JOY OF LIVING TOGETHER

       

                                                                            - By MILAN K SINHA

Birds flying.

Have you seen the famous Hindi movies “Naya Daur” of Dilip Kumar & Vyjayanthimala, “Lagaan”  of Aamir Khan  and Shahrukh’s  “Chak De India” to name only three, depicting the power & joy of togetherness. Have you heard about the Indian hockey team led by Major Dhyan Chand winning gold medal in three consecutive Olympic games of 1928,1932 & 1936? Many of you must know & watched the great world cup cricket match of 1983 under the captainship of  Kapil Dev which India won with all excellence. There are many such glorious team efforts not only in fields but also in labs, factories & in all other spheres of human life world over to celebrate & rejoice.   Actually, we have a great sense of togetherness & team spirit which drives us to achieve even the seemingly impossible goals   and history has been the witness of such human efforts. It is because of the fact that human beings realised long  ago,” Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress & working together is success.” To say, alone we can do so little, but together we can do much more. And in the bargain, we feel happiness in togetherness.

          Since time immemorial,  human race tries to live together in groups, notwithstanding the fact that with passage of time the human culture & civilization progressed with lot of developments in all spheres of life through out the world in varying magnitudes. Why to talk of only human beings, for that matter, all creatures on this earth like to live together  in one way or the other. You must have enjoyed seeing the herds of elephants roaming in the forest, honey bees’ super activity around the  honey comb, Zebras & buffaloes daring to put up a winning fight against the Lion or leopard. The other day I happen to see a  poster showing a few horses running together and the caption of the poster was, “Togetherness is Happiness. “ Rightly so, isn’t it?. The famous milky way is what else than a mass of innumerable stars planted together in groups.

            Right from our childhood, we learn to live in family, in villages & cities celebrating the festivals together, participating in games, getting education in schools/colleges/universities, working in different work places and thereby learn the great lesson of life to live like a social human being. We miss our kith & kin, friends so much and long for meeting them or at least taking to them, sharing our feelings of joy, sorrow & whatnot. The technological developments like transport, communication, mobile,  internet, face book etc. has proved to be great enablers in this direction.

          Whenever we set out for achieving some thing or have actually achieved something, we show “V” sign (for victory) to our well wishers, friends & supporters. But have you seen the cranes heading south for the winter, flying along in “V” formation? It is really beautiful to see &  inspiring to know the science & logic as to why they fly that way.  As each crane flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in “V” formation, the whole flock adds at least 70% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. As scholars and philosophers opine, it is quite interesting to learn a few lessons of life here:

·    Lesson No. 1: People who share a common goal and a sense of community can get where they are going more  quickly and easily, because they are travelling on the thrust of one another.

  When a crane falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone - and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in the front.

·   Lesson No. 2: If we have as much sense as a crane, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are.

  Now when the head crane gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another crane flies past.

·    Lesson No.3: It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether people or with cranes flying south.

  Cranes honk from behind to encourage those up to keep up their speed.

·  Lesson No.4: Cheering up by the fellow participants re-energise the front runners.

   So, let us all try to do something, however small,  individually & collectively   that can make the world a better place to live together joyfully till eternity. 

Published in Patna Daily.com

                                               Will meet again with Open Mind.All The Best.