Spice of Life: Pause, look up, appreciate the vibrant colours of life

It was a lean day at college, a day when the student strength in classes was thin. I decided to meet my class outside in the spring sun. The students sat on the garden benches and I sat on a chair facing them. Already intoxicated by the heady buzz of the bees romancing with the blooming buds, my wavering attention was caught by the bright yellow kite entangled in the topmost branches of a tall tree.
Someone must have revelled in the pristine pleasures of kite flying owing to the arrival of ‘basant’ a day before. However, the snapped twine mid-air had led the kite astray only to get ensnared in the bare branches of the tree.
As the day progressed, I couldn’t shake off the image of the yellow kite. It seemed to symbolise the struggles of life, often caught in the branches of distractions and routine. The students’ chatter and occasional laughter faded into the background as I contemplated the kite’s plight, wondering if we, too, are entangled in our daily lives, yearning for freedom and purpose. The kite’s vibrant colour stood out against the azure sky, a stark reminder of the beauty and potential that can be obscured by the mundane.
A solitary figure against the vast sky, the kite became a poignant reminder of life’s simple pleasures often overlooked amid the monotony of daily existence. Its struggle to break free from the entanglement mirrored man’s yearning for liberation from the mundane routines that bind him. Its vivid hue contrasted sharply with the dull backdrop of everyday life, serving as a wake-up call to cherish the fleeting moments of joy and beauty that surround us. It whispered a gentle reminder to pause, look up, and appreciate the vibrant colours of life that are sometimes lost in the humdrum of our routines.
The yellow kite, caught in the high branches, soon became a symbol for me, of man’s aspirations and struggles to soar high in life. Each tug of the wind and the resultant fluttering, represented the desperate efforts to rise above challenges, while every obstacle in its path mirrored the hurdles man faces on his journey.
The kite’s continuous flutter was like a rejoinder of the age-old sagacity often reiterated by great men that efforts are more important than the outcome. It became a reflection of human resilience, reminding me that even when we’re caught in life’s branches, we can still find the strength to keep striving for greater heights.
In a few days, the bright yellow paper would shred and only the skeleton would remain dangling from the tree top. Day by day, the delicate bamboo framework of the kite would gradually weaken, erasing all traces of its soaring flights and its relentless battle to break free. However, the vivid image it has imprinted on my mind would persist, constantly nudging and drawing me back to its memory. I’m certain John Keats must have encountered a similar moment of fleeting beauty when he penned the immortal words, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
The writer is an associate professor of English at SD College, Ambala Cantt, and can be reached at [email protected]