Small is big

Small is big

I was reading the Mahabharata the other day. It seemed strange to me that Guru Dronacharya would so cruelly ask Ekalavya to give up his thumb as Gurudakshina - I wondered what the great teacher would do with it, until I realized that it is impossible to be an archer without a thumb. In order to test this, I tried writing, cutting, and throwing, without using my thumb and eventually understood how precious this little appendage is to me. Indeed, the small things that we own are most precious to us, from the small engagement rings on my parents' fingers that stand as timeless symbols of their love, to the tiny clip that keeps my locks from covering my eyes. Who can forget Uncle Podger's attempt to 'nail' a picture on the wall? It was no mean feat, after all…

All that I had beheld in my life and would continue to, comes down to the little iris inside my eyes - what use are one's eyes without the gift of eyesight. Little DNA strands can prove anything from gene pools to culpability! One does not comprehend the value of a needle and a thread until a button snaps; the same goes for a chap-stick for dried lips and the modest plastic cap for a gel pen that we should not dry up. The little hands of a wrist watch help us to be on time for examinations and interviews, while the touch of the little fingers of a newborn baby fills her parents with immense joy. A drop of tear is a manifestation of immeasurable sorrow, pain, or happiness; perhaps that is why they say that tears should be saved for the right moments.

Life is, after all, made up of a series of moments, some fleeting and some unforgettable. A pat on the back by a teacher serves as a huge encouragement for a student; a little increment motivates an employee to work harder, while a reciprocating smile gives way to a new friendship, in the same way that a scornful glance signals a note of rejection. A key opens the door to a world full of unknown treasures, while a lost key frustrates and shuts out a person.

Little gestures cannot be forgotten easily – I can still feel the clutch of my grandmother’s hand helping me cross the street when I could not do so on my own, or the fuzzy little squirrel that hopped on as a messiah of joy when I sat weeping beneath a tree, abandoned by my world.

The human existence is threatened by the microscopic bacteria, viruses, protozoa, the formidable mosquitoes and flies, and saved by the tiny pills to swallow! Times of adversity introduce us to little shoulders to rely on as well as those hands that wipe away our tears. Months of drought make us thirsty for a drop of replenishing rain; we take care to save a little card or a letter as a token of unconditional love addressed to us. A little blot of slander tarnishes one’s reputation and a dollop of cream sweetens a cup of bitter coffee. What is food without a pinch of salt or a plate of French fries without a little ketchup by its side? Little sprigs of “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” are sure to enliven a bland dish with their strong aroma. Little leaves or beans make the best of stimulating beverages. Little pests call for large doses of Dicholoro Diphenyl Tricholoro ethane while little bees manufacture the ambrosial honey that gets stolen by men who suffer greatly from their little stings! An evanescent drop of dew gives little time to the Nikon-bearer to make it eternal.

A shoe that is a little too big or small can deter our locomotion. A little difference of mercury on the thermometer scale separates the healthy from the sick. A surgeon’s adept hands work their way to little arteries, veins and nerves while a little filling by a dentist conceals a tooth cavity effortlessly. A little make-up on the face boosts one’s self-confidence. A little creepy-crawly brings out the sirens and banshees in us! A little four-digit ATM pin is best kept to ourselves. Indeed, a little sin can make us deeply repentant.

Of the huge collection of writings by Tagore, the 50^th poem in the Gitanjali seems overwhelming to me – in it, a beggar gave away a grain of corn to a King who had appeared before him in his chariot, with his hand laid out to the poor man. He went back home only to discover a speck of gold in his bag, regretting that he had not given up all his possessions to none other than God in the King’s disguise. If only we could understand that little gestures, little moments and little joys are those that make us human! We must have the heart to appreciate what is little and only then shall we be rewarded with the grandiose.