The Threshold..

I am all by myself, my wings spread out. The open sea beckoning me towards the horizon. I could feel the breeze blowing into me. It was providing me with the adequate lift. The wind flirting with my feathers as I cut through the air at about 20 knots maneuvering myself as per my wish. The freshness in the air breathe a new life into me. It was my first westerly journey. Hazy glimpses of the first day my mother took me out into the real world, my first flight. Life isn’t about giving up, is it? It’s a world of survival of the fittest. How could I give in? I remember my father saying, the day I don’t feel like flying out of the nest, it would be my doomsday. Life is all about exploration. It’s a gift, that comes wrapped in several layers of decorative paper. Exploring new avenues is like, unwrapping the gift to unveil the beauty of life, full of surprises, ups and downs. It brings a smile to my face.

My father was more driven by principles. His stalwart like personality was something I always admired. Solid as a rock; focussed; not the one to be messed around with, the perfect way to describe him. As he stood at the perch, as the sun set before him, maintaining vigil and keeping evil eyes at bay, made me live in the awe of his hierarchy. My mother was a gem. Gentle, caring and beautiful, her feathers would shimmer while out in the sun. As I take a look around me, I don’t see her. She is nowhere in sight. I have left her way far behind, maybe I won’t be able to see her again. But the values she insinuated into me still linger. I slow down gradually as I see a shore, dazzling like gold. The city looked quite intimidating from distance. As I fly closer, the skyscrapers get big on me. I fly around to encounter a lady standing tall on a perch, solid as a rock, determined and focussed, maintaining vigil on the open sea. I see my father in her. She seems to be exuberant with life, deriving all the energy from the city behind her.

As I alighted on to the harbor, a completely new world welcomed me. The surroundings were so different from the place where I belonged. There was a completely different warmth about the place. As I looked back at the open sea, I could remember my homeland. The birds back there, the beautiful surroundings, the people, my native place, the farms, the greenery, the polluted and populated cities, yet I could smell the fragrance of the wet soil during the first rains! It was all back there. But I had made a choice, to fly away, all alone, leaving my near and dear ones back home. The beautiful charming girl perching just a few branches away, admiring me all day long. I know she loves me as much I do, but I had left her alone. I had left my parents, my family and friends too. Everything that happened to me since my childhood just flashed across my eyes.

Those were some lovely days, I thought, as I dived deep down into the ocean of memories. I could here some familiar chirps. I looked around to see a mother sparrow taking her offsprings for their breakfast. I looked towards the horizon, the sun was rising, or should I say, the son was rising. I turned back at the city where I was, not knowing how this new world was. I tried anticipating, but to no avail. I made an instant resolution, what come may, I will not loose my identity in this dazzling world. As I said this, there stood my dad before my eyes, ‘Go son! A world of opportunities is waiting for you!’, he said. Probably, the qualities I once admired were now in me. As I locked my eyes onto one of the skyscrapers standing before me, it did not bear that intimidating look as it did before. As I squinted through the street that lead to the heart of the city, a voice said. “Mr. Ambre?? Welcome to the New York City and the United States of America!” as the cruise liner behind blew its horn like a bugle as if to notify me that a new battle is in the offing.

Rohan Ambre

January 24th, 2011