Aditi Mathur and Ratnesh Mathur
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a Mosquito and a Fly, who were really good friends, entered a house via an open window.
“I smell blood,” said the mosquito, rubbing his wings with glee.
“Hush!” snapped Fly, “You and your music will ruin our party.”
“No music, no life. Why are you so staid? Lemme enjoy.”
“Yes, yes, precisely. A home is a world full of opportunities, let’s explore first.”
“Okies,” rapped Mosquito, “Let’s visit the site, check what’s alright, then go for the bite.”
“Yeah,” rhymed Fly, “We’ve got the flight and the whole night.”
As they flew in, Fly grabbed and held back Mosquito,
“Look at what this boy is reading?”
Mosquito shrugged, “Oh! it’s just a nice colourful manual on something.”
“Yup and it’s on safety! Do you realize what that means?”
“Safety?” quipped Mosquito, “Safety from what?”
“Right now he seems to be researching on choking hazard.”
“Oh, cool. I won’t choke, if him I poke.”
“Hello Mr. drooling proboscis, next chapter could be about YOU.”
“Meeee! You mean safety from Mosquitee?”
“Yes and maybe even flies too!”
“Haw! This doesn’t sound good. Imagine if all kids got trained in safety.”
“Optimism, young Mosq, optimism. Safety isn’t yet considered as important as mathematics.”
As they moved into another room, it was Fly’s turn to exclaim,
“Prepare for landing, food site in sight.”
“Wait,”this time Mosquito held Fly back.
“Experimentations happening ahead. Never seen, never heard.”
Explorations while she bakes, “is that how you make cakes?”
“Humph!” Fly was not pleased, “So what do we do?”
Mosquito, enchanted, continued his song,
“Do as you please, a dash of vinegar on the cheese,
It’s not science you’re looking, it’s called the art of cooking.
So much fun, so much to learn, kitchen’s her lab, isn’t that fab!”
“Ah!” Fly lamented, “All this rhyming isn’t going to fill my thorax.”
“True!” Mosquito sympathized, “Elsewhere let’s gorax.”
Altercation sounds coming from another room attracted them who doesn’t like to eavesdrop on two people fighting?
Fly warned, “Let’s watch from far, the argument seems heated.”
“One sounds conceited, the other looks cheated.”
“Mosqi, don’t judge the book by the cover you see.”
This settled Mosquito to observe more. He said, a little later,
“You’re right, Fly, I can sense they are trying to listen to each other, considering other’s point of view, skills here O’ sister and brother.”
Fly sighed, “Isn’t home the place to hone these vital skills?”
Mosquito concurred, “To practice deliberately on how I connect, and work on relationships, feels so important and correct.”
Mosquito seemed to always have a question and a rhyme:
“Which is the fable they’re discussing at the dinner table?”
“Looks like they are dividing,”guessed Fly
“Chores, Oh, what a bore!”
Fly clarified, “No, dear, responsibilities and jobs.”
Mosquito couldn’t help himself, “This calls for a celebration song:
The elder son is planning all holiday trips
While daughter’s incharge of finance is asking for tips
The younger one presents how much TV each could burn
and mom shares how much everybody should run
This is no less than a corporate team
to kiss them all is right now my dream.”
Fly had to shove Mosquito about
There was more to learn here then freak them out.
In another room they saw a large canvas called wall being transformed by incessant scribbling, scratching and doodling.
Mosquito gleamed, “I love this dance, colours in trance
Like a river she flows, like a bird she soars.”
Fly was not impressed, “Isn’t she spoiling the decor?”
“You tell me not to judge, now see what it does to her potential, her core!”
“You mean to say that at home I can do anything I like?”
“No, but home is the place where you can be what you are like.”
“It is like discovering oneself?”
“Yes and exploring and understanding and enjoying myself.”
“Hang on”, quipped Fly, “Ain’t I me everywhere I go. A fly is a fly wherever she flies.”
Yes, but in a funny way, home is the anchor where I can be the infinite me.
“I am wondering”, asked Fly,
“Why do humans get so flustered with both of us?”
Mosquito simply broke into a song,
“A little can be a lot, small can cause big fuss
Check out what happens when someone does cuss!
There are millions of small things in the home:
Be it money or machine, or
things to mend or chores to clean,
decisions to make or responsibilities to take
ideas to shape or philosophies to drape
Home is where they dwell in fear
Home is where their thoughts they clear
Now if they could pause and study your inside
a subject called me here importantly resides.”
As they exited the house, Mosquito said,
“Fly, this home has inspired me to try
parody William Blake’s poem ‘The Fly’
Little Home
Thy summers play,
My thoughtless mind
Had brush’d away.
Am not I
A home like thee?
Or art not thou
A life like me?
The authors run Aarohi, an Open Learning Community for learners of all ages, open to all kinds of interests, abilities, styles and content areas. Learning by doing what one wants, how one wants, and self reflection. It is a community to co-live, learn and support each other. Aarohi’s campus is in a village near Hosur in Tamil Nadu (55 km from Bangalore). To know more about Aarohi visit https://aarohilife.org.