Boys will be boys
That’s what we say when they
conjure their famous pranks albeit harmless to sometimes make us smile beneath
the anger that adorns our face. Many a time, they set out on dangerous errands
not fully understanding the perils that it entails. Mainly it is because they
are unable to fathom the distance, the perils like an adult and are innocently
trying to be bigger than their size.
Most of the time they get away
with it and even while we had fretted and agonizingly waited for the safety of
the boys, when the deed is done and calm prevails, when the bugle is sounded
for the end of the game, we sit back and allow a small smile of love, of
affection to cross our faces, though we may be fuming from within.
Now imagine the plight of the twelve
boys of the soccer team along with their coach who had merely gone trekking
into a deep and treacherous cave to have some fun, to breast the tape before
the others in the gang, or be able to pull each other’s legs after the deed was
done to be able to portray oneself as the bold and heroic in the lot.
That is what boys are made of;
they will always be pranksters, one step farther from their minders. The
winding cave path was not new to them they have been there before though in
shorter stints never going for the finish line, however this time they chose to
make a dash for it almost as if it was a lemon break during their game.
That is what keeps then united
and bundled together on a safe ledge while they were suddenly struck by flood
waters, that made their return impossible. For nine days they stayed in that
dark corner not knowing day from night, having lost track of the days of the
week, but what won the day was their innocence, their pure hearts for even
while being at their wits end, while not knowing what would befall them next,
they had not forgotten their manners their upbringing.
When the experts found them they
sweetly introduced themselves as if they had been stuck on the ledge only for a
few hours, and were now expecting to be ferried out in minutes their discipline
not standing in the way of their rescue. That’s what marks them as boys for boys
will be boys, even after committing an almost fatal mistake their faces knew no
terror, they were not apologetic, just a little weary having gone without food
and water for nine days.
Even as I write this piece the
rescuers who are the best in the world have gone in to fetch them the first
three boys are already out and very soon the rest of them will be. Only then can the scars be counted, the
bruises managed, what will stay longer is the scars to the soul, the psyche of
the boys, who are too young and which could lead to some embedded psychological
issues in later life.
Will this stop others from
dangling from tree tops, jumping from the edge, balancing on the dangerously
jutting ledge, swimming against the tide, climbing heights without measuring
the altitude, diving without knowing the impact on their tender bones,
fearlessly riding their make shift machines at great speed, innocently
challenging adult playfields, recklessly lifting the bar on their limits,
making a dash for the mere fun of it?
I dare say No, for otherwise they
would stop beings boys, and boys will always be boys. We will continue to hear stories
of valor gone hopelessly wrong, of rescuers having to sacrifice themselves to
extract innocent souls, of boys staring at you when caught with their hand in
the till.
Robin Varghese
8th July 2018
NB: This article bears reference
to the football team and their coach stuck in the caves in Chiang Rai, Thailand
and the unending stream of experts trying to extricate them amidst the dangers
to their own self.
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