When one is born in the Year of the Dragon (refer Chinese horoscope), one is subconsciously inclined to reflect, where it matters, the true nature of dragons. This is manifest essentially in their flight.
They will “soar into the sky of solitude, and simultaneously sink into the sea of humanity, as they sing the song of significance about their true home, that ocean of consciousness which unites all existence and non-existence.” (Last paragraph in my second memoir ’The Dance of Destiny’ – refer Amazon Kindle).
A human ‘dragon’ may tend to be a lateral thinker, inclined to ask ‘Why is it so?’ while ‘observing all neutrally’ and ‘analysing, with a depth of understanding, matters historical, geo-political, and religio-societal.’ ‘With a spiritual insight drawn from the metaphysics of Hinduism, and some significant psychic experiences,’ he could narrate ‘his speculations on the nature of Destiny.’
While progressing to the maturation necessary for this narrative – through ‘wheels falling off’ his life-chances cart, and ‘falling into holes which were not there’ – he had to rely upon his off-beat sense of humour for emotional balance.
During those dark, dreary and lonely early years in the whitest land set in coloured seas amid worrisome foreign faiths, this dragon found pleasure, almost weekly, in an hour of exposure to cartoons on film in a particular theatre. Tom & Jerry and Bugs Bunny aside, it was the Road Runner who captivated him. This cheeky and cheerful fleet-footed ‘varmint’ somehow resonated with his own nature. “Meep meep” was a call remembered from time to time throughout his lifetime, and which brought him a quiet smile of pleasure.
He wondered occasionally about his identification with the Road Runner. Was it the frivolous freedom displayed (akin perhaps to that of a cosmic dragon)? Indeed, his father had repeatedly emphasised the importance of freedom, possibly in the context of surviving under the yoke of colonialism. What had remained in this dragon’s mind all through his life was this advice: it is the eagle which flies highest, but it flies alone. Was the Cosmos foretelling his ultimate future?
Lo and behold, more than 65 years later, there recently appeared on tv a 2-hour program of Disney cartoons, the last episode depicting his ‘alter-ego’ the Road Runner. What joy to a dragon grounded by age! ‘Meep meep’!
RAJA ARASA RATNAM 