Let’s not forget: A kite flies against the wind, not with it. Children are like Kites.
By Nazarul Islam
Children are like Kites. You spend years trying to get them off the ground. You run with them until you are both breathless. They crash … they hit the roof … you patch, comfort and assure them that someday they will fly. Finally, they are airborne. They need more string, and you keep letting it out.
They tug, and with each twist of the twine, there is sadness that goes with joy. The kite becomes more distant, and you know it won’t be long before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you together and will soar as meant to soar … free and alone. Only then do you know that you have done your job.
Some days ago, I was savoring a sweet memory of my school days, wherein we were swamped by sublime delight, flying splendiferous paper kites in several hues, sizes and shapes. The beautiful kites, flying against the backdrop of a blue sky, indeed created a bedazzling spectacle.
During such times, my child’s mind would often wonder, “Had the kite been fully throbbing with life, what would it be feeling, flying up above at those frightful heights? Was it feeling all chuffed, especially while flying higher than its contender-kites in the vicinity? Did it feel buoyant and bumptious, too, to be bearing the similitude of a bird’s flight? Moreover, did it ever think of the tremendous role of the thread, tightly twirled at its ribbed-center that had taken it to those terrific heights?
Now, even in life, when a person is gliding high on a plane of humongous success, we notice only him, the way we see only the high-flying kite. Seldom do we consider the collective, cardinal role of people behind his success. Just as we hardly see the strong thread, securing and supporting the kite, to soar high in the sprawling skies.
Take the instance of any glitterati in the celeb world, who could be an actor extraordinaire, a guitar virtuoso, a great songster or a graceful danseuse. None of them could have possibly scaled the pinnacle of success, in their professional front, sans a proper godfather, proffering that plenteous succor. Just as, howsoever mesmerizing a multi-hued flying-kite may appear, if not for that mighty thread, it couldn’t have managed to fly, even for moments.
Interestingly, not only in celebs’ life, even in ours, there are several people behind our successes, donning the singular role of a strong/sturdy thread, for kites like us, to fly seamlessly, sans getting snagged on life’s sundry stumbling-blocks.
Apparently, if this thread is too tenuous, within seconds it can snap off, making the kite nosedive into the ground, in its ripped/tattered form. Just as our life, too, falters and flounders, without the firm support of that Divine Power, our family and few other close folks, fabulously binding us.
Let’s not forget: A kite flies against the wind, not with it.
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About the Author
The Bengal-born writer Nazarul Islam is a senior educationist based in USA. He writes for Sindh Courier and the newspapers of Bangladesh, India and America.
