There were thousands of them – all driven by an insane
force which urged them on, against all odds, to move from one place to another.
The National Geographic channel was showing the Great
Wildebeest Migration in Africa on TV. It informed that more than a million East
African blue Wildebeest, also called the Gnu, migrate from the Serengeti plains
to the hills of Kenya’s Masai Mara in search of rain-ripened grass. Many such documentaries
show wildebeest being eaten by crocodiles while crossing rivers or drowning in
the attempt. They move forward in a frenzied herd racing and crossing all
barriers. Their determination is awe-inspiring.
...
“Do you know that the Artic Tern migrates from the
North Pole to the South Pole?” a child from primary school asked me.
Children have strange ideas sometimes so I googled for
the facts.
Yes, it was true.
Artic Terns do migrate from Pole to Pole!
...
In the hills of northern India, there are several
temples which are most holy places for pilgrimage. Many people take the
difficult route every year and join crowds which climb steep hills chanting
the name of god. We hear reports of landslides and stampedes at these holy
places. These reports, however, do not deter the faithful who are set on reaching
up to the divine to express their strong faith.
...
“It is good that you are not in this train” said my
husband this morning.
He was calling from a tightly-packed local train bound
for Mumbai city.
Our friends and relatives make this journey daily.
While we studied and worked in Mumbai, we too, waited at
the Vasai station for the train, got ready to jump in as we spotted the train
arrive from a distance, tried to get a foothold into the moving train before it
halted, then checked whether we have landed in one piece along with our
belongings. It was quite a feat at that time and we had become used to it. My
friends and I complained about the mad rush hours at the station but we all
took the same train again the next day.
We struggled and survived.
...
There seems to be an invisible force that drives us,
living things, to take risks and perform dangerous acts.
Dylan Thomas, a poet, wrote:
The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.
...