Shades - All Lives Matter
As written by Rtr. Ishaaq Ahamed,
Horses. Since time immemorial humans have always been enthralled by horses. Those strong, tall, robust beasts remain a symbol of royalty and pride. Even a mountain lion would think twice before daring to mess with a mustang of the Plains.
Personally I am in love with horses. Brute-strong yet so gentle. Tame yet very unpredictable. Horses to me, represent the very force of Nature. Wildly free and chaotic yet so eerily, inexplicably beautiful. My love story begins when I saw the movie, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), for the first time as a kid in 2002. In the first cut, the director takes us through life on the Plains of West America where a young Kiger foal is born to a Palomino mare and a Black stallion. The herd is filled with horses of diverse shades and patterns, all part of one harmonious, loving family. You could almost not find two mustangs of the same colour or breed.
In fact, the depiction shown in the movie is actually rather accurate. When the Spanish first settled down in the New World, they also had to inevitably bring their horses along with them. Later on as the centuries passed, these horses eventually wandered off from domestication and began interbreeding in the wild. As a result, a few years down the line, many horse herds of picturesque coat patterns were visible all over the Western Plains where they still freely gallop together without discrimination of subspecies or coat-colour.
Come to think of it, aren’t we, humans, very similar to our animal friends? We tend to have the same needs to eat, drink and sleep. Also, just like our horse companions, through the inexplicable play of circumstances and necessity, we have ended up in lands far from our native countries and people. And just as one can find various coat colors (Appaloosa, Black, Brown, Cremello, Buckskin, Chestnut and Palomino are a few to mention), one can also observe various skin tones in people, all beautiful in their own way.
In fact, we as an advanced species do have something more to contribute in terms of diversity to the society. Each of us represents our culture back at home. For instance, did you know that pizza was originally from Italy? Or that the earliest reports of ice cream came from ancient China? Or that coffee initially was reported from Ethiopia and was popularized by the Arabs? So the next time you enjoy your pizza, ice cream or coffee, you know whom to thank!
Cuisine apart, many of the traditions and norms we have come to accept as a daily part of life, probably have their origins in some ancient civilization, centuries and miles away. Without civilizations influencing and interacting with one another, important scientific knowledge and artistic creations would have been lost to oblivion. In fact, the very diversity that people ironically fight over, has helped sustain mankind over the millennia. So, then why do we constantly have a go at each other when there is so much to rejoice and so little time?
Life is Short! Share Similarities and Celebrate Differences! Let’s Join Hands and Gallop into The Future!
