Hey Clementine, 😊

Hope this finds you in your best health.

I’ll be coming home soon, so this might be the last letter for now. Naturally, I was overthinking what to write and this delayed it even more, but then randomly watching all the negative news on TV got me thinking about a story Maa told me as a kid:

An old man was once planting an orange tree in his garden when he was interrupted by his neighbor. The neighbor, a childhood friend of this man, asked him jokingly, “Dear, we have gone so old. Why do you plant this tree when you know you will not get to eat its fruits?”

To this, the old man replied, “Just like as kids we enjoyed the fruits from the trees planted by our forefathers, I plant this one for the generations to come. I hope they can relax under its shade and enjoy the juicy oranges.”

I wonder if this simple thought ever occurs to these politicians and religious leaders (of course excluding the good ones) when they sow the seeds of hatred for others in the hearts of their followers. But anyway, if the negative forces are not ashamed of their deeds, I believe the positive ones have even more reasons to go on and try their best.

If anything, I want everyone to realize that being together is the only way. I look at it this way:

In primitive times, it was our togetherness that kept us alive in the harsh conditions of the wild. And it is the same for other species as well, where majestic elephants, mongooses, and even small ants can fend off strong enemies by virtue of togetherness.

As time passed, the smaller human tribes joined forces to grow into bigger clans, and eventually, the biggest groups flourished as kingdoms and civilizations. But somewhere this growth stopped, with humanity stuck at the size of nations or religions. Is it time we transcend these boundaries so the whole of humanity can become one tribe and go on its way to being a multi-planetary species? Will we even unite with aliens someday?

These are just some random thoughts that came to my mind, but I hope that at least we rise beyond the petty reasons we divide ourselves on and see the human within everyone. We need to plant trees of love for the generations to come, and the responsibility lies with each of us.

Love

Papa