They always narrate the story of a vicious Lark, keeping it in a positive light. They refer to it, as ‘He’, while the hero, The Phoenix is always the lesser one ‘It’. It doesn’t just stop at its objectification, it is always seen as a being that is destined to glory and one who deserves it no more than a corrupt politician deserves his political chair. It is an object of hate that ascended its summit riding on the back of sacrifices and humiliation of others.
The story goes as the Lark who reprises the role of a latent villain thirsting for the blood of Phoenix. Its blood spelt on earth shall incinerate everything unholy and impious causing great suffering to common inhabitants of the jungle. Though the Phoenix never dies, it burns into ashes. It wishes for the Fire angels to embrace it, usually when mortally wounded and lo! It rises up all again. Sometimes more powerful as required for the intensity of the battle and fighting off the evilness of the enemy. For Phoenix to shed its blood which by the way is also the proof of its own being a part of mortal creation, it has to be hit in its Bursa of Fabricius. Even a blood spelt of an innocent, says the scripture will bring a perennial gloom on the heavens above, for which earth has to pay a heavy price. Phoenix was the symbol of assertion that Good shall always trump the Evil. This higher existence of a mortal among them had caused deep pain to Lark. It wanted to destroy the very Process of Life which reeked of such outrageous apartheid subjugating the lesser. ‘He’ had been a staunch critic of the ways of the heavens. He called his fellow ‘sinners’ meek and more unjust than the heavens as it accepted this way of life. The others, who knew they sinned and thus are righteously punished to live under subjugation despised Lark for he was bent on destruction.
Lark knew deep within that it shall never be able to defeat Phoenix, the symbol of Good and one who rises stronger every time it is burnt, a being who is truly immortal as is Goodness. So, it decided to corrupt it by befriending it. The purpose of the Phoenix’s existence was confronting the evil and destroying it, thumping it thus resulting in the increased worship of The Good. But, when faced with a hopeless two choice problem of either defeating a friend who is evil and yet too dear or intertwining good with evil within it thus upstaging Order; it shall fall and realize the shallowness of its own life. It believed a life where it can’t afford to have a friend is but a shallow life.
Eyes were met. The legends bowed. A friendship began. The Lark succeeded in overturning his destiny. He had out chased death. After many years when the time was right, Lark rose in mutiny. Unwilling to leave the side of a dear friend and abandoning the burden of values and grief-stricken peace, Phoenix fell from grace as it fought against the heavens. It had failed to reach its destiny of Glory. Good was polluted. The best among earthly beings was torn to shreds. Lark had indeed succeeded. It all ended, animals were stripped of their power of intellect. God was forced to send human to continue His exaltation. Life began anew, but was the lesson learnt?
Husain Sodawala Sir Padampat Singhania University, Udaipur husain.sodawalla@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/husain.sodawala
'Campus Writing' 