Rapids of Motu

Life's Lessons - Joseph Mattappally

Right attitude and right action make a life beautiful; this is an old advice I remember most. Who on this earth can forget the classic story of the two frogs which unknowingly fell in a vat of milk? After hours of struggle, one of them lost all hopes and decided to surrender to its’ fate. The other one but was different and it kept on paddling until finally it felt something solid beneath the feet. By the time it had churned the milk into butter and so it could hop out of the vat successfully.

Every moment in life we have the opportunity to taste experiences in distinct flavours.  Sometime back I happened to read the story of a few people rafting through the tumultuous river of Motu in New Zealand. One among the men on the raft narrates his distinct experiences with two guides. On his first expedition, the team was led by an American guide with a great deal of rafting experience. With him there was no reason to fear any of the great rapids on the river. He taught the men on expedition to develop team spirit and on being disciplined to commands. The strokes had to be mastered; when the leader bellowed above the roar of the water, an instant reaction was essential. The commands overheard were matched only by the fury of their paddles and they could take the raft exactly where he commanded to. At the end of the journey, they all felt powerful and good. The mystery and majesty of river Motu had been overcome.

When he went down the Motu the second time, the guide was a very softly spoken Kiwi. It seemed that it would not even be possible to hear his voice above the noise of the rapids. As they approached the first rapid, he never even raised his voice. He did not attempt to take command of us or the river. Gently and quietly he felt the mood of the river and watched every little whirlpool. There was no drama and no shouting. It seemed that he loved the river. They sped through each rapid with grace and beauty and, after a day, the river had become their friend, not their enemy. Laughter replaced tension. Like the quiet Kiwi, they listened to the river carefully for all those things they had not even noticed the first time. The second time it was very hard for the man to leave the banks of river Motu; he had become so close with the river. This is true with every situation; situations appear in the very attire we love to see it. Every morning, decide how you would like to see the rapids of the day – as a friend or a foe.

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