Dear Stranger, I Know How You Feel

by Ashish Bagrecha

You have been battling with yourself lately, not knowing what your purpose in life is. You feel as if you have been set adrift, floating at sea, waiting for the tides to take you along an invisible current that will wash you ashore. To a place you don’t know, and don’t fit into. You have contemplated the purpose of every other creature on the planet. Why it was designed in a particular way and how its purpose fills it with ease. How it never questions the conditions of its existence or asks what its purpose in life is. For instance, you see that a shark is created to keep the population of other predatory species down. Its job is to feed on other predators and to procreate. That is the sole purpose of its design, and it fulfils it effortlessly, without question. I know that you think I am ridiculous for comparing you, a human being, to an animal, especially an animal that seems so basic and simple in its design. But think about this: what would happen if you removed its purpose? What if you caught the shark and put it in a tank, feeding it regularly so it wouldn’t need to hunt? What would happen if you put it in an environment where it never has to use its instincts? I know that it is an animal, but what would its purpose in life be? Imagine that it never has to hunt, never has to breed or fight for its survival. At first, like you, the shark wouldn’t care. Weeks would go by, with the shark quite content to be fed lifeless prey and not having to expend any energy in order ...