Hilal Ahmad Bhat
The distance between Earth and heaven is not a matter of Altitude but Attitude.
( A V Srivastava )
Lotus ( Nelumbo Nucifera ) is the national flower of India , not only so , but so much so that it is considered as the purest object in the world , a symbol of culture and civilisation.Who knows how does it make it to this distinctive elegance ? All the way from beneath the mud , through filth , darkness , poignant , murky and shallow waters.Nevertheless , it plunges to life accomplishing the mission of beauty and purity , yet remaining undeterred by the filthy and impure environment , showing character and demonstrating a fascinating will to live come what may , fighting all odds silently though , aspiring to inspire before it’s expire. In a way it lives a detached life , leaving a lesson for all of us as to how to remain unattached in life. As rightly said, “Action is the duty , reward is not the concern.” Moreover, detachment is the goal of human effort.
Lotus shows an unwavering faith and commitment. Conviction and persistence is the benchmark of its journey to excellence. It remains fully grounded in the muddy soil , aspires towards the divine , blooming from within towards the light.It submerges to emerge , gets closed at midnight , sinks below the water’s surface only to resurface again in the morning , breaking the surface of the water and opens petal by petal ( Iddar doobaay Odarr niklay ).Although the conditions are extremely tough but Lotus heels the call of the sun each morning and breaks the surface of the water to blossom , blithely unaffected , untouched by the mud and each petal remains clean and pure. The flower does not allow negativity to affect its growth and beauty or for that matter to question it’s self worth.It grows through swampy and unpleasant waters and blossoms anyway.Lotus is seen as a symbol of purity , spritual enlightenment, rebirth , hope , patience , resilience , perseverance and beauty.It symbolises purity of mind and soul.Mud arround Lotus is pessimism while Lotus in the mud is optimism. In a way Lotus is a true inspiration of Optimisation.
Life is a roalercoaster.At any point of time it becomes tough , difficult and gloomy where darkness and hopelessness dominate it.At times we go through a lean patch and we become off-colour facing mud , murky and unpleasant darkness all around in our lives.But then every cloud has a silver lining. Moreover , it is only in the darkness that stars shine.It is that kick in the teeth which can take us to the next level.Moreover , adversity is the most transparent phase of one’s life which teaches us who we really are and who the world is to us.It transforms us into the best versions of ourselves.It pushes us to identify our hidden capabilities and kick starts a new phase of hope and energy within ourselves.Lotus teaches us the lesson of patience , perseverance and hope which can lead us towards light.We have to show that courage and character.We have to be focussed on our goal without changing our goalpost at any point of time.
When going gets tough , only the tough get going.Tough time never lasts but tough people do.We have to hold the nerves and navigate ourselves by adjusting our sails untill storm of darkness passes away.There is a Japanese proverb “Nana Karobi Yaa Okki “ , fall seven times and stand-up eight.We got to show that conviction , persistence and tenacity , realising that there is something in us which no terrible thing can take away from , not even muddy , filthy and murky environments of our lives.We have to galvanise ourselves to break new grounds.We have to translate the symbolism of lotus to bring conviction and determination in our life.We should not be scared of mud to be the lotus.The distinction is sharp but the choice is ours.We have to open up petal by petal to spread that you-ness in the world.We have to be invincible.We have to be lotus.
Hilal Ahmad Bhat ( Biotech ) is working as a government Teacher in the Department Of School Education ( Kashmir) , and can be mailed at biotechilal@gmail.com.He can be reached at fb @ Bhat Biotech Hilal.
