On a random hangout with friends, there’s something someone said that has been playing in my head ever since. Our friend from India, Riaz Amlani was over. A very unique character this one is; he has something to say about everything. Not in an obsessive compulsive talker sort of way, but in a very impressive knowledgeable way. I quoted a shair from ghalib, he quoted the entire nazm! We discussed mosquitoes, he knew all about them (yes some ten odd 30 year olds happened to be discussing insects very intently). The discussion moved to ants, n lo and behold; he was an ant expert. He owned something called an “ant farm” for two years! So he knew how their society works, how the roles are divided, how the succession of the queen takes place and basically, everything all there is to them.
So when he was describing how the worker and soldier ants look different, behave different, I said…
Marya: “The humans are like the ants too in a way; we also have job divisions, there are workers and soldiers etc”…
Riaz: “yes that’s right; we are just like the ants, we do what the Creator wanted us to do. We don’t control who we are, we only think we do”…
Marya: “hmm… no but some of us choose to be something else. For example, I always wanted to be an actor, maybe I was cut out for it… But I never pursued acting and hence I am not doing what I was supposed to do”…
Riaz: “ But do you appreciate acting? (I replied yes)… well then, you are still doing what you were supposed to do… Art needs both, the artist and the art enthusiast… without the enthusiast, the art form is incomplete. So you contribute to it just as the artist does”…
I have to admit, rather vainly, that not many conversations leave me as awe-struck as this one did. It was just so true and it answered such an important question…
These Words are my Diary.. 