don't understand that they have been saying the same things in different ways. They have come to believe that they are better left without the other. And they'd continue to do so. They'd continue to blame the other for anything that went wrong, they'd continue to think that the other can't see its point of view when in reality both these, both parts of the same body are doing the same thing. Its pitiable, when life reaches such a point.” The Pigeon looked confused. “So you see, I've given them a fighting chance which otherwise they'd have never had. I've brought them to a point where they at least told each other what's causing the problem for them, whats threatening to tear them apart. They are done blaming , shouting and sulking. Now, from here, they might choose to hate or they might choose to love. Or worse, they'll continue walking blind to each others views, ignoring what they heard today all together. It'll be unfortunate if they choose to hate or if they choose nothing at all. But I can't help it. Its they who have to decide from here. I'm done.”
The Pigeon laughed. “You're something Eagle. You're something. Tell me something.”
“What?”
“Anything. Anything other than the usual. Something that might lift my mind.”
“I'll tell you a poem,” the Eagle said.
"Why poem?"
"Because its necessary."
“I didn't know you wrote poems,” Pigeon said.
“I do. But this one is not mine. Its from some bloke from the distant lands of white and green. I forget his name. But here it is:
To see the world in a grain of sand,
And heaven in a wild flower.
Hold the infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.”
“You must be a poet, not an eagle,” Pigeon said admirably.
“No one can be a poet without being an Eagle. Not without eyes that see beyond what the mind is prepared to believe,” the Eagle flew off. Pigeon looked at it with a confused face. The eagle flew. It hoped. It reached such a height that a tear it shed was swallowed by air before it could reach Horizon's unsuspecting shoulder. The victorious Eagle smiled. He had left at the right time. At just the right time.
Images and text are copyright of the author.
hey Aakash, fantastic!! can say you have already crossed an eagle's view :)
ReplyDelete