The parable of the Dragonfly
Why the right pursuits are really important. The only ones that truly matter. Also, how we are no different!
Eeks! went a high-pitched scream yesterday at home. It was my dear wife, getting rudely jolted out of her reading. On her shoulder, sat a curious Dragonfly that wanted to probably get a better look at what she was reading! It is the monsoon season here at Pune and these long surviving insects (they are said to have inhabited the Earth for nearly 300 Million years Reference Link) do not mind paying you a visit in the evenings. Attracted to the fluorescent lights in our homes, they become the uninvited guests for the evening. They are totally at ease with themselves and stay put at appealing spots, just twitching their transparent wings every once in a while.
Many people believe that the Dragonflies live only for a day, but that isn’t true. Their life cycle from larva to adulthood is around six months and they spend weeks in adulthood flitting around waterbodies and acting as an indicator of the wet weather to follow!
The Dragonfly that visited yesterday had settled on the Tubelight in the living room. Amidst dialogues and song sequences from the television, we also had a special buzz every now and then from our friend. My wife drew herself a safe boundary and stayed away, while reminding me that she was missing her favorite spot on the couch because of our winged friend.
I took a soft cloth bag, climbed on top of the couch, held the fly carefully and took it out to the balcony. I jerked the bag so that it could fly away to freedom.
I was wrong.
It came back into the house and i had to sheepishly follow it! It settled at the same place again. Switching off lights, keeping the doors open didn’t work (it actually invited a host of other insects too!). There is a surprising thing that happens when you switch off the light — they stay put for quite sometime.It patiently waits for when the light will be on again. We gave up and went to bed. I checked on it in the morning, and there it still was. Once I opened the balcony door and shooed it away, it flew away without a second’s pause.
This had me thinking. It had all the chances to be free. Yet, it needed a strong enough push to let go of the insignificant pursuit (the light, that could be off anytime and wasn’t in its control) when it had the whole world (freedom) to explore.
The Dragonfly had spent a good 8 hours at my home for nothing. It didn’t have the light it coveted and had to spend time in just anticipation. If a Dragon fly were to live just for 24 hours, then it means that it had spent a third of its life behind this worthless pursuit.
Drawing an analogy, we are pretty much the same. We spend atleast a third of our day and lives at work. Imagine if you weren’t following your passion or were stuck in a job that you hated. You would be ruing every minute, yet carrying on with the drudgery. You would play deaf to notes of freedom because the inner voice would be loud with resonation of responsibilities, loans, EMIs and ‘security’.
I agree that letting go is never easy, but is living an unfulfilling, uninspiring life easier?
If the Dragonfly had known that its lifespan was just 24 hours, would it have refused the opportunity of freedom that i had provided?
Probably not.
