“Ah one! Oh two! Wow three!”
“Look, look baby just took her first steps” shouts an exuberant Mom to the Dad and then as they both watched, eyes glowing with pride, their precious daughter falls down with a great thud! They rush to her while Grandma says “ That’s how it is…..stand up…take a step… fall down! Ha ha ha! That’s life! What is most important is getting up and stepping ahead again!” She clapped and clicked her tongue, ch ch ch ch, encouraging baby to stand up again. And she did, grinning with a sense of achievement.
Nursery rhymes come next in life. They too are rife with characters tumbling down and falling whether it is Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty or Little Miss Muffet! Its funny and hilarious when we are young. I guess it eases the minds of young ones who tend to fall and get hurt repeatedly during these times. A matter to laugh over (unless seriously injured) and move on with your game and activity.
The rise and fall of the tides, the waxing and waning of the Moon, the rising and setting of the Sun each day and the rise and fall in temperatures in Nature, in few places on a daily basis (like the deserts) all reflect the same thing … it’s a curve, a rhythm, to be repeated time and time again. So after every rise comes a fall…. It’s necessary, so that there is a rise again!
History too has a plethora of examples. The Rise and Fall of Mauryan Empire, The Rise and Fall of the Gupta period, The Rise and Fall of Mughals and who can forget The Rise and Fall of the British Empire?
Yet whatever is good, whatever is benevolent always lasts. It tends to outlive the ‘fall’ and is seen to exist beyond all destruction. What comes to mind are the ancient texts of Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, which first existed in the oral form and were handed over to generations verbally, till they were written down.
Who can deny that falling in love is the most beautiful feeling in the world? A Mother falls in love with her baby just as the baby does with her Mother and Father, the centre of her universe; Young girls and boys fall in love with each other, ridden with hormones and emotions which seem to tide them over every hardship and every hurdle. Or like Mirabai, fall in love with the Eternal, the Divine, God.
‘Fall’ so many connotations, so many perceptions, but like Surf’s ‘daag acche hai’, Fall is inevitable to rise, Rise again, like a Phoenix and bring forth all that is good and strong and can withstand the test of time. So everytime you fall, smile, cause you will rise again, happier and stronger.
“Rise and the World applauds as you rise; Fall and you fall alone!” Who said that? Well, it’s me. Your write up elicits such thoughts that are unique in perception and myriad in description. From ” Fall Winter to the everyday fall a child faces in the process of growing up, you have covered it very well and so beautifully.
But, no Empire would be complete in its “Rise and Fall” without the quintessential “Fall of the Saree” – Saree ke fall sa, attach kiya re! Food for thought Anamika. The most graceful of all attires for the Indian sub continent, the Saree can never ‘Fall from grace’. Together they rise and fall; indeed so ministerial is the approach of The Fall. A crafty work indeed!
Thanks so much for your indepth analysis and appreciation Jyotirmoy!