my grandmother used to tell the story of a man who tried to fly using two large "murams" (these are large square frames made of tropical cactus-like leaves usually seen in the malabar coast, south india)as the legend goes, the man with these "muram" wings jumped off from a cliff and died. earlier also he had tried this flying experiments from less higher places, as he was obsessed with it.
similarly in the story of icarus in greek mythology,
daedalus and his son icarus were imprisoned inside a massive labyrinth in crete. the father made them each a pair of wings, and with these they were able to escape. daedalus warned his son, “don’t fly too high or the sun will melt the wax on your wings
and you will fall. follow me closely. do not set your own course.” but icarus became so exhilarated by his ability to fly, he forgot the warning and followed his own course instead. he flew too high, the wax melted, and icarus fell down into the sea and drowned.
man and his fate of fall is an enigma. what is the element inside us that works against ourselves? what is the factor that pushes us to go beyond our natural being? is it desirable? on the other hand, without that almost self destructive gene how can humanity break new grounds and progress? the ego of icarus made him forget about the consequence of his father's warning. on the other hand, it poses the question that whether the young icarus had another choice, as the young blood does what it is designed to do. word of wisdom from the experienced was discarded as it was considered as a weakness and an excuse not to take any risk in life.
photo collage: "flying man" /2007©sebastian
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