Friday, 21 November 2014

Drawing Parallels


Drawing Parallels

Rosetta’s journey through space carrying its infant Philae in its pouch for dropping off onto the comet for research is a journey out of this world. It also forces me to draw parallels with life’s journey and our glaring inappropriateness.

The Orbiter Rosetta carried on undaunted through the dark corridors of the unknown for a brave ten years carrying along with it in its pouch the lander Philae through harsh and unknown conditions. When the time was appropriate it let go the lander to make a near textbook landing on the comet which man’s wants to explore to reassure him as to the origins of the earth and by extension he.

Unfortunately during the opportune time the landers few organs malfunctioned and the lander could not be screwed on to the surface of the comet in the way that it was rehearsed and tested on earth, leaving enough gaps for it to bounce twice as a tennis ball and resting probably sideways under the shadows of a high rise rock cutting its solar panels off from receiving the rays of the sun which would have otherwise enabled it to feed on for its nourishment.

Latest reports suggest it has run out of back up batteries and is in hibernation with a chance of waking up briefly when it nears the sun in its orbit to revive the solar panels before perishing in the heat of the sun. The mother craft Rosetta will keep a watchful eye in the sky hovering over the comet to look for signs of revival before the whole experiment tapers off under the melting heat of the sun.

In life, parents make their journey through trials and tribulations dodging the unknown to make life meaningful all the while educating the young ones with life’s experiences and lessons on the way. When it is time, it lets go of the young one allowing it to venture on its own, into paths and territories unknown, helping to build a better world.

During this journey it is the upbringing that decides whether the child will fly away whole or whether some of its organs are underdeveloped and therefore would not be able to grasp on to the gifting of life and this universe. If it is not whole then probably it will bounce quite a few times like the lander to settle finally in a place and circumstance not wholly intended but brought about due to this malfunction which is a direct result of wrong upbringing. 

Like the lander life may play its part to partially help it to get off this position, a second chance trying to manoeuvre a position of comfort that would leave its solar panels receiving the rays of life, but it might also lead to a situation where like the lander he may be left dangling in mid-air and clinging on for dear life. If such an incident happens then the young ones may be left to the mercies of the universe without much scope of revival or they may be left isolated in the cold waiting for a life cycle to receive the bounties of life enabling it to at least gasp in relief.

Like the lander a flawed process of rearing and upbringing will only expedite this route to extinction as it nears the testing phase in life when it will not be able to stand up to the heat and lose its sheen and glamour; nay its individuality melting away into the sun.

Robin Varghese – robin_vargh@yahoo.com

16th November 2014

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