About the Nature: One

It is curriculum night. My wife and I go to our eldest son, Izana’s classroom. We meet with his teacher and talk around tips of teaching or learning program for this year; what parents can do for children and for school as well; Dos and Don’ts, and so on and so forth. After we come back home, the event makes me to remember my very own story that I wrote when I was in tenth grade.

When I was in high school, I met a man who was very respectful. He was the first person who graduated from college in their village. He had four children and all his children were educated persons and in the middle-class list of the society. In my sense, he was also very honest and well-speaker. Whenever I saw him, if he did not working something, he could be reading or listening to the radio very interestingly and he could share with us (students) very often about his knowledge that he got from reading and listening to.

Any way, when I was about seven, there were three tall coconut trees in the backyard of our house. (Our house had such a big yard.) Every year, a couple of mynas made a nest. They could lay four eggs and four little mynas could be given birth. I was looking at the mynas’ family every day and sometimes, hours as I was interested in. I really learned how they made their nest; where did they get those materials for nest; how they lay eggs; how little birds came out from eggs. How they grow their children, etc, etc.

After I finished my final exam of 10th grade, the two stories (a respectful, educated man and the mynas) came into my mind heavily and I typed what I thought. It became about seventy pages long story. My story was that I wrote almost exactly my respectful person’s family in different scenes. At the same time, I also wrote identical scenes of growing mynas’ family. And theme of the story was – after that myna father and the human father died, what was difference between the two in the true meaning of life-pattern?

In both stories, both fathers were very dutiful. As a human being, the man gave great heritage to his all children to become educated persons; how to live in life as humans; how to work; make money; how to manage the family; what are values in life (this could be difference from each other of human beings) and so on. As a bird father, he also taught his children how to fly; how to find food; how to life under the storm; how to defense enemies; how to live in winter, summer and in the rain, etc. Every single thing that a bird should / must know how to survive in life, he taught to his children till those little birds were able to make their own nest. Both fathers were absolutely respectful and dutiful.

Because of a human being, the man was living in a house. Because of a myna, the bird was living in a nest. Because of a human being, the man ate rice and bread (mainly). Because of a myna, the bird ate grains and other little ones, such as insets. Each of them had four children. All children (four humans and four birds) were educated (in terms of life-patterns). Because of human beings, those children learn the surviving ways in life at school, university, etc. Because of birds, those mynas learn surviving methods from their parent-birds. Because of human being’s life-span, those guys could live 70/80 to 100 years. Because of mynas, those birds could live less than ten years or something like that. However, if that man was living in life just for himself, his family; eat, sleep and make love, what was meaningful difference between the two lives of that person and that myna? It was theme of my story. (I lost that little book somewhere when I run or moved around.)

The story was about part of nature between a human being and a bird. If I have time, I will write that story in English as much as I remember.

Thank you and to answer theme question of my novel, I will tell you that – Please Be Dutiful!


(P.S: And yet, there are many human beings who are not dutiful at all, or less than a myna. How I will be able to raise my kids, I do not know yet. Our eldest son is now just in first grade. I hope at least that I will be in the same level of a myna father.)



Picture: http://www.logosoftwear.com/embroideryclipart/School.ABC%20School%20Slate.(SC1000).(1.66x2.17)6109.jpg
http://fennerschool-associated.anu.edu.au/myna/problem_files/myna-chicks_large.jpg