The Metamorphosis

When he hatched from that tiny egg of his, he was just a lowly creature. You can understand how difficult it is being a caterpillar, crawling around the leaves, eating everything you encounter. Yet none of this was in vain, because this caterpillar had a dream, a dream to rise above everything he was now, a dream to leave behind everything that defined him, a dream to reach for the stars and beyond, a dream to fly.

It was not easy of course. All the other caterpillars were so content with their lives. They had no dreams; they were so content of being what they were, even though each one of them had what it takes to become something extraordinary, the only thing lacking was the desire. But not this one, our little friend was special, he saw what others could not, that the purpose of life is to redeem yourself from the sins of monotony , and always strive to be something more than what you are now.

Every night when it became dark and rest of the world found sanctuary in their wildest dreams, this caterpillar would stay awake. He would look at the moon, fascinated and wondering when he’ll finally be able to reach the moon, such mad hope and yet it kept him on his way. If only any other of his brothers were awake, they would've seen the moonlight reflecting in his eyes. In his heart, he always knew that it was only a matter of time when this whole vast universe will claim him as one of their own.

And with all this in mind, our tiny caterpillar one day went into this hard shell of his, something that some mad scientist across the world call as pupa state. This was hard, from the outside it seemed that the caterpillar has died. To the outside world, it looked like a fair assumption, because the caterpillar didn't move for days.  What they didn't know was inside that seemingly dead body of this pupa lived a creature that was very much full of life. He was just biding his time for his next life. Every single moment of this life was a prayer, much like the the early Hindu sages did for their search of enlightenment, at times their body would be covered in termites, at times they would sitting for years in same posture, without water , food or any other earthly desire. In the same way our pupa remained and waited till he was ready, till he was one with the divine. And though the days seem to go on forever, his whole focus was entirely concentrated on what he’ll become out of this rather than what he was now. In that eternal darkness of his protective shell, he waited and waited for the first ray of light that fateful day will bring. Words like disappointment and despair were just not present in his dictionary of life.

And then, finally, that fateful day came. Leaving behind the shell that has protected him, along came our pupa. Only he was not just a pupa. He was different, he was liberated. When the other caterpillars saw him, they did not talk about the magnificence though, they talked about how weird he was, and they talked about how he should go back to what he was. They talked about how it’s totally unsocial to be different, but did he listen?? Why would he??? HE HAD WINGS……

When this butterfly finally took his first fly into the high, it was the most amazing feeling. He finally saw that some aspirations are so worthy that one could give their life trying to achieve that. When he spread his wings and flew higher and higher, he remembered every moment of his being that has all led to this glorious moment. But most importantly, hovering over the most beautiful flowers, the most serene rivers and the scenery of stunning nature, the butterfly learned the most important lesson that if you have one goal in your life, and if that goal is not letting you sleep at the night, you have to go at it with all your heart. The path will be exceedingly tough, there will be moments when to the world you’ll seem dead, but if your eyes sparkle with one and one true goal, nothing in the world could possibly stop you from achieving what you want.





Comments

  1. Inspirational,deep rooted and amazing..... :))

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  2. A short story which occurred between the fourth and the last paragraph... :) :)

    The Chameleon and The Butterfly
    The creature walked around it aimlessly for some time. For a few days in a row now, he had been observing the white hard object hanging to this tree branch inside which now there seemed to be some activity today, at last. He was young and had caught some trivial prey shortly before. Even then, he was tied to this pupa as we like to call it, by an invisible thread...by a thread of curiosity. He came a tad nearer and gave the pupa a small nudge, hoping it'd show some signs of activity, for its predatory instincts hinted it to be something of real interest. When he was finally tired of the routine charade and turned to leave, suddenly it gave out some sounds. It was not a sound which any of its known preys made but a sound of desperation. It seemed that the pupa not really dead, only still and finally it had awoken.
    He froze still and listened attentively, focusing all his senses towards that soft shell which he deemed inanimate till now. To him, the pupa did not look like a being that after contemplating for days had finally found its place, its purpose in life; and was now toiling hard to achieve that purpose. To him, it was simply an object of his never-ending curiosity, a potential prey, not a being struggling to overcome his shortcomings to find its true place in life, not an artist finally about to finish his magnum opus, his beautiful painting of his life. For him, it was simply a part of his surroundings, not any more, not any less. He was content moving around on the branches, for he thought he was better, higher than the lower beings who walked on the ground, and worst of all, satisfied. Looking at the creatures of the earth below and contemplating his superiority over them, he had forgotten to look up to the sky and wonder what was there. He had not the craving to fly and loved where he was now.
    He moved still closer and saw some tears on the soft, silky cover of the cocoon. The being inside was surely brave though desperate, making its way out of its comfortable armor and its safety. He thought curiously, what is it trying to gain by coming out. Then, as a habit, he jerked his head, losing off that thought. He thought of the mice and the rabbits, pushing in to their tirade every day, digging into the cold, hard ground, looking for something to satisfy their appetite. They did not have the luxury of having sweet delicious worms for their meals; they did not find insects in plenty, waiting to be devoured by the lord of the branches. He was truly satisfied. He could not see what the winds had to offer him, an endless world open for exploration, for he never looked up at the birds.

    Suddenly, a tearing sound assaulted his keen hearing and his reverie was disrupted. He turned his eyes, those glassy orbs towards the cocoon and fixed them to what appeared to be a creature from another dimension, only he had no idea of the dimensions. It had a long, thin body and two segmented, thin, filmy parts segmented into what looked like "wings". Wings!? He could not identify this beautiful creature which was leaving the ugly white shell with anything he knew. After preying, he generally felt sleepy. But his curiosity was at a peak now and kept him awake. He stared hard as the beautiful creatured fluttered it seemingly soft, membranous parts and torn open what was left of his comfortable keep.

    It came out of the darkness and slowly faced the light of the world. It reveled in the sunlight, shook its new wings and took a quick look around to find a chameleon staring at it. Its instincts told he was not to be messed with. But it couldn't care less. It had a world to explore. It fluttered its wings and to its immense excitement, took off. The artist was content now. The painting was complete.

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  3. Wow...
    The story is nice.. In a way(though I didn't do that explicitly) I also tried to show what it looks from an outsider point of view. The whole process is so brilliant, but what's even more amazing is that metamorphosis is not just for the butterfly. It is for the whole world to see and to again start believing that anything we want could be done. We can all grow wings, even if they are the metaphorical ones.
    Thanks for sharing the story dude...
    It complements my point :)

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  4. Very clean flow of thoughts.. liked it.

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  5. Nice one...!!! A little pool full of innumerous thoughts... :)

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