Have you heard about the word,
“Ikebana”? You might or might not have
heard of this Japanese word. Actually, it is a Japanese art of flower
arrangement. Few days back, I came
across an article on ikebana in a news paper. What actually gripped my
attention was that it is not only an arrangement of flowers but also that of the
leaves, stems and almost every other part of a plant that can be used to give
that arrangement a meaning (Though blooms, stems & leaves are predominant).
They all combine to build a multi-coloured
& beautiful creation that symbolizes harmony.
It
clicked to me that there is definitely some logic why nature has created
not only flowers but also leaves, stems, roots, etc. I mean nature could have
created only flowers hanging from sky.
But if it has created other parts of the plant or tree, there should be a reason.
The nature has also gifted us with blue
sky, green fields, multi-colour flowers, sweet & sour fruits, different
species of flora & fauna and much more. And the point to be noted is that
nature treats every creation with equality. It doesn’t differentiate.
By doing all this, the nature somewhere inspires
us to appreciate and love the diversity of life around us; respect the
different kinds of people, admire various human qualities and characteristics
& utilize the specific virtues to make a harmonised environment. But
somewhere we have lost the track...
Let us take a very practical case. We
have people with different virtues, skills and profession. But don’t we even
differentiate people based on the skill they possess, the profession they
choose or the art they master.
Here the point is not only
differentiation but also looking down upon someone based on any factor.
We need all kinds of skilled people on
this earth. What I mean to say is that every work or art has got its
significance. We need everyone. How & why? Just delve more into it (Though
not much deeper)...
We need doctors to cure diseases but what
about engineers? If we don’t have skilled engineers will the doctors have all
the mediums (machines) to cure? In these times a doctor needs advance
techniques so we need technicians also not only for medical but many purposes.
Nothing stops here, we need all kinds of
comforts and that starts from home. So we need architects, masons and other
worker to dig, to drill, the list is long. We need electricity so electricians
are required. We need furniture so the carpenters are the necessity.
We need a comfortable life. Now who sells
the comforts? The businessmen, right. How do we know about it? The advertisers,
fine.
But the comforts are originated from an
invention. So we need inventors and that could be scientists and artists.
We need teachers to impart knowledge,
bankers to handle financial system, soldiers to protect our country, farmers to
grow grains, fruits & vegetables.
Be it a bank or any industry, we have to
manage huge amount of data to serve business & people. We need information
technology and here comes the need of software engineers to create data, to
maintain database and much more.
Progressing in future is imperative but
we should know our ancestors, their achievements and here the historians and
the archaeologists come into picture.
We cannot be confined to our world only
and we need astronomers and astronauts to explore the world outside our earth.
Life would be so much mechanical if we
would be just busy with all materialistic or external things. So art & fun
should be an integral part of life. Art can be music, painting, acting or even
writing. We need people for everything. So every artist, be a singer, a
musician, an actor or an author is also important. Like an art, sports also
teach life skills so sportsmen also play a vital role.
My point is not to list down every skill
or profession but bring to notice that nothing is better or supreme. Everybody
has got one art or skill in which he or she is exemplary. We just need to
explore and value it.
We need to broaden our outlook and
develop a vision to give respect to each skill and art. Few people may be good
at doing calculation, few may be good at sports, few may be good at singing,
few may be good at fighting wars, few may be good at cooking, few may be good
at teaching, etc.
The social norm or stereotypes that make
us to feel superior because of one profession or art is a narrow outlook and a
deterrent to live in harmony with each other.
Like ‘Ikebana’, we need harmony of all
human beings in terms of healthy and open outlook.
Lots of smiles with harmony,
