Of Waxen Wings and Ice Cubes by Dr. Jernail S. Anand

Man is not at all welcome on the earth. The moment an earthen ware comes into existence, its countdown starts.-Anand

The movement of time is towards nothingness and on the way, it finds human habitations constructed with man’s skill. It is like a ship built on the ocean. There is no love affair between the ship and the ocean waters. It is a fierce struggle. The water does not like anything like a ship on its breast, and the ship wants to sail safely to its destination. That is the disturbing relationship between life and timelessness. We are inexorably moving towards nothingness seated on the wind which is forced to carry us onward. By its nature, neither time nor winds, nor oceans like any disruption in their easy flow. Vegetation and beasts fell into harmony with the divine flow of planets and the flourish of elements. It was only man who used his intellect [of which god was circumspect] to play with this flow, and create a civilization which has hijacked the easy flow of planets, and caused disruption in the winds, making forays into the ocean and the sky.

The Ship and the Ocean

The Ship and the Ocean can explain what is happening on a philosophical level so far as human life and the eternity are concerned. We may call it a part of the grand design, but man and his intellectual prowess do not allow the planets any laxity. The struggle between the life instinct and the forces of nothingness and reductionism is relentless. The ocean is pulling hard at the ship, and the ship is fighting an all outbattle  against the devouring instinct of the sea. This same analogy can be applied to  every creation on the earth. Man is not at all welcome on the earth. The moment an earthen ware comes into existence, its countdown starts. The birds which are chirping, the butterfies which are enjoying the winds, the flowers that are blossoming, and the animals who are grazing – every object is engaged in an invisible struggle with eternity. We force ourselves upon this earth and this sky, which finally claim us when we lose our power to withstand the pull of Eternity.

The LoveAffair

I have called this disturbed and disturbing relationship a love affair because in love, two objects try to become one. They are pulled towards each other. In the case of cosmic beings, they too are pulled towards each other. Man suffers from a double pull. In fact, every created object suffers from this double pull. It is pulled towards other objects, in a sort of love affair, and it is, at the same time, pulled towards its extinction, which is inevitable. The worldly love that we recognize stands nowhere in comparison to the cosmic love relationship in which an object is pulled back and made to lose itself. Man is finally reduced to ashes, and brought back to the earth, after a fierce struggle of the body and the non-self which unleashes all forces to bring it down. Men get only that much time during which they can stand against the tide. The body is a frail vessel, cannot stand the waves of time for ever.

Moreover, gods look upon the creation only as mountains, earth, deserts, forests and oceans. Nothing more. Human habitations, civilization, skyscrapers which mean so much for us, are obstructions for the cosmic powers, and finally, we see, things are pulled down, by time. They are all subject to the insurance scheme called auto-quit. If earthquakes do not tumble them, they are blown off by and by, by the winds. Time is a great destroyer. No knowledge, no wisdom can stand in front of its powerful push.

The Over-reachers

If you place on the table a cube of ice, what will happen to it? It will return to water, and if the water is not washed off, it will evaporate. So, men and other created objects are like ice cubes, melting into water, losing their shape fast. When they get into shape, that time is very short. It is in this split second, that men are expected to do great things. Some people who are rightly tuned do good to life, and its philosophy, but some are smart enough, who damage themselves and the philosophy too. With smartness and craft, you can make only a greater show, may be with a grand presence, but everything has a melting point. So, it is better we realize the time at our disposal is really very short, and we perform our duty rightly. Overdoing, overplaying, overthinking – everything that is over finally leads to our over-reaching ourselves.

Tragedy

In this world, we remember only the over reachers. Men who let things happen at their pace, are like vegetation and beasts, who pose no threat to timelessness or eternity. But there are men who possess highly volatile wits, who think more than they should, who act more than required, -- these are the people made for tragedy. All the trouble in the world is brought about by people who acquire more speed, think faster, and act smart so that they can defeat time. The disciplines which taught men the idea of a decent living failing, men are now riding a smarter plane, with their eyes high on the cliffs, and they are flying like Icarus, forgetting they do not have waxen wings, but they themselves are made of ice cubes.  They are the tragic characters the lesser men are made to study in books on philosophy.

The Destiny of Ice Cubes

We are born to melt back into waters, and fly back into the wind, in other words, evaporate. What does not evaporate, will be turned into ashes and consigned to rivers. This is human destiny. We trap time and then move towards timelessness, shedding our wings on the way. I wonder if there is anything to learn. Everyone knows life is short. But it is short like Ice-Cubes? It is a devastating revelation.

Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, with an opus of 190 plus books, is Laureate of the Seneca, Charter of Morava, Franz Kafka and Maxim Gorky awards.  His name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. Anand is a towering literary figure whose work embodies a rare fusion of creativity, intellect, and moral vision. He is a global voice, challenging readers to confront the complexities of existence while offering hope through art and ethics.