The Flight

By Koral Mankad Vaishnav

Once there lived a little bird. She looked at herself and wondered why is she so little? How would she fly? She looked around at other birds who flew gloriously in the sky. They had big strong wings. She looked at her little wings and thoughts raced her mind. A chain of thoughts. Thoughts of flying - thoughts of trying - thoughts of self-doubt - thoughts of falling - thoughts of hurting - thoughts of fear. She stopped her racing mind. She looked at the ground, she feared falling.

Then, she looked at the sky, she feared 'not trying'. What is it like to fly? She wanted to know it! She set her eyes on to the sky, jumped out of her nest and flapped her wings. Fear, imbalance, uncertainty, imperfection were her companions. Nonetheless she flied! That is what mattered! With due respect to her companions she kept flapping her wings, because flying was her ultimate goal! With every effort of flapping she got rid of her companions. One at a time! In the end all that remained was she. Herself. And her name was ‘Courage!’

By Koral Mankad Vaishnav