THERE possibly can be no better definition of the source of true beauty that the bloom of a Meadow flower symbolises! But we need a William Wordsworth to bring that definition out. Freedom is the key -- freedom down to the root, to the point of origin, from that point where living starts! That little Meadow flower blooms to its fullness because it has the freedom. It is in that freedom that the little flower assumes power to bloom. That power comes from the freedom it has -- obviously bestowed upon it by Nature, by the Divine. That freedom works wonders. That freedom makes all the difference. It is in that freedom that creativity, beauty bloom. As a poet who saw Nature in its small nuances and rejoiced in their revelation -- as well as realisation -- William Wordsworth comes out with simple truths. Freedom down to its root!

 

The words are, of course, simple, but the strength and meaning they conceal in their bosom is immense -- far beyond themselves: The lovely little flower is certainly free, and it has the sense not to destroy that free spirit and allow it to bloom in its fullness. With man, the story is altogether different. The Divine has gifted man with free will -- that often pushes him to explore life in all directions, in all dimensions good and bad and indifferent. And as he exercises his so-called free will, man is quite likely to restrict his own divinely-gifted freedom, even abuse it. In the process, he is quite likely to lose that freedom because he has lost the ability to put it to the best use. That little Meadow flower does not have that free will -- of course out of the divine design. It is rooted to the ground, in the same spot where it is born -- and is destined to meet its wilted end in that very place, in due course of Nature’s turns and twists and tugs and twangs. But until that point -- that end -- comes, the little flower uses the freedom it has to its root to come up with all the colours hidden in its inner confines, release all the fragrances it holds in its folds.

 

This does not happen in the case of humans to its fullness. And to help the individual make that happen is education, learning, all about. Just as there is a hidden trove of colour and fragrance concealed in the little flower, there also is a latent treasure of virtue and value and valour safely enshrined in the human bosom as well -- waiting to be brought out, eager to be released, to be used in totality for betterment of not just one but everything, everybody around. Unfortunately, however, man is born free, but buys shackles to keep himself snared in absence of that earnest desire to break free from the chains of his own limitations. But if he learns to realise the innate freedom the Divine has given him, he can bloom like that little flower. And the grief is that very rarely does the human individual realise that he is bestowed with that choice -- of being free, down to the root, and from the root upward ...!