Noel Manuel
When we cultivate a strong obsession to do something, we know that the light at the end of the tunnel cannot be far. It is the passion (fire) that actually gets us there.
Today when we talk about life, there is a stack resemblance of a journey that is made through a tunnel. In fact, we make a journey through the tunnel of life almost everyday, sometimes even twice or more.
Tunnels are basically meant to take us through an obstacle that proves to challenging to overcome. We find trains, buses, cars and other forms of transportations maneuvering through brightly lit corridors to overcome huge mountain passes.
Without the brightly lit lamps along the huge tunnel walls, it would be almost impossible for these modes of transportations to move on without a mishap really happening. Similarly, it is practically not possible for you and I to go through the tunnel of life without the fire.
We encounter various kinds of obstacles in life each day and some of them prove too challenging for us to overcome. They stand right in the face and we just can’t think of anything, but the problem. Rightly however, we need to move on and the only way to get across to the other side of the problem is through the tunnel.
Getting through the tunnel of life is not an easy task. The fire has to constantly burn within us so that we can make it right till the end. And though many of us attempt to make this journey each day in a bid to escape our problems, we get stuck midway – the fire goes out.
I’ve come across many young people who keep talking about the problems they are currently facing such as jobs, academics, social responsibilities and general issues. Strangely enough, very few actually find means and ways of overcoming these problems. Many of them unknowingly remain stuck because they lack the fire to guide them through the hindrances of life.
We can’t really avoid problems from emerging. Every turn that we take in life has a surprise in store. But should these problems really become the reason to obstruct us from continuing our journey of life? I don’t really think so.
An experience on a train journey has given me this iota of thought on the significance of lighting our tunnel. Every twist and turn on a train journey from Pune to Mumbai springs a surprise. Tunnels have been built to overcome huge mountain passes that actually obstruct the train’s path. But, the train has to move on and the tunnels ensure this. Are we actually bold and courageous enough to move on like the train?
A group of skiers were making their way up through the Alps. They were traveling to the highest point in the region and the train journey was both scary and exciting. Skiing is a popular sport among the Swiss and thousands take this dangerous route each year. However, this particular journey was about to be a different experience.
The train had climbed its highest point and the excitement among the holiday revelers had also escalated. But soon, the excitement turned tragic. The rear engine of the coach had caught fire due to an electrical short circuit. To add to the problems the train had entered one of the scores of other tunnels and this one was comparatively very long. It stretched 15 kilometers. Smoke bellowed out of the burning coach and quickly began spreading to the other coaches. The scene was now horrific and then the unthinkable happened. The train came to a grinding halt and lights within and outside the train went blank. The electrical fault had caused a complete shut down on the entire electrical rail system on this dangerous mountain stretch. It was almost twenty minutes now since the train had come to a halt inside the tunnel and things were beginning to get worse. Choking and coughing passengers were being threatened by suffocation by the fast spreading smoke and there was nothing the passengers could do than wait for rescue workers.
A young firefighter, who also happened to be on the train, understood the gravity of the situation and knew the importance of moving on. He knew that staying put in the train could cost the passengers their lives. Even if the dangerous Alps did not offer much hope of survival, he knew that staying in a train filled with carbon monoxide offered no hope of survival at all. Grazing himself through the sharp edged panes, the firefighter crawled out and beckoned others to follow if they desired to survive the ordeal. Many were reluctant to go initially because the entire tunnel was in smoke and there was no guarantee whether they would make it out of the tunnel alive. They thought that if they remained in the train, rescue workers would find them sooner or later. They had a problem but were unwilling to move on and leave it behind.
Unfortunately 154 passengers died of suffocation. And the victims were all those who chose to remain on the train. The 18 that survived were the ones who understood the importance of moving on. They walked almost 6 kilometers to the light of hope at the end of the tunnel and the fire Passion) within them drove them to do that.
We actually have a choice to move on in every situation that we face. If we choose to remain stuck in our problems, there can be no apparent solution. And moving on does not necessarily guarantee us hope. But, at least the fire within us makes us want to believe of the light at the end of the tunnel. It is this fire that transforms challenges into opportunities, despair into hope and the impossible to the possible. So long as we have the fire burning within us, we do not lose out in affording to believe that light always exists at the other end of the tunnel.
Many young boys and girls often surrender themselves to the matriculate examinations. They try and try and yet fail to get through the tunnel. But does that mean we should always remain stuck on this side of the mountain (problem) or inside the tunnel (problem). It’s just that we lack the fire (passion) to take us through. The passion to do something has to constantly burn within, in order to see us through towards the light of academics and actualities of life.
It is sad that most of us choose to see the mountain before us in every situation instead of actually spotting the tunnel that lies between. It is even sadder that we opt to remain in the light on this side of the mountain, than actually take the challenge of lighting our tunnel till we can successfully make it to the light on the other side.
We are constantly focused on what can’t be done than actually working on what has to be done. We are energized by our abilities to think that problems can be solved when we look into it. When it is actually wise to believe that problems can breed solutions when we attempt to look beyond it. When we can contradict our abilities to believe that indeed hope lies on the other side of the mountain.
All we need to do is dare ourselves to light up (passion) our tunnel throughout the journey of life for there is always light at the other end – only if we choose to believe it.
noelmanuel@rediffmail.com
The writer is the Coordinator of the Northeast Region (Poetry Society of India) and Life Member of the Poetry Society of India. Journalist and Correspondent Eastern Panorama (News Magazine of the Northeast) Phonetics Teacher
