Who is mightier?

A merchant kept a bird in a cage. He was going to India, the land from which the bird came, and asked it whether he would bring anything back for it. The bird asked for its freedom, but was refused. So he asked the merchant to visit a jungle in India and announce his captivity to the free birds who were there. The merchant did so, and no sooner had he spoken when a wild bird, just like his own, fell senseless out of a tree on to the ground. The merchant thought that this must be a relative of his own bird, and felt sad that he should have caused his death. When he got home, the bird asked him whether he had brought good news from India. “No,” said the merchant, “ I fear that my news is bad. One of your relations collapsed and fell at my feet when I mentioned your captivity.” As soon as these words were spoken the merchant’s bird collapsed and fell to the bottom of the cage. “The news of his kinsman’s death has killed him too,” thought the merchant. Sorrowfully he picked up the bird and put it on the windowsill. At once the bird revived and flew to a nearby tree. “Now you know,” the bird said, “that what you thought was disaster was infact good news for me. And how the message, the suggestion of how to behave in order to free myself was transmitted to me through you, my captor.” And he flew away, free at last.

Without saying a word the bird in the jungle sent a message to the bird in captivity through a person who had held it captive and would not let it go. Is it the power of the word or the power of communicating without it???  Man may have the most developed brain in the animal kingdom but can we discount the intelligence of the birds and animals?

We humans also communicate without the use of ‘word’. We communicate through our subconscious to the people with whom we have a connect and to whom we would go for guidance and support. When we are caught in difficult situations, are not able to find our way through, we subconsciously think of the people we rever and sometimes have a dialogue with them in sleep or otherwise. This may happen over several days after which we are able to come up with a solution to the problem. What we decide to do sometimes comes out of our dialogue with them. At other times this subconscious communication with our mentors gives us enough food for thought to be able to take the right decision.

So many times I have heard people say, “ Oh! So this is the problem, and you are not able to take a decision. Don’t worry, just sleep over it and you will find a way out”. True, communicating ‘without the use of words’ is mightier than communicating with the ‘word’.