CHAPTER ONE

A man is born            

A man is born into the deep heart of reality with so many struggles during the gestational period. Finally, a child emerges into this world full of uncertain events. The cries of this helpless child and the distressed mother all trigger a joyous moment at the time of birth. But, at the time of birth, how does one analyse such thoughts as we await the coming of the young one? It is the interplay of anxiety, emotions and reflection of who we are. Such thoughts are those of a kind that we are obliged to play on, to fulfil our wishful thinking. We long for the young one for nine months and, having awaited the arrival of the young one, at that very moment, our wish fulfilment is somewhat of an amazing journey. Our stream of thoughts is that of an endless search for how we were created. It’s amazing how nature has given rise to such an extraordinary creature with endless possibilities of an approach to life. If you recall being on the hospital premises and awaiting the arrival of a young child, you will totally understand the extent of the drama that takes place in one’s mind.

The search for who we are starts at that very moment when a foetus is formed. It is an amazing journey throughout the gestational period. But that is just the start of our journey towards the origin of our existence. I am not going to explore the matter of evolution but rather, I would suggest that as of the present moment, the children of today are somewhat different from those of the past and this is due to evolutionary trends.

This child begins his first journey in life as he learns how to feed. He then sets out to learn certain behavioural qualities that lead him through life. Such a behavioural tendency is tied in with his innate behaviour. Others are acquired through learning from society. I remember being briefed on how to behave when I was a child: the endless cries that triggered certain emotional turmoil in my mum. With so much care and dedication, she decided to let go and put me to the test. Her ideas were those of classical conditioning, as Pavlov stated in his theory, which entailed leaving me in front of the television with cartoons flashing here and there. To her utmost surprise, those cries subsided to the point where not only did I concentrate on the programme but also slept gracefully. To my mum, it was an emotional experience, because it did entail leaving me on my own to cry till I dropped off. But that was a harsh reality to embrace. Even though the psychological implications were many, it did help my mum establish a routine for me as well as giving her time to perform her domestic duties. In effect, I learnt the hard way through acquired learning, but my innate behaviour did express itself through the wondrous cries and screams. Seeing this from a different angle, my learning phase started at that point, but for others it could have started later or earlier.