Death of Happiness

Left MSR from my office cab, reached home around 6. It was Pournami Pooja today — I went upstairs and sat for the prayers.

As the pooja was going on, my focus drifted to an ant. It was wandering everywhere for almost an hour, searching for something — maybe the scent trail of other ants, maybe food, maybe the way back to its colony. I didn’t know.

The pooja finished. I gave prasada to everyone.

The ant was still wandering.

Then a few crumbles of prasada fell on the floor. Immediately, I saw a change in its behaviour — suddenly there was clarity in its path. It knew exactly where to go. I was sure it was heading back to its colony, to bring the other ants to the food it had finally found.

Right when the ant was happy. Right when it found something it had been searching for so long, after wandering so much — a small girl, around 4 years old, picked up a toy and smashed it on the ant.

The ant struggled in pain, crippling, still trying to move and run. She hit it again. The ant was in pieces. All the hope it had, all its life, everything — gone in a fraction of a second.

The girl didn’t even notice. She picked up another toy and kept playing. No one in that big room noticed the small ant. But the ant was dead. No one to go back to the colony now. No one to bring the others to the food.

I know, I know — what a weird guy, sitting in the middle of pooja, emotionally invested in an ant. But that’s just who I am. I notice every small thing. Even the tiniest of things. And I can’t help it.

I believe every life on this planet has the same value, the same right to exist — that no one is truly superior. I know how nature works, and yes, someone will say we’re superior because of the cortex. Maybe. But I think if anything, that intelligence should make us more aware — not less. Being more intelligent doesn’t make a life more important. If anything, it should make us better at understanding that every life on this earth matters equally.

That’s just my way of looking at it.

It’s been hours now, and I’m still thinking about the ant.