Tuesday 22 March 2016

The Remarkable Reed

One of the stories that often fascinated me, was that of Sir Issac Newton. Of how he sat beneath an apple tree, and all of a sudden was hit on the noggin by an apple. Now under normal circumstances an object falling on one's head would result in a person being astounded, or make him swear under his breath.However if Newton lived in India, the said object would have been a coconut, and the result would have been an instant coma and probably death. And for centuries one would remark about the perilous coconut that robbed the world of genius in the most gruesome manner, for which it would live in infamy as a symbol of ignorance and brute force.
But history is kind.
For it wasn't a coconut, but a humble apple that decided to land on Sir Newtons head. The coconut was saved of infamy, and the apple was seen as the epitome of epiphany and innovation.
It was this epiphany that I have been tirelessly yearning for in modern times.
Something to inspire me by.
A song perhaps, where the lyrics reach to my inner soul calling out for my muse. But Nikki Minaj's song about her rotund bottom did no such thing.
Perhaps a word or a phrase that I may hear when I walked towards my gym. Eavesdropping they say has inspired many a soul. But alas the only sounds that did reach my nimble ears were the grunts and groans of large women waddling on the treadmill.
So I sat in my humble apartment, looking, watching for all that moved, for an object, a sign that I may use as an epiphany, to name my blog.
I looked at all the corners and crevices, for something that would inspire me. 
I looked upon the picture of Lord Ganesha, and remembered that he was a scribe. Who used his own broken tusk to write. However, when I thought about it, naming a blog the broken tusk makes it seem like a PETA advert for poached African elephants.
Thus my mind drifted, far from the palm trees of India, to the sands of Egypt. 
Wherein lost in the catacombs of the pyramids was another divine scribe, called Thoth. The ibis headed Egyptian God of wisdom and learning. Much like his elephant headed counterpart Lord Ganesha.
And like the broken tusk, Thoth is associated with the humble reed. 
Naming your blog "the reed" sounds a bit ridiculous. One might mistake it for the domain of perhaps a shady nightclub (euphemisms and all) 
So I remembered Oscar Wilde's short story called the remarkable rocket.
About a pompous, preposterous rocket who had his head high above the clouds, impervious to what others said or thought about him.
The very high handed epitome of someone who's highly opinionated,
so to speak.
Someone who thought of oneself above the opinions of others. Hence remarkable.
A scribe, is someone who is not merely someone who scribbles on paper. But someone who is highly opinionated. 
And hence, with the idea of voicing out my opinions, regardless of what people think,
I bring to you,
The Remarkable Reed.