"Take a deep breath and let go", she said. Like an obedient student I did. And soon sank to the bottom of the pool. "You are sinking because your body is tensed". Of course my body is tensed! What do you expect? Didn't you see, I am SINKING!
"Just let it go, the water will hold you". But the water didn't care, it let my pity self touch the floor...
Then, suddenly, 20 minutes later, it did! And I was floating, light as a feather, on the surface of the pool. I couldn't believe it, so I stood up and did it again. It was true, I could float. It was an amazing feeling, like finding something extraordinary about myself. If you have been swimming for a long time, especially, if you have been swimming since you were a kid, you might feel that I am romanticizing something very trivial. But, not really.
Remember the time when you learned how to ride a bicycle. I remember seeing all the bicycle riders and thinking how come they don't fall down. Seemed like a gymnastic feat to me, defying gravity like that. Then, I tried it, and I fell. I wasn't disappointed, I felt like "well duh, what do you expect". And then remember the first time being able to do it? Flying though the air, light as a feather...
There are many other occasions, big and small, which have given me a similar feeling. The first time I was able to do a pirouette (on heel, in Kathak, I am still trying to do it on toe or the ball of the foot like in ballet, that amazing feeling is still waiting to happen), without having to force myself into balance at the end. The first time I was able to paint a black outline with a thin paintbrush without zigzags and trembling hands. And, by "first time when I was able to", I mean when I was really able to, when I really felt `I get it', when I could do it like "walking". Yes, walking. That tops it all. What a feeling it must be to walk the first time. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I was too young to remember it, or even appreciate it I guess. But, there is still so much more we can experience. Go out and try it! You will be amazed at how much more there is still to find out about yourself.
Remember the time when you learned how to ride a bicycle. I remember seeing all the bicycle riders and thinking how come they don't fall down. Seemed like a gymnastic feat to me, defying gravity like that. Then, I tried it, and I fell. I wasn't disappointed, I felt like "well duh, what do you expect". And then remember the first time being able to do it? Flying though the air, light as a feather...
There are many other occasions, big and small, which have given me a similar feeling. The first time I was able to do a pirouette (on heel, in Kathak, I am still trying to do it on toe or the ball of the foot like in ballet, that amazing feeling is still waiting to happen), without having to force myself into balance at the end. The first time I was able to paint a black outline with a thin paintbrush without zigzags and trembling hands. And, by "first time when I was able to", I mean when I was really able to, when I really felt `I get it', when I could do it like "walking". Yes, walking. That tops it all. What a feeling it must be to walk the first time. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I was too young to remember it, or even appreciate it I guess. But, there is still so much more we can experience. Go out and try it! You will be amazed at how much more there is still to find out about yourself.
2 comments:
That was really interesting. And bound to remind us all of our very personal 'Aha!' moments. My personal ones:
- After several years of trying, one fine day, it was one cartoon I drew after drawing which the feeling that 'I can now draw anything' came me in one big lumpsum. It was one of the high points of my life. I am struggling to get that in water colour.
- When table-tennis players make those shots, it looks as if there's a magnet in the table which is pulling the balls towards itself however hard the player hits the ball. When I started playing TT, I found no such magnet. One in 10 shots would fall on the table; all the rest would fly haywire. There was one shot when that magnet suddenly got activated. And the next shot on, the ratio of shots which would find their mark grew by a quantum. It was a high!
- I still find research papers revolting in the beginning. During the struggle to understand them, there usually is a moment when they look friendlier. It's an 'Aha!' moment.
- The distance between a story idea and its scheme initially is always immeasurably big in the beginning. And then after weeks, months and years, the characters come alive, the sequence looks clean and simple. It happens in one tiny 'Aha!' moment.
Thanks for letting me live those 'Aha!' moments once more! :)
Thanks, Sujit. I was hoping that this blog will be able to motivate others to share their `Aha!' moments with me. Thanks for sharing yours.
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