“Toni Morrison. Have you heard of her?” Jill, my Siamese cat, asked. “She won Nobel prize for literature, the first black lady to be honoured.”

“Toni Morrison? No, what reminds you of her?” Jack, my Great Dane dog replied and moved closer to Jill. Talk about people and Jill, my Great Dane dog will be attentive. He is friendly and affectionate and loves people.

Jill, my Siamese cat differs from Jack like chalk and cheese. She is intelligent, smart, and curious, and has a very rational thinking mind. And she speaks to jack with bit condescending tone, though that hides her affection for him.

“I did not expect you to know Toni Morrison; you do not read a word, how will you know? Nevertheless, I want to read out a story she mentioned in her Nobel laureate speech; it is interesting.”

“Go ahead ….”

“Once upon a time there was an old woman. Blind. Wise. Her reputation for wisdom is without peer and without question. Among her people she is both the law and its transgression. The honor she is paid and the awe in which she is held reach beyond her neighborhood to places far away; to the city where the intelligence of rural prophets is the source of much amusement.”

“Interesting” Jack said and moved forward towards Jill.

“One day the woman is visited by some young people who seem to be bent on disproving her clairvoyance and showing her up for the fraud they believe she is. Their plan is simple: they enter her house and ask the one question the answer to which rides solely on her difference from them, a difference they regard as a profound disability: her blindness.”

“How cunning …”

“They stand before her, and one of them says, “Old woman, I hold in my hand a bird. Tell me whether it is living or dead.” She does not answer, and the question is repeated. “Is the bird I am holding living or dead?” Still, she does not answer. She is blind and cannot see her visitors, let alone what is in their hands. She does not know their color, gender, or homeland. She only knows their motive.”

“Oh ….”

“The old woman’s silence is so long, the young people have trouble holding their laughter. Finally, she speaks and her voice is soft but stern. “I don’t know,” she says. “I do not know whether the bird you are holding is dead or alive, but what I do know is that it is in your hands. It is in your hands.””

“It will take some time before I can grasp meaning of this story” jack said, waving his tail and moving a little away visibly perturbed.

“Okay. Let me read out further – “Her answer can be taken to mean: if it is dead, you have either found it that way or you have killed it. If it is alive, you can still kill it. Whether it is to stay alive, it is your decision. Whatever the case, it is your responsibility.””

“This is interesting” I said to Jill. I was listening to the conversation between Jill and Jack and had no intention of disrupting it, but my response was instinctive. “Go ahead, tell us more.”

“I am reading it out,” Jill said, “For parading their power and her helplessness, the young visitors are reprimanded, told they are responsible not only for the act of mockery but also for the small bundle of life sacrificed to achieve its aims. The blind woman shifts attention away from assertions of power to the instrument through which that power is exercised.””

“Are you referring to Trump? His use, or abuse of power to be accurate, is phenomenal” I said.

“Abuse of power is so common,” Jill said, “Many world leaders fall in the same basket. They can make good decisions or abuse power. Daily newspapers carry at least one such story every day.”

“Those leaders seem to be asking a question to the old lady ….”

“Who is the old lady here?”

“Guess who? The conscientious people, the right-thinking people, who believe only in the wellbeing of the society.”

“To those in power they are saying “I do not know whether the decision you make is in the interests of the society or against, but what I do know is that it is in your hands. It is in your hands to pave the path for the benefit of the society at large.”

“There is no meaningful conversation between the old wise lady and the young persons who are putting her wisdom to test.”

“They are out to show that she is not what people thought about her – wise and intelligent. Not honest intention.”

“She cleverly reminded them of their responsibility. It was their decision to keep the bird alive or dead. The young guys were arrogant, and they had power.”

“Richard J. Daley summed it up well – ‘Power is dangerous unless you have humility.’”

“But power drunk people think humility is cowardice, like the young people who confronted the old and wise woman.”

“Humility is not cowardice; it helps the virtues grow. The cardinal virtues – Justice, Temperence, Courage, and Prudence”

“The people in power lack humility and they do not understand the virtues. That sums up the story of the world.”

“Nevertheless, our hope lies on the old woman in the Toni Morrison story or the thought she represents. I hope someone old and wise will soon rise and tell the world leaders that ‘it is in your hands’.”

“You said it, Jill” Jack said as he got up and moved towards Jill.

Vivek S Patwardhan

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” All matter copyrighted.

“तुम्ही जो वारसा मागे ठेवून जाता, तो म्हणजे दगडी स्मारकांवर कोरलेले शब्द नव्हे; तर तो वारसा म्हणजे इतरांनी आयुष्य विणताना विणले गेलेले तुमचे धागे होत.” सर्व मजकूर कॉपीराइट-संरक्षित आहे.