Be Somebody
See the possibility. Ignore the despair.
The young man walked up the street of his neighborhood. He needed to
buy some milk for his Ma, and he was deep into his own mind. As he
walked down the street, thinking about his problems, wondering if
anyone had it as badly as he did, he failed to see the old man standing
on the corner outside the shop.
"Hello Tommy,"
the older man said to the younger.
"Oh... hello
Guy, I didn't see you there," he looked embarrassed.
"It's hard to
see when you are only looking in, what is so interesting about
yourself?" Guy responded.
Tommy wanted to
change the subject, "Ya know, how'd you get a name like Guy anyway?"
The old man
shrugs. He did not much look like a Guy, he seemed more like a monk
type than a sleazy french man. He had a small, powerful frame. His hair
was graying, but it was full. His skin was dark and his eyes even
darker and deeply contemplative. His manner was always calm, and he
always seemed like he knew something. It was sort of like when your Dad
was teaching you something, and he knew the answer but he wanted you to
figure it out. Guy always had that affect on Tommy.
"I suppose names
sort of find you. Sooner or later, a true name comes out," the old man
said.
Tommy shook his
head. "What a odd guy," he thought to himself. Tommy took a moment to
wonder exactly how this guy ended up on his street corner. But he had
to admit, there was something about him that made you just want to ask
his advice.
"Man Guy, this
neighborhood is falling apart. I wish somebody would pay attention and
fix this place up a bit. I mean we got kids growing up here in a dump.
It's bad news brother."
Guy nodded his
head. "Why can't you be somebody?"
"Huh?" Tommy
looked at him, perplexed.
"You said you
wish somebody would do something, why can't you be somebody?"
Tommy looked at
him a second longer and then shook his head.
"How am I
supposed to do that? I'm a 17 year old kid who can barely afford to buy
his mom some milk," he laughed.
Guy shrugged his
shoulders and sort of thought for a second.
"Would you like
to hear an interesting story?"
Tommy looked at
his watch. Then he let out a sigh and resigned himself to hear
this old man's story, nodded his head and sat down.
He began,
"Once there was a great
warrior named Rama from a long time ago. He was a god incarnate, and
the ruler of Earth even though he did not know it yet. Rama was meant
to kill the evil demon king Ravana. Ravana had achieved immunity from
all foes except man and animals. He believed that man and animals were
so weak, they could never do him harm. But he had not met Rama!
Ravana, the demon king, stole
Rama's beautiful wife Sita through a treacherous scheme. And he stole
her away to Lanka, his demon kingdom. And there Sita was held prisoner
for many months, through the rainy season. But Rama had made friends
with the monkeys and bears who were wise and fierce. So when the rain
stopped, Rama and his army prepared to cross the ocean to Lanka. But
how could they? There was one monkey named Nala who could make things
float on water, it was his gift. And so everyone worked together and
began to build a bridge, and Nala would throw into on the ocean and it
would stay afloat. Everyone worked to accomplish this impossible task,
all the while Ravana sat in his kingdom trying to seduce Sita (who
refused him), and ignoring the idea of man and animal crossing the
ocean. And while they built that bridge, even the smallest "somebody"
made a difference.
The many forest squirrels all came
together, they would soak themselves and roll in the dirt and dust
and collect it on their fur. Then they would go to the bridge that all
the bigger animals built and would shake their fur and the dust and
dirt would fill in even the smallest cracks of the bridge. Making it
strong enough for an Army to cross the ocean and save Sita!"
"Even the
smallest squirell can make all the difference. And even one monkey can
begin to make a bridge for others to cross, that brings everyone
together. There is somebody that can make a difference in this
neighborhood. The only question Tommy is, 'Are you that somebody?' Will
you fight to do the right thing when see it, even if you feel as small
as a squirell? Or will you walk away because you think you have to be
something else?" the guru asked him.
Tommy sat there
and thought about what Guy had said. He looked around the neighborhood
and wondered if he could do what this crazy old man said he could.
Guy sat there
with his back against the wall of the shop, smiling as the suns beams
warmed his face. "Do not see the darkness Tommy, and do not despair
over what you think is impossible. Instead, move forward and act,
achieve what you know is possible. See the possibility, not the
failure."
Author's Note: I wrote this story
because I wanted to emphasize the universal nature of the Ramayana.
Surely, it would be best if we could all read the whole Ramayana if we
wanted to truly understand all of it's positive examples. But it is not
necessary to know everything about the story, in order to understand
the wisdom. This story was Guy's way of relating some wisdom to the
Tommys current situation. I spent some time setting up Guys
description, because this is his entrance into to the frametale. I
chose to use the story about the squirrels because I thought it was a
powerful moment in the Ramayana. I enjoy the way that the Ramayana is
full of stories about the “secondary” characters. We never revisit the
squirrels, or find out if they played another role in Rama’s tale. But
we hear about how they played a role in the success of Rama’s story if
even only for a moment. I wanted to emphasize the wisdom in this little
side note, but projecting it onto a boy wondering if he could make any
difference in his neighborhood. The squirrels did not despair over
their size, or wonder how they could ever help. They just acted, and
found a way to help the good defeat evil. Which makes them just as
valuable in the battle for good over evil as Hanuman or Rama.
Image Information: This image was
taken from a flickr
site. I hope that the pictures can improve the experience for the
reader. And help them to imagine the setting for the unique story.
Bibliography: This story was taken from the Indian epic, the Ramayana.
Street Corner Guru
Introduction
Act!
Forged by Fire
The Next Day
