Life – An ant shows the way.

12/10/2021

Life – An ant shows the way.

Reached hospital at 6:30 morning for cataract surgery of my left eye. I was sitting in Preparatory Room outside hospital's Operation Theatre  waiting for my turn for cataract surgery. Paramedics cleaned and marked the left eye and injected  anesthesia. Suddenly I notice an ant in the center of the room moving here and there on the floor perhaps in search of food.

Room was on second floor of the building  and all contained areas within  OT are sanitized and no food is kept in this area. OT area generally has two entry / exit doors & lobbies through which everyone; patient or doctors or staff etc. has to pass, change clothes, leaves shoes,  get sanitized and then enter main area for patient and self-preparation before entering  OT for actual operation.

This small ant , may be somewhere from ground,  travelled up to this spot. Someday her mother must have laid eggs in some corner of the hospital garden or elsewhere in the surroundings. This ant must have come out of one such eggs and started her journey for life. Ever since , she is in search of it every second and to achieve its purpose moving from one place to another every day perhaps every minute.  She has no idea about the protocols of this specific place.  She might not be even aware of the number of occasions when she was about to miss the life under some one's foot or was to be picked up by someone for food. She must have missed many chemicals and sprays in this area which are detrimental to its survival .  But today alive at this moments , not aware of next second , she is still busy in search of food and more life.

And for this purpose, she has climbed almost 40-50 ft , may be through lift or staircases or even walls , pipes etc. She certainly have crossed  a dozen of doors some of which may remain closed during this period but have spaces enough in some location for her to pass through. She found this space through a process of trials and errors. She must have faced hot surfaces in summer , may be wet in rains but still continued the journey of life.  

Today also , she does not have any idea of what is in store for her the next very moment. But as long as she is alive , she will continue her efforts for survival and all those actions for which it has come on this earth. She may climb more floors or move to different wards of this hospital but surly will never give up the battle .

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नन्हीं चींटी जब दाना लेकर चलती है
चढ़ती दीवारों पर, सौ बार फिसलती है
मन का विश्वास रगों में साहस भरता है
चढ़कर गिरना, गिरकर चढ़ना न अखरता है
आख़िर उसकी मेहनत बेकार नहीं होती
कोशिश करने वालों की हार नहीं होती

.........................

when an ant  moves with a grain, 

she climbs and slips on walls many times 

but keep the courage and confidence

and ignore its efforts going futile and failing

as in the end her efforts give the result 

because those who make efforts do achieve the Goal. 

Well, this piece of poetry ( part of full poem )  by a great Hindi poet, Padamshree Sohan Lal Dwivedi  explained way back what I observed now. But the message remain same and will remain same because generations keep changing every day.  

N K BANSAL

nkbl9183@gmail.com