Standing in the living-room balcony of my holiday apartment, our weekend retreat, I let my gaze flit across the children’s play area, adjacent to the swimming pool. Over there, I see a swing, the seats of which are supported by sturdy vertical chains, suspended from a horizontal bar, which in turn is secured to the ground by twin poles, crisscrossing each other. I watch the little children revelling in the fun, riding on the swing and letting out rip-roaring shrieks.
At this moment, I see a small girl, seated on the swing, struggling to push forward. Her eyes beseechingly look at a blithe boy, who is busy bouncing his ball and bounding about. By chance, he happens to see her, tacitly understands her predicament, and gently pushes the swing, as he stands poised behind to watch the profound joy, pervading her entire face.
On seeing this, I subconsciously start correlating the compassionate gesture with the unselfish attitude of many parents, who try propelling their children towards the path of success, while they stand behind, sacrificing many of their happiness/comforts. Yes, at times, we do come across such benevolent humans, too, who just like parents, selflessly try pushing others ahead, but they remain in the background, to vicariously enjoy others’ success as their own.
Again, I move my gaze towards the girl on the swing. I sight the boy swinging her being summoned by someone, and soon he sprints away. Then the most unexpected happens. Another guy, looking like a mini-Goliath, steps in and starts yanking at the swing. The girl loses balance and slips down. Instead of comforting her, this brat, like a typical bully, nabs the swing seat and starts enjoying his ride on it!
Just as in life, we come across those poisonous-minded persons, who push their contenders down the platform of success, so as to pitch themselves high.
As I continue to watch the scene with transfixed eyes, I see a relatively older girl helping the little girl back onto the seat of the other swing. Then, she stands behind on the same seat, and pushes herself hard by flexing her knees. In the process, both enjoy the exhilarating ride. Well, just as in life, we have those folks who forge ahead and make us surge ahead, too, with them.
Finally, I see the girl, the solitary person on the swing, as the evening is slowly shrouded by a mantle of darkness. Now that she is alone, with all her might she tries lunging herself forward, and what’s more? She is successful in making the swing sway swiftly! Just as in life, at times, we have to thrust ourselves forward to be successful in anything. For this, what we need is tonnes of steam to rally up all our inner strengths, which the girl on the swing had got, at last!