THE SHADOW

Hector was a prince of Troy in Greek mythology, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. His wife was Andromache and they had a son called Astyanax.

Hector was considered the greatest warrior of Troy, but he did not approve of the war that had started between the Greeks and the Trojans. During the Trojan War, he was the leader of the Trojan army. It was prophesied that the first Greek who would land on Trojan soil would die. Odysseus, cunning as he was, threw his shield on the soil and landed on it. Therefore, the next person who stepped off the ship was Protesilaus and was killed in a duel with Hector, fulfilling the prophecy.

Hector later proposed that a truce be called between the two sides, and a duel should decide the result of the war. Ajax was the Greek hero who stepped forward and dueled Hector. However, the duel ended in a stalemate after a whole day of fighting, and the two heroes exchanged gifts, admiring each other's strength and skills.

The last fight that Hector gave was against Achilles. However, when he saw Achilles and while he was ready to fight him, he suddenly was overcome with fear and started running. Achilles chased him, and Hector finally decided to battle his fear and stopped running, after seeing the goddess Athena in the form of his brother Deiphobus. Achilles threw a spear against Hector, who managed to evade it. However, when he turned to get a spear from his brother, he saw no one there, and realized that he was about to die. With the last amount of courage, Hector drew his sword and died after a fierce duel. Achilles, then dragged Hector's body with his chariot, outside the Trojan gates for twelve days, before he finally accepted to give it to the Trojans, so they could bury him properly.

The story of Troy is one of marauding humans as they lived to fight. The duel between Achilles and Hector drew various shadows on various canvases of life. The physical shadows of the warriors crisscrossed each other as their weapons clashed to prove their supremacy. The shadows of pain, anger, hurt and anguish reflected on many faces as they saw the bloody duel in front of the their eyes. The pall of gloom shadowed entire Troy as Hector fell to Achilles sword.

Shadows- what a role they play in human lives! Shadow starts tracking a human from the moment he gets active. Shadows continue to change their length and sizes as humans move about in various directions and the light falls from various angles. Shadow leaves the moment darkness falls and there is no light around the human. Shadow makes a human think about various forms and figures. Humans have the unique ability to create various shapes with their own shadows and bring smiles across faces. Shadows can even create rumors and ignite emotions. Shadows emerge sometimes from nowhere and help to caution the humans before they fall!

Shadows do everything that they do, but silently and without getting entangled with other shadows. Do shadows respect each other as they go about stretching themselves or thinning out? They merge with other shadows and seamlessly. Shadows get used even in virtual format. Shadows of natural calamities loom large over humanity as outbreak happens. Man-made conflicts have cast their shadows all over the globe and pinned down humanity. Predicting shadows of various angles of humanity is an interesting science in itself. Analytics moves in as shadows get predicted and the impact can be controlled.

Shadows are everywhere around humans. There is no escape from them. Shadows integrate various aspects of human endeavor. Shadows impart important lessons to humans. The most important message is that of survival. Shadows stretch and compress without any pain to the humans. They go about their business quietly and merge or de-merge without any hurt to any other shadow around them. Shadows have no demands and no suggestions for anyone. Shadow does not interfere and does not disturb. Shadow willingly takes the shape that the humans want them to take. Shadow provides succor from heat and provide instant comfort to humans seeking shelter from the sweltering Sun. Shadow exposes the humans to chill factor when they leave the Sun’s comforts. There is a message in everything that the humans do with the shadows.

Achilles threw his shield and formed into an attack shape. He had less load to carry and more agility. Both Hector and Achilles were without headgear as the duel ensued. With the speed of lightening, Achilles moved and in one swift attack pierced the heart of Hector. Hector’s shadow merged with the ground as he fell on the ground-dead. Achilles had cast his lean shadow around Hector and mowed him down to establish the Greek supremacy over Trojans. Shadows grew longer as Trojans accepted defeat though Achilles also lost his life in the final attack. Shadow left both Hector and Achilles as they both fell to the vagaries of the battle. Hector lost his life to a Sword and four arrows took away the life from Achilles.  Shadows only leave when the human falls.

Humans can do better than what they have achieved, but, the spiral is too deep and entangled. Many shadows are circling around humans in various arenas and confusions erupt volcanically. Each learned human has a role to play to ensure a better tomorrow. They have to de-tangle the various shadows stuck inside their arenas. Think positive, think big and think for better humanity all around the globe and many shadows will de-merge to disappear. Each human can carry his own shadow well and ensure that the shadow keeps following him till he falls. The human who falls for smaller gains does not get up as the same human that he was before he took the wrong plunge. The shadow though does not change but the head of the shadow does show the strain!

Keep the chin up and poise straight- the shadow looks great and would follow as it is supposed to do. Do you love your shadow now, eh?

BREAK THAT BARRIER

The heavy transport airlift helicopter came to life as its turbines came into action. Its main blade rotor turned and generated the lifting thrust. The pilot said a silent prayer and the helicopter was airborne. The pilot shaped the course and all his passengers sat quietly waiting for the future events to unfold. They all were in for a unique mission. They were to operate with perfection and would end up breaking many barriers as the mission progressed. The helicopter crew from the Indian Air Force was ferrying a Commando Team of The Indian Army for a lifesaving mission. It was a precarious mission and many a human lives were at stake.

The big helicopter came over the hills and the helicopter crew came across the sight of the suspended cable car. In the wee hours of the morning, the crew had been briefed about the mission. The mission involved breaking of many barriers as many a firsts had to be achieved to ring in the success. The helicopter was under the command of an ace pilot who had tremendous flying experience with him. The Commando team was led by a young Major who had trained hard to be where he was on that day. The cable car hung right in the middle of the rope-way and 11 passengers including a 04 year old boy were trapped inside it. They had gone to experience the “08 minutes of pure unadulterated excitement” wherein the cable car ferried the passengers to a hill top 1.8 kms away from the start point. All these passengers wanted to break a certain barrier to feel the thrill and excitement of this 08 minute journey at the cost of Rupees 35/- per person.

The big machine had come to the drop point and both the Pilot and the Commando Team leader ran through the drill in their minds. The Cable Car had slipped from its stoppage point and had come down the rope track at a high velocity. Its door had been opened at the stop point by attendant and as the cable car went backwards, the attendant had fallen off the cliff. As the door swung back and forth and the cable car hurled, a passenger also fell out into the valley. The cable car swung ferociously before coming to a stop as the ropes entangled against obstructions and remained suspended with a drop of over 1000 feet into the rivulet flowing below. The 10 remaining passengers began an ordeal wherein each one of us started breaking various barriers of both physical and mental vagaries. They were hurt and lay still not knowing when the ropes would snap and take them into oblivion. The night fell and the cold took over the suspended passengers. There was no communication with the outside world as the mobile waves had still not penetrated the Indian skies. A slight movement of the suspended car and everyone would startle out of their stupor.

The Indian Army led the drive for the rescue mission. Many plans were discussed but the most suitable plan that could have worked was to lower a commando into the trolley and then winch the trapped persons up by a helicopter. Almost 22 hours after the ordeal began and after carrying out the survey drills, the helicopter had arrived above the Cable Car. A packet containing food and water was the first one to be lowered into the trolley. The dehydrated passengers saw a ray of hope as their parched throats became wet. The attempts were then made to lower the young Major into the cable car and finally after 25 hours of the ordeal, Major Ivan Joseph Crasto of the Indian Army entered the Cable Car through the roof hatch as the helicopter piloted by Group Captain Fali Major (later Air Chief Marshal Fali Major) hovered above. His mere sight inside the Cable Car gave a huge relief to the inmates as Major Ivan broke another barrier in their lives.

Major Ivan had a job at hand. He was a trained Commando and a daredevil at that. He now had to ensure that each passenger of the cable car climbed on the roof and was strapped to a chair before the helicopter team winched them up. The passengers were untrained, traumatized and fear of vertigo loomed large. The day ended with 5/10 passengers lifted away into the helicopter and moved away to safety. Major Ivan Crasto stayed back in the cable car to comfort the passengers and assure them of their safety. He had touched a new barrier and along with him lifted the barriers of the remaining 05 stranded passengers. As the helicopter winched away the 05 passengers, a ropeway mechanic reached the cable car from the upper end using a rope and carried with him food, water and blankets. His dare devilry was unique too and he scaled a barrier for himself.

The morning came and the heavy lift helicopter re-appeared. Within a few hours all the remaining passengers were air lifted and Major Ivan Crasto became the last one to move out of the cable car. The brave pilot kept the helicopter absolutely steady and hovered clear of the ropes even as the passengers were being forked up. The focused minds of the rescue team helped to break the barriers of uncertainty. Major Ivan Crasto and Group Captain Fali Major went on to meet the next barriers of their respective lives.

In each human life, we come across barriers of various kinds. They can be physical or mental barriers. Humans have to show courage and conviction to overcome the mental barriers and physical barriers need a fair amount of physical strength. The barrier merits an attempt and humans have to overcome the barriers to taste the proverbial success. But what happens to those humans who break their barriers? Do they change their behavior patterns after they cross over successfully? Does the challenge not trouble them anymore? Do they give up too easily as the further challenges do not excite them thereafter? It can be analyzed that human behavior does show a change when they break barriers. This leads to them gunning for more such targets or makes them complacent about their future. If they run for more such targets they achieve further milestones before various other factors make them call it a day. If they do not run for more targets, then the milestones dry up after they refuse to challenge themselves.

Humans have to fight for their survival. There is no escape from the vagaries of life. The barriers keep emerging intermittently and there is no set pattern. No days and years are alike. In human lives, things change instantly and nothing is certain. Plans can fail and hopes can disappear without any notice. But what remains with the humans is their ability to break the barriers. Humans have to decide how to take on the barriers, break them apart, move on and be ready to meet the next barrier. The important issue is to remain grounded even as the barrier emerges. After all, the humans are most comfortable with their feet on the ground. One should not become complacent as the barrier is broken as who knows when the next one would emerge. Most barriers, if not broken, lead to negative effects. No human thrives under pressure and chaos, but, the ability to judge and break the barriers makes one belief that pressure and chaos leads to the best for some.

Adrenalin pumps hard each time humans approach the barrier. Finally the pumping has to be so hard that the Adrenalin breaks its own barrier, energizes the human mind and the actions emerge which breaks yet another barrier. Are you, by any chance, staring at a barrier? If you are, then, just collect your wits, move ahead and break that barrier.

           

Do you have it in you, eh?

FACE THE LIFE HEAD ON

Another one bites the dust
There are plenty of ways you can hurt a man
And bring him to the ground
You can beat him
You can cheat him
You can treat him bad and leave him
When he's down
But I'm ready, yes I'm ready for you
I'm standing on my own two feet

The above lyrics are from the iconic song “Another One Bites the Dust” by the Band called Queen. Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen created a funk bass riff, and sang this number with high energy bordering on manic style. The song had an important message for humans- Face the Life Head On.

Time and again humans end up facing the unknown. There is no escape from the jaws of the situation. The unknown seems to be ready with many factors and the situations just seems to multiply. The meek sit down with the virtual load of the situation engulfing them all over and are just overrun. The strong calculate the multiplying virtual factors and use skills to override the load of the situation. In the end, the strong stand out amongst the crowd and are ready for the next battle.

Every life has ifs and buts. There are a very few who do not fall prey to the vagaries of the ifs and buts. Humans tend to go down the wire as they keep calculating their response to the ifs and buts. This leads to the wastage of precious time and also leads to a weak response to the life’s situations. The struggle with the ifs and buts of life needs to be curtailed to the minimum possible wastage of time. In most situations, humans prepare their response factoring many ifs and buts. Little do they realize that eventually they are just ifs and buts and may not materialize as the situation unfolds! Why should humans even ponder for a moment as ifs and buts snare at them? Should the humans not just perform their assigned tasks and move on?

The approach to face the life head on and meet its challenges has great advantages. These days, very often, humans who have braved the life come out into the open and their battles are appreciated. This indicates that it is not impossible to meet the life’s challenges- some humans do it successfully. It was not until 1999 that a woman gymnast could successfully complete a handspring double front vault. And when she did, the vault came to be known as the Produnova vault. Russian gymnast Yelena Produnova was just 19-years old when she attempted the vault in the Universiade, also known as the World University Games--an athletics event meant for university athletes from across the world. It is also called the “Vault of Death” as the chances of someone landing on her head or neck are high. It exposes the athletes to life-threatening injuries. Only 05 women have completed this vault including Yelena herself. The latest to join this elite club is Dipa Karmakar in the Rio Olympics-2016. What might have been running inside Dipa’s mind when she took the bold decision to execute this vault? As she set her eyes on the vault, Dipa had to first do a handspring--that is literally toss herself into the air using the vault as some sort of a jumping board. Then, she had to do two neat somersaults mid-air, following which she had to land on her feet. One wrong move could lead to a fatal mishap. The focused approach and energy burst at the right times led Dipa to execute the Produnova and earn a place in the finals of the Olympics.

What did Dipa do that made this an eureka moment for her life? She just took the challenge head on and pushed her mind and soul into her performance. She is now in the elite club of Produnova specialists and will always remain there.

No one stops humans from facing their life’s challenges. Each one has a definite role to play and the roles have no boundaries, if played well. Each problem has a simple solution and successful humans demonstrate this time and time again. They rip the problem apart and the magnitude of sub-tasks becomes small. They just go about methodically and quietly to achieve their aims. There are pains and anguish but the winners overcome them all with their focused approach. Humans have a great intrinsic capability to train their minds. The mind is the controller of human energy. A clear mind can steer the humans towards their destiny. All that the humans need is a clear thought process and without worrying too much about ifs and buts. Humans need to think and act. Results will emerge and the mind has the capability of taking the correct course as the results emerge. No failure is permanent and most humans do not die satisfied. Life gives adequate chances to everyone to accomplish what is best within their capabilities.

No one stops humans from achieving their best. Fair chances come across and are to be captured. Life has fantastic meanings and can be lived with positivity and zeal. All that the humans need to say is But I'm ready, yes I'm ready for you I'm standing on my own two feet . Stand on to feet, gaze out into the open and face the life head on. Are you ready, eh?