Shit, Flies and Honey Bees
“Eat shit, millions of flies can’t be wrong.” – The Economist.
I saw this quote floating on Facebook that has made me do some thinking. Many people saw humor in it, as the motive behind sharing this quote was to clearly shame the voters who have chosen Narendra Modi to be the Prime Minister of India again.
Before I go any further, I must clarify, I do not associate myself with any political party or group that takes pride in calling itself Left or Right, Progressive or Conservative. I also try to keep myself away from any spiritual or intellectual arrogance. But if you really want to label me, you can call me a centrist, who has the tendency of leaning toward the left. Why? Maybe because my mom slept mostly on the left side when I was in her belly?
With this understanding, I want to share my thoughts. In my opinion, we all have a purpose, even “Shit, Flies and Honey Bees,” whether we can see it or not. Therefore, we also need to pay attention to, where the shit comes from after all? We all eat and defecate every day. Don’t we? Whether liberal or conservative, we all love this physical process. Although, not everyone likes to admit it.
We also cannot rule that our fecal matter is better than of others, and only when we shit, that is a good thing, and if the others do, that is a bad thing. We cannot judge flies either. Flies do not sit on their own fecal matter. If we defecate and throw our feces out in the open, the flies and insects will naturally come and try to break it down, so that the earth can quickly absorb it, only to keep our environment clean. But we shame flies, and do not look at our own actions.
We are also very selective when it comes to shaming. We are clever, not to blame the sun or the wind for shining on the shit or touching it, as they are our life sources. We always consider them pure. But sun, wind, and earth do not shame flies. All political parties have used India as a dumping ground, whenever they had a chance, we can not deny it. To resist, we must realize this fact.
We also seem to undermine the importance of shit, which has always been used as fertilizer to grow crops, that sustain us. In the old time, the people who hauled our waste, we called them untouchables. That was wrong. It would be morally and politically incorrect to call a person untouchable today. But we have made no progress in using this discretion toward flies and animals. We eat many things on a regular basis that are wrong and unethical to consume, as they are a threat to our environment and cause suffering to animals. But we talk about ethics and morality. Unlike us, flies do not kill animals, they eat waste, to keep our environment safe and pure. They have a purpose.
But I also understand, my friends were using Shit and Flies as metaphors. So let me share with my honey bees – sometimes our pride becomes the reason for our fall! So let’s work hard for the next season and focus more on producing honey, and sting less. And know one thing, that no matter who comes in power (in any hemisphere), everyone is going to shit at some point. Anything otherwise would be unrealistic to expect. So, it’s not a bad idea to learn how to turn crap into compost to grow more flowers that we love; and have the trust, that someday, the files will come for our honey too.
© Kalpna Singh-Chitnis
www.kalpnasinghchitnis.com
