Meandering through the concrete jungle I have reached a cliff which falls midway, nothing seems to be clear but the trail I have been following seems very obvious. The trail has been laid by the footprints of the people who have further ventured into the smoke filled jungle. Some have trotted with a vision, some with a belief, some with superstition and some with the fear of losing the trail. Everybody has had their own reasons to walk, so shouldn’t I have one, if at all I am going to follow the obvious.
This query arose like a seedling in my heart and somehow made my feet heavy. Suddenly following the trail became a problem as I found it difficult to match the pace with the trotting trail. The people ahead and the ones behind, both were seemingly uneasy with my dropped pace, as we all were tied with a single piece of rope. I tried convincing them and told them about the seedling. They laughed and said we all have one , which crops up now and then, but it’s a weed , throw it away and keep walking or you’ll die. A part of me somehow couldn’t agree with the fact that this seedling was a weed and though I was getting slow, I wasn’t feeling sick. Confused and drained, I looked towards the heaven for an answer. Such moments of blurred vision often occur and when they occur one only has the universe to post his/her query to.
Suddenly a bird rose from the valley beneath the cliff, hovered above me and sat right at the cliff edge. She was carrying a nestling (chick) in her claws and placed it gently on the next stone. Though most of the fellow trailers didn’t notice what was happening, I somehow got curious about the bird and her nestling. After keeping the nestling down, the bird seemed like having a conversation with the seemingly shaken and afraid chick. I noticed the chick was trembling with fear, perhaps it was the first time she was experiencing height. The next moment the bird started beak pushing the little fellow towards the cliff. She pushed her further enough that it was few bird steps before a mighty fall, but didn’t push it all the way. Now the chick was trembling with fear, but took two three baby trots towards the edge. It took a deep breath and jumped. The mother bird observed the fall for a few seconds and subsequently jumped after the chick.
Startled with the proceedings and out of curiosity, I freed myself from the shackles and ran towards the edge. As I was running I could hear my name being called by someone angrily from the trail, I turned and saw myself staring at me angrily “you’re gonna die without this trail, it’s the only way of existence”. But the curiosity didn’t allow me to turn back; I ran with all my might towards the edge and looked down the valley. As I looked down I saw the bird flying back towards the cliff, holding the nestling in its claws. It hovered again above the valley and started the drill all over again. After a few attempts the chick tuned into a flying bird. This time the mother bird didn’t jump after the chick, but was staring down the valley, with tears of joy in her eyes.
And then an eye contact happened between us, it seemed as she was trying to speak to me in some universal language. Suddenly I could make out what she was saying.” Why don’t you take the leap of faith? “
“Leap of faith? What exactly is that?” I questioned puzzled down to the core. She answered “it’s you who has to take the leap and have faith, and leave the rest to your guardian angel. In case you don’t fly, she’ll catch you and bring you back to the cliff edge”. She smiled at me and flew away. As soon as her words entered my heart, the seedling inside smiled and withdrew all my pain and agony.
And here I am standing at the edge, facing the valley. The strong breeze is blowing in my face, telling me to trust my guardian angel and take the “LEAP OF FAITH”.
akssakaash 