SMALL is BEAUTIFUL, BIG is BOUNTIFUL!

Over the past few days, or has it been for months now, I have been hearing – SMALL is BEAUTIFUL. That’s what the world is saying, or is it my hearing.

Surprisingly, I have also been observing – BIG is BOUNTIFUL. That’s what the world is showing, or is it my hallucination.

I am not sure. But, for sure, this is clearly a situation of what I choose to see, observe, hear and comprehend at that instance of time.

That’s for later, now.

While I am sitting down to just pitter-patter on the keys of the laptop, I go back to my childhood days. The days which I miss now. The days, which, I am sure if given back to me to relive again, I would do things differently. But, then, would I? I am not sure. But all of this later.

During those days, my granny told me stories, while lulling me to sleep, about kings, queens, prince and princess living in castles, forts, kingdoms of yore far and wide, huge army, lots of ministers, huge thrones, large palaces, big beds, horses, elephants, camels, cannons and lots and lots of good things. The epic of Ramayan – the Ram, the Laxman, the Hanuman, the vanar sena, the vatika, the ocean, the great Hanuman leap, the Ravana, the ten heads, the Kumbakarana and the holy war. The epic of Mahabharat – the Pandavas, the Kauravs, 100 brothers, Bhisma Pitamaha, the Krishna, the chariots, another holy war, the arrows, the swords, the triumph of good over evil, the joy and the celebration.

Sitting in the galley of the school library, the sweet musty smell of the yellowing and crackling pages of the millions and zillions of books, something that has still not left my nostrils, and am very sure, will never leave, and leafing through the pages of National Geographic magazines, I would see, love and adore the cars – the Chevy’s, the Jeep, the Ferrari’s, the Rolls Royce, the Jaguar and many more my aging memory fails me today.

The constant drone of my school teachers, the cacophony of my classmates, juniors and seniors, the anesthetic smell of the botany lab, the burst of Sodium on water, what was the chemical locha, I forget, still ring in my ear. I was one of the huge magnitude of intellectual beings in the world trying to fathom between a Jupiter and Shakespeare, an Einstein and a pteridophyta, the Periodic Table and the Integration-Derivative formulas, the cos α + cos β = 2 cos ½(α + β) cos ½ (α - β) and the Tughlaq dynasty, the theorems and the thesaurus, the present participle and the speed of light, the Rani of Jhansi and Rabindranath Tagore.

But, today, I am able to faintly recollect my Geography teacher teaching us that, countries prospered when agriculture prospered, yields were more when large farmlands were tilled. My Physics teacher taught us about Mass. The History teacher took us thorough the by-lanes of the Mughal empires’ conquest’s in expanding and engulfing what is today, India. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s efforts in unifying India, they don’t revere him as the Iron Man of India for nothing. The English teacher teaching us the values of magnanimity of giving – Santa Claus always caught my imagination over Jesus and Gandhi.

The power of acquisition epitomised by Hitler, Ghenghis Khan, Alexander, Julius Caeser (the Gauls were an aberration to this), Akbar and nearer home, the East India Company, always directed towards expanse and hugeness which was bountiful.

Travelling South of India, you realised the power of hugeness. A 60 ft. Amma, a 90 ft. NTR, a 75 ft. Rajnikant, towering over the mass, evoked hugeness, awe and in some way, I don’t know how and I can’t explain it, trust. The 70mm appeal of Amitabh to a 21 inch Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, still draws crowds to theatres.

BIG, in fact, is BOUNTIFUL! Period.

My mom always taught me to take one step at a time, do not hop, skip and jump. One tiny step and a giant leap for mankind, they said when the moon surface was transgressed.

Protons were discovered, amoeba initiated the search for smallest being on Earth, time split into nano-seconds, Maruti drove into Indian hearts, slim and trim becomes the fashionista mantra, Diet Coke, calorie count debate, receding waistline of Page 3 beauties, bell-bottoms give way to tight fits, micro-economy becomes the buzzword, petite is the sex-word, microchips, pay per second - the new telecom buzzword, web-chat, SMS lingo, the nuclear family, the DINKs.

The world is shrinking, prophesy comes true.

SMALL is BEAUTIFUL!

I wonder...

The systematic disintegration of the life, the world, the universe and all that we always held close to our heart, loved, cared and nurtured makes me wonder where are we heading.

Size Zero... Or... Plus S!

Telengana, Gorkhaland, Bundelkhand... Or... Andhra, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh!

The debate continues...

The choice is not yours or mine. No more!

The choice is also not ours. It never was!

The choice is made...by them!