Tabanog
-Christian Ray Licen-
“Tabanog”, “Guryon”, “Saranggola” name it all, you’ll get
served! Speak of it in different tongues
and it will launch you an exuberant flight this summer season. Just as the heat ingresses too are the kites
in throngs hailed up to the azure skies.
And who do you think are its pilots? –the children! Why do we often picture a child when one
speaks of kite-flying? Nature holds the
answer. One can’t do away with it on a blameless, care-free, maneuvered child’s
play. We see in them an invincible
innocence unmindful of the everyday pressing crises. They’re worry-free not
unless you deprive them of their chance to play. Surely, you’ll have the toughest rat race
ever in history. And when you stagger at
their path, they’ll mock at your utmost helplessness drawn by such devastated
pursuit and worst when they chide at your ignorance and setbacks. Have mercy on you! You see, how superior
could they get? The world begets victor-children who never allow defeat to take
over them despite their unripe maturity. Because of that innocence, they’re the
couriers to an honest devotion towards life.
They tell what they see. You can
never bribe such dishonesty by a mere sugar-coated lollipop or ransom over your
cowardice by threatening them with a water gun. You’ll end up being a jester fired
in a multitude of travesty. Just as we
speak of children, we speak of kites. It
is an indispensable analogy. The kite is
as risky and playful as the children.
Their undisputed unison will always remind us that we will remain as
children who longs to be free and unconquered.
We captain our own ship just as a child pilots his kite. Alfresco, we move along the torrent of heavy
winds and find ourselves displaced from such a myriad sporadic venture. We reach far and beyond so aptly to realize
the fulfillment of our dreams. Up to an
unknown magnitude, we soar higher and higher as we toil each day. What the kite
has to offer- enjoyment and achievement- is no less than our life compared to
it. Our lives are our kites and we are the children who pilot it. Our everyday venture on the air is our
journey here on earth- in this new-fangled civilization. In this age of contemporary
living, we are dictated by a vigorous orientation to technology and all those virtual
facades. One might just as well think of
it as a subtle threat to the preservation of our dignity most especially to our
children. Where do we see them now? In internet cafes, garish malls and rowdy
places! Seeing them engrossed to such
escapades is tantamount to a world so fidgety and feeble that we neglect to act
upon. What would become of their future?
Their performance on literacy and competence are slowly distorted and waned
over by such spree. When do we act? Shall we wait for the kite to topple down
or lose control over the pressure? Or
shall we wait for the thread to cut off and regret for a lifetime devoid of
kite-flying? Let us be reminded that we
were once a child, now a child and forever remain as a child. Our attachment to kite-flying means our
struggle towards life. Whatsoever are our means of launching the kite, if deep
within ourselves we fail to see or avoid the child-being in us, life is as
miserable as its falling. If we dodge the bitter truth that the children in us
is becoming inane and unscrupulous, then what more could become of ourselves
when confronted with such a sudden crash on our lives? We’re left with no choice but to live either
the good way or the worst. Let’s ascend and fly like the kite for the very
thread that connects us to it is our supreme sacrifice to endure the hardships
in life, to win over our wickedness and establish a healthy nurturing
relationship to our fellowmen and most of all to our Supreme Being who makes
everything possible- our Creator, the Almighty Father. Now that it’s summer,
take some time to fly a kite and be the best child of your own, hail “Tabanog!”
