IT all happened in a jiffy. One moment walking tall! The next moment, a mighty fall! There I lay sprawled on the ground last evening, helpless for a moment, as I struggled to reactivate my traitor hands and feet that had let me down, in a moment when my brain, instead of concentrating on stairs below, had let my mind wander.
I scrambled up, my knee hurting from the impact, a little blood on my palms, but otherwise none the worse for wear. I looked at my fancy footwear, they had not even tried to help, at the clothes I had worn, all set for the party, they had dirtied like any other clothing, and looked slightly crumpled. Nothing I’d surrounded myself with; the shoes, the clothes, or even my physical fitness, my less than fifty-six-inch chest, had prevented me when the unexpected happened!
I smiled up at the One above, thinking what His thoughts were as He saw us little pygmies thinking we were the most powerful in the world. How, we got ourselves photographed with stern look and definite step, kurta in place, a jacket neatly fitted, and yet, and that is why He smiled, we did not know whether our next step would be seeing us sprawled on the ground like me!
How the mighty fall! As I read accounts of World War II, again and again I see seemingly impregnable armies laid waste by either a sleeping general, a wrong decision, or as had happened in the landing at Normandy, inclement weather suddenly turning good, and helping the allies land on the beaches, finally defeating Hitler!
Yes, Hitler was defeated, not by an egoistic General Montgomery, not even by the shrewd Eisenhower but more often than not by fate, in the form of weather lending a hand in the battles! Yet, we walk, and talk, stride, bully and bluster our way around as if we control our tomorrows. I had chosen what to wear for last evening. Looked forward to the conversation I’d have with my friends. Decided the route I’d take to reach my destination, and yet could not even control my next step.
‘A Mighty Fall’ is how I’ve captioned this piece, but it would have served more the purpose if I’d written instead, ‘How the Mighty Fall!’ The world’s third richest man, who the whole country thought was infallible, fell with a thundering roar, because of an otherwise unknown company casting doubts. It was not a giant who felled a giant, but a little mouse!
Was there something behind my fall? Was it to warn the mighty here around, that… ‘It could all happen in a jiffy, one moment walking tall! The next moment a mighty fall..!’
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